The station was built by the Midland Railway at the summit[2] of the circuitous Barrow Hill to Elmton and Creswell line known as the Clowne Branch.

All these trains plied between Mansfield and Chesterfield, calling at all stations to Elmton and Creswell, then Clown, Netherthorpe, Staveley and Whittington.

It ran eastwards from Chesterfield in the morning as far as Elmton and Creswell, but was extended, unadvertised, to Shirebrook West during term time.

This was reversed in the afternoons, starting unadvertised from Shirebrook West during term time, and from Elmton and Creswell on the public timetable.

[15] The station's goods facilities closed in July 1960, leaving its sole purpose excursions, such as for football matches, and Summer Saturday holiday traffic, notably from Radford to Blackpool North.

Light engine movements and intermittent freight trains continued over the Clowne Branch until the early 1990s when an underground fire threatened to undermine the line, compounded by the expensive need to replace the points connecting the branch to what is now known as the Robin Hood Line at Elmton and Creswell.