Area Bolton Platforms 2 (island) Original company Bolton and Leigh Railway | Grid reference SD703075 18 June 1831 Station opened | |
Place Bolton, Greater Manchester Pre-grouping London and North Western Railway Similar Chequerbent railway station, Darcy Lever railway st, Astley railway station, Staley and Millbrook railway st | ||
Daubhill railway station was a station on the original route of the Bolton and Leigh Railway. It served the Daubhill (locally pronounced "Dobble") area of south west Bolton.
The route of the original line of the Bolton and Leigh line had two rope-hailed inclines, one at Chequerbent and the other at Daubhill. Improvements in locomotive design meant the inclines became redundant but the line was single track with passing loops. The LNWR decided to improve the line by addressing both issues: it doubled the route throughout and built new, less steeply graded lines bypassing the Chequerbent and Daubhill banks.
Although other stations on the line are marked on 1840s OS maps, Daubhill station is not, though its site can be interpreted by looking at the widening of the site in earlier maps and by the separation of two sidings in later maps, used in conjunction with the Disused Stations maps. These are accessible in External Links, below. Another source, however, places the station further north east, on the northern side of Adelaide Street.
The new bypass sections were opened in 1885; the 1831 Chequerbent station was closed and a new one opened on a nearby site on the new line and likewise, the 1831 Daubhill station was closed and a new one - named "Rumworth and Daubhill" - was also opened on a nearby site on its new line.
The original Daubhill line was not simply closed, but sections at both ends were retained for many years, with only a short central section being closed and lifted immediately. The southern end survived in traffic serving Daubhill Coal yard until the mid-1960s.