Scarborough Excursion Station, including the pedestrian and cab ramps and attached walls, Scarborough, North Yorkshire

Summary

An Excursion Station of 1883 by William Bell for the North Eastern Railway.

Description

MATERIALS: the main building and the majority of its related structures are of yellow Scarborough brick with ashlar dressings, while the platform canopies are of iron with Welsh slate and glazed roofs. The retaining wall to the south-west is of rock-faced stone.

PLAN: irregular. The main building is aligned south-west to north-east. The canopies sit to the south-east of this. The pedestrian walkway is to the south-west side of the main building, running south-east off Westborough. The retaining wall and bench run south-west away from the main building. The cab access area runs south-west to north-east along Westborough.

EXTERIOR: main building and canopies: the waiting room building is single storey with a chamfered plinth and a decorated brick eaves cornice. Hipped and flat roofs incorporate skylights and five brick chimneys. Openings have mostly been boarded over to the exterior and also sometimes to the interior; exact levels of survival are therefore unclear. Where windows were visible they are paired wooden frames with round-headed hoppers to the upper sections. Doors are a mixture of wood plank and multi-panelled.

The platform elevation to the south-east is of 12 bays with round-headed and segmental-arched openings to all but bay seven, which has been altered and reduced in height to a flat-headed double doorway. The two left-hand openings have had a double-width opening inserted across the two; this accesses the pedestrian walkway. Bays five and eleven have double-doorways under segmental arches. The right hand round-headed opening has been blocked. All openings are linked by a moulded impost band and ashlar keystones.

A one bay deep iron and wood canopy springs off corbels incorporated into the main building’s eaves; this once formed part of a much larger canopy, now lost. It is supported by five iron columns; the four southernmost with Corinthian capitals. Attached to this at right angles there is a triple canopy supported on four iron columns, similar in style to the other columns although shorter, with ornate spandrels incorporating the Star of David.

The north-west elevation is of eight bays with three entrances and five windows, all under round-headed arches. Its decorative treatment matches that to the south-east elevation.

The north-east return is of seven bays with a mixture of six round-headed door and window openings matching those to the south-east. The seventh bay incorporates a large opening under an iron girder supported by stone corbels with a stone stepped eaves cornice above. This accesses the formerly open cab circulation area.

Pedestrian tunnel: to the rear of the cab circulation area and attached to the station building, the north-east exterior wall of the pedestrian ramp is exposed. The upper sections are of yellow brick with a stepped eaves cornice, while the lower levels are of stepped rock-faced stone matching the former interior ceiling level. Further west this wall is subsumed into the later building, although it is mostly left exposed.

The entrance to the pedestrian tunnel sits to the south-west of the warehouse building on Westborough. It is single storey in yellow brick with a stone string course, chamfered brick plinth and decorated brick eaves matching the waiting room building. The gabled roof of the front bay is of Welsh slate. The glazed doors to the large opening are renewed.

Cab road: the wall which originally formed the south-east boundary to the cab road runs north-east from the right side of the station building’s north-east return. Six large Diocletian windows separated by pilasters are visible, while the seventh has been partially covered by a later extension. An eighth blocked window is visible from the west. Decorative treatments match those to the station building.
The cab circulation area to the north-east of the main building is laid with cobble sets and largely covered by later roofing.

The former cab entrance sits to the south-west of the arcaded wall on Westborough. This is flanked by brick and rusticated stone piers. The road’s south-east boundary wall is visible to the rear of the opening, as well as the beginning of the cobble sets to the surface, although these have been partially obscured by a later concrete vehicle ramp. The 1930s building has incorporated this entrance within its northernmost bay.

Retaining wall: along the excursion station platform to the south-west there is a rock-faced stone retaining wall with ashlar coping topped by iron railings. A continuous wooden bench runs the length of this wall and is said to be the longest railway seat in the world. The seat and back are of painted wood plank, while the fittings and branch-shaped arm rests set at regular intervals are of cast iron. The wall returns to form the south-west internal wall of the pedestrian ramp. A N.E.R. boundary marker stone sits adjacent to the corner.

INTERIOR: main building: the principal building is divided into three main rooms with access between these to the north-west. Three smaller rooms sit to the north-east end. The main rooms are partially lined with glazed bricks. Substantial stone chamfered fire surrounds survive to both the central and northern main rooms, although they have been bricked up. The central of the smaller rooms (originally the Carriage Inspector’s office) retains its fireplace, incorporating a cast iron surround within a chamfered stone surround, as well as some fitted cupboards. Internal doors are a mixture of wood plank and four-panel. The roof structure is of timber and wood plank with a ridge skylight to the north-east; this was not visible at the time of inspection.

Pedestrian tunnel: the front bay of the pedestrian ramp off Westborough has an inserted ceiling, although corner corbels with springing timbers suggest the original roof structure survives above. A large internal window to this section, as well as a doorway to the tunnel, has been knocked through the north-east wall giving access to the later building. The north-east wall of the ramp tunnel is of yellow brick, while the south-west retaining wall is of rock-faced stone. On either side stepped corbels provided support for the former trussed roof, although this has now been replaced by timber and corrugated sheet flat roofing.

Cab road: the cab road boundary wall forms the ground floor south-east wall of the 1930s warehouse building. Internally although the inserted ramp has covered some of the wall, a good proportion has been left exposed on both the ground and first floor, with brick either plain or whitewashed and the eaves cornice remaining visible. As this building was constructed on floating foundations, the sloping cab road has survived beneath. The cobbled set road surface is flanked by the stone and brick retaining wall to the north and the brick wall to the south.

History

This excursion station was designed by William Bell for the North Eastern Railway, constructed 1883. It was an expansion of the existing station complex, which included the main station of 1845 by G. T. Andrews (Grade II) and the earlier excursion station of 1859 which abutted the main station’s south-west end.

The site was originally arranged so that pedestrians had direct access between the excursion station platform and Westborough, while those arriving by cab were delivered to the waiting rooms’ north-west entrance via a sloping road accessed from further north along Westborough. This was flanked by a retaining wall to the north-west and a boundary wall to the south-east. Once passengers were dropped off, cabs exited the circulation area through the large opening to the north of the waiting room building and entered what is now the car park. This area was once glazed, however this was removed during the mid-C20.

A plan dated 1914 shows the main building was designed to accommodate public conveniences, ladies’ and general waiting rooms, staff offices and a cabman’s shelter. It was converted to house a luggage store, fruit and vegetable store and parcels office during the 1920s. Internal fixtures and fittings related to the building’s use as waiting rooms were removed at this time, save for the fireplaces.

The pedestrian ramp and entrance structure, as well as the area forming the cab access, is under separate ownership from the station building. A garage, car showrooms and filling station building was constructed on the cab road footprint during 1933-34, however the sloping surface and retaining wall to Westborough are still accessible in the basement area. The road’s south-east boundary wall has been incorporated into the later building. The 1930s building itself and the later infill are not included in the listing.

Reasons for Listing

Scarborough Excursion Station, including the pedestrian and cab ramps and attached walls, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic Interest: the expansion of the excursion station provisions at Scarborough demonstrates the popularity of the town as a seaside resort for many thousands of day-trippers during this period;
* Architectural Interest: it is a good example of North Eastern Railway architecture, designed by the notable railway architect William Bell ;
* Group Value: the structures form a functional group designed to keep excursion passengers separate from the ‘better class’ of passenger visiting the main railway station.

External Links

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