up to the north-east after the railway station opened in 1884. A bypass diverting the A25 to the north of Old Oxted was built in the late 1960s. The first act of Parliament to authorise the construction of a railway through Oxted was granted in July 1865. It authorised the Surrey and Sussex Junction Railway (S&SJR) to build a line from Croydon to Groombridge, where there was to be a junction with the East Grinstead to Tunbridge Wells line. The act was controversial as the S&SJR was sponsored by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR), but ran into a part of Surrey and East Sussex which was considered South Eastern Railway territory. In three years, the S&SJR managed to build the Oxted Tunnel and two shorter tunnels at Riddlesdown and Limpsfield. However, construction became increasingly difficult as a result of the 1866 financial panic caused by failure of Overend, Gurney and Company and, in 1869, there was a riot at Edenbridge because Belgian navvies were being employed to build line. A second act of Parliament was obtained in 1869 to formally transfer line to the LBSCR, who immediately asked for powers to suspend works. The company paid a penalty of £32,250 and construction ceased immediately. No work took place on the unfinished railway line until 1878, when a third act of Parliament authorised the Croydon, Oxted and East Grinstead railway, which would take over construction and be jointly owned by LBSCR and SER. Among the works that were completed by the new company was the iron viaduct between Oxted station and Limpsfield tunnel. The new line finally opened to passenger traffic in March 1884. Oxted station, originally called Oxted and Limpsfield, was provided with two through platforms and a south-facing bay platform. There was also a freight yard with a south-facing connection to the line. A second station in the parish, Hurst Green Halt opened with line and was replaced by Hurst Green station, to the north, by British Rail in 1961. The line south from Hurst Green to Eridge was opened in December 1887. A century later, in 1987, Hurst Green Junction signal box closed as part of a resignalling programme for the whole line. Electrification of the line through Oxted to East Grinstead completed July 1987, but the line to Uckfield remains unelectrified. Residential development Although there is thought to have been a religious building on