The station was possibly opened by the Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe and West Yorkshire Railway (BBC&WYR) in January 1850,[1] although an earlier date of 1849 is given by W. D. Tattersall in his book about the branch line.
[2] The short length original low height platform survives, as replicated at nearby Bromley Cross.
[6] Henry Ashworth, cotton mill owner and deputy chairman of the BBC&WYR, claimed £6,492 from the company for nine acres of land bordering The Oaks, his Georgian home.
The minutes of the railway company held at the National Archives, Kew, reveal that the contract to build more substantial stone station buildings along the branch line in 1859 included a 'station and cottage attached' for The Oaks at the estimated cost of £270.
The Oaks was expanded in 1886, with raised platforms, a timber waiting room on the Blackburn departure side and a stone booking hall in what is now the front garden of the former station (now a private house) at the level crossing.
The original box was replaced in November 1942 by a LMS ARP type 13 box fitted with a 20 lever REC rear-mounted frame, positioned on the up side (Bolton bound), just to the north of the station.