At 644 ft (or exactly 196.2912 m) above sea level, it is currently (2016) the highest operational standard-gauge railway station in Southern England.

[citation needed] Opened in August 1868 as Medstead, it changed to its present name on 1 October 1937.

[1] The passing loop was removed, signal box closed and station destaffed in January 1967.

[2] It was reopened on 28 May 1983 by the preserved Watercress Line, which runs from Alton to New Alresford.

The footbridge (currently on the country end) is from Cowes railway station on the Isle of Wight.