Turnpike

Paddock Wood station was finally located where the railway line crossed the Brandbrides Turnpike which was created by an act of Parliament (Act 7 Geo. III, c.91 1766-67). This road linked the Medway wharf at Brandbridges with Four Wents, near Matfield, initially enabling easier transport of heavy loads from the Weald to barges on the Medway for onwards transport to Maidstone or London. Locating a station on this busy route would have enabled South East Railway (SER) to take advantage of this trade offering a more efficient, quicker and cheaper way of transporting goods direct to London or Dover and later, once the branch line opened, to Maidstone as well.

Competition from the railway companies was a great worry to the Brandbridges Trust and SER’s proposal to cross the road with its new line was strongly objected to but the increasing power of SER ultimately overcame any objections by the Trust. The Trust did win a small victory over the crossing of the turnpike at the new station. The original Railway’s Act (1836) forbade the crossing of a turnpike on the level and SER’s initial intention to sink the turnpike road under the track was strongly opposed by the trust, claiming that in bad weather the road would be impassable and the matter was resolved by SER’s final agreement to raise the road over the track.