The station was intended to serve the communities of Ardsley and Stairfoot, South Yorkshire, England.

It suffered a temporary closure between 1856 and April 1858 and was closed on 1 December 1871, being replaced by a new station on an adjacent site built in the "Double Pavilion" style favoured by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.

The station was the scene of an accident on 12 December 1870, when a goods train divided, the rear section rolling backwards towards the platforms and colliding with stationary passenger train, killing 15 passengers and injuring 59 more.

[1] In due course the area around Stairfoot became a complex set of railway junctions and fly-overs.

There was also a connection to the Hull and Barnsley Railway at Cudworth, whilst at a higher level the road and rail junctions were crossed by the Midland Railway line between Wombwell and Cudworth.