It was opened on 27 June 1864 as part of the Blyth and Tyne Railway's line to Newcastle New Bridge Street, and closed on 23 January 1978 when the line was shut for conversion into part of the Tyne and Wear Metro.

The three bay principal building was built of brick, with stone quoins and a Welsh slate roof.

[2][3] The station closed on 23 January 1978, to allow for the construction of the Tyne and Wear Metro network.

The building is grade II listed and is the last remaining station built by the Blyth and Tyne Railway.

A mockup of a signal box was built in the early 1990s, on the site of the former station master's house (demolished in the late 1970s), forming part of a restaurant, along with an old railway carriage.