Sheringham’s original station was re-opened in 1975 as the main station of the North Norfolk Railway.

The original level crossing was reinstated in March 2010, allowing access to the mainline once again. The first passenger train over the new crossing was steam locomotive ‘Oliver Cromwell’, hauling a train from London Liverpool Street.

The station has been restored close to its 1955 appearance, when British Railways were responsible for the line. The distinctive blue totems and enamel platform signs are evocative of that period.

The railway arrived in Sheringham (then spelt Sherringham) from Holt in 1887 enroute to Cromer. The station at this time was a typical M&GN ‘hall and cross wings’ building in fields outside the village.

What you see now is an extended building which grew with the town that it served until it became what you see today, its most notable feature being the glass canopies which originally adorned the buildings on both platforms.

The main building on platform one houses the booking office, the waiting room and buffet. The Buffet is in an area which was used to store the copious amount of luggage that the Victorian tourists travelling to Sheringham required. With luggage in advance and the many summer trains, it would have been very busy.

At the east end of the main station building, there is a small red brick building. In 1906 a line was built round Cromer which enabled Great Eastern Railway trains to run to Sheringham. The M&GN built this room specifically for GER staff as they did not wish the GER staff to use their facilities! This is still referred to as the GE Office.

At the east end of platform one, beyond the GE Office, there is a new building housing a souvenir shop. This was erected in 2016 and to a style to match the existing station buildings. At the same time, a replica of the original Sheringham footbridge was erected. This now gives access to Platform 2.

The track here is used for engines running around their trains and leads to the level crossing that links the railway with the national network. The level crossing was reinstated in 2010. The foot crossing here can be used for step free access to Platform 2.

Sheringham East signal box was originally sited right on the roadside where it controlled signals and points in that area as well as the level crossing gates. It was moved to the west end of Platform 2 when the original level crossing was taken out, due to road improvements, in the early 1970s. In 2012 it was relocated nearer to its former location next the new level crossing.

There was once a building on Platform 2 with a glazed canopy that matched the one on Platform 1. This was demolished in the early 1960s when the station was reduced to a single line halt.

The Railway is planning to rebuild this building with its canopy using some M&GN cast iron columns and spandrels that were recovered from the M&GN’s Yarmouth Beach station when it was demolished in 1986 to make way for a car park.

Sheringham was mentioned in the Domesday Book (then Silingeham), but this was Upper Sheringham which is some way inland, and the Sheringham that we know was just a small fishing village known as Lower Sherringham.

Following the arrival of the railway it became a most fashionable place to visit. The railway Directors helped the development of the resort by setting up the first building estate, laying mains drains and providing a gas works. Subsequently many homes and three grand hotels were built. It is still a busy seaside town and a holiday destination for many, with its sandy beaches, golf course, coastal and inland walks.

The fishermen’s original flint cottages and other related buildings still survive towards the sea, and a very small fishing fleet is still based here. The colourful boats are pulled up onto the shingle beach when not in use.

The Mo Sheringham Museum situated on the seafront, houses an extraordinary historic fleet of lifeboats and fishing boats. It also has photographic and ephemeral displays of Sheringham’s rich heritage. The Henry Ramey Upcher Lifeboat Museum is at the top of the slipway on West Cliff and the RNLI lifeboat house is at the west end of the promenade.