Sheffield Station and attached Bridges and Platform Bridges, City, Sheffield

Summary

A major early C20 railway station, incorporating sections of the earlier late-C19 station which had marked the completion of a new direct line from Sheffield to London via Chesterfield in 1870, completed in 1904-5 to the designs of the company’s architect Charles Trubshaw.

Description

Railway Station complex. The station was completed in 1870, remodelled and extended in 1904-5, further altered in 1959 and 1979-8, and remodelled again in 2002.The architect of the original station has not been identified. The remodelling and enlargement of 1904-5 were carried out to the designs of Charles Trubshaw, architect to the Midland Railway Company.

MATERIALS: ashlar and coursed, squared, rock-faced Derbyshire gritstone with ashlar dressings to the C19 buildings on the island platforms, and snecked, pick-faced gritstone with ashlar dressings to the C20 west frontage range and west platform. Cast iron and riveted metal beam canopy and roof structures, and hipped roofs with slated, glazed and C20 sheet coverings.

PLAN: the station complex is aligned north-south, with the principal building range forming the west side of the complex, facing Sheaf Street, This range is linked to the two parallel island platforms to the east by two station bridges, the southern one reaching the eastern platforms, the northern one spanning the full width of the station site. The station platforms extend beyond the station building ranges and associated canopy structures at both ends of the site.

EXTERIORS: the entrance frontage to the station complex is comprised of a long range of linked buildings, the most prominent of which is the central porte-cochere. Its west elevation is formed of an arcade of twelve elliptical arches with voussoirs and keyblocks. The arches, all now glazed, rise from buttressed piers with ogee-domed finials. Above, a series of coped gables, that to the sixth bay from the north end bearing the Wyvern crest of the Midland Railway Company. The sixth bay and both end bays have smaller double-arched openings supported on square central piers. At each end of the porte-cochere are massive terminal buttresses, each with a near-circular moulded plinth and three ogee-shaped domes. The gables to these bays incorporate ashlar roundels, with a clock in the north end roundel and a floral motif in that to the south end.

Set back beyond the north end wall of the porte-cochere are the former station master’s house, refreshment room and first class dining room, now refurbished for use as a public house and brewery. The former house is of two storeys and five bays, bays two and five advanced, with pedimented gables above three-light first floor windows. Below, there are two, tall semi-circular arch-headed windows to each bay. The central bay has identical fenestration whilst the outer bays have single-light upper floor windows. Sash frames are retained in the upper floor openings; the ground floor windows have modern replacement frames.

Extending from the north end of the house is a curved, four-bay single storey range, the bays defined by pilasters. Three of the four bays have tall, semi-circular arched openings with ashlar surrounds. The north end bay has no openings, whilst the other bays each have three openings, two to the penultimate bay at the north end now infilled or originally blind. At the north end of this range is a wide-arched cart entrance, the arch detailing matching that of the porte-cochere arcade.

At the south end of the porte-cochere is a recessed arcade of nine semi-circular arches forming the front wall of part of the west platform building, formerly used as a parcels facility. The arches have wooden screens, some glazed, with glazing bar overlights. The frontage is covered by a C20 multi-gabled glazed canopy, supported on three octagonal columns, each with a massive ogee-shaped cast-iron guard to its base. Further south is an attached range of service buildings, terminating at a small single-storey former station fitters’ workshop, below a pitched roof incorporating two substantial stone stacks. Both front and rear elevations retain window openings with glazing bar frames.

The arcaded east wall of the porte-cochere forms the entrance elevation to the station facilities. The arcade is formed of paired semi-circular arches incorporating decorative metal grilles, with the exception of the wide main entrance arch which is aligned with the sixth bay of the porte-cochere. This arch has a metal grille and carved foliage decoration to its spandrels incorporating the lettering ‘MR’ on each side. Above the arch head is a deep decorated frieze with carved foliage, and at its centre, a Wyvern crest set within an arch-headed panel. Above the arcade arches is a series of masonry gables, each with a roundel with a floral within its apex. The full extent of the arcade is obscured by C20 and C21 additions and alterations to create additional passenger facilities within the porte-cochere.

The series of pitched roofs to the porte-cochere are carried on riveted metal lattice girders carried on short stone columns rising from moulded corbels. The girders are linked by slim, arched, metal trusses incorporating decorative ironwork to the spandrels.

Beyond the arcade is the station west platform, which has a single storey platform building and an attached canopy. The long platform elevation of the building is formed of twenty bays, almost all with paired semi-circular arches infilled with glazed screens of various designs, some of which appear to retain original joinery detailing. Some bays to the central part of the building have been altered or obscured by C20 and C21 additions, and the installation of the C21 passenger footbridge, but is otherwise substantially intact. A deep, cantilevered canopy extends from the building’s east elevation to cover most of the west platform. The canopy is formed of a parallel series of shallow-pitched roofs carried on lattice girders. These extend from the arcade piers of the platform building and are linked by shallow-arched metal trusses, beyond which extend sloping end sections supporting a decorative valance. The sequence of arches and canopy bays is interrupted by the two station bridges, and by openings associated with them. The southern bridge extends from the east elevation and is carried on deep, rectangular cast-iron columns. Further north, the sequence of arches is interrupted by a wide opening beneath a deep metal beam. The construction of the C21 north footbridge required the adaptation of the canopy structure at this point.

On the west island platform are buildings which formed part of the entrance range of the original station, is a single storey building occupying the southern part of the platform beyond the C21 footbridge, which can be distinguished from the C20 phase of development by its coursed masonry and Italianate detailing. The west elevation has a series of door and window openings with flat heads set below bracketed cornices. The north elevation has a deep eaves cornice and a series of door and window openings, the latter with bracketed cornices; the door openings have moulded segmental-arched heads incorporating overlights. Some windows retain margin light sash frames. The building also retains a number of stone chimney stacks, The multi-gabled canopy to the west elevation is formed of lattice girders carried on riverted uprights set into shallow channels in the masonry walling of the platform building. The cantilevered girders are supported by deep brackets with decorative ironwork to the spandrels. The canopy is interrupted by the south footbridge, which is supported by four deep rectangular cast-iron columns. The flat-roofed canopy on the east side is of late-C20 date, and is carried on tapered octagonal columns.

Beyond the end of the platform building is the C21 footbridge and access stairs onto the platforms They are located amidst a rectangular grid of earlier latticed girders, some rectangular, some with a segmental upper beams, which span the entire platform island, and which appear to represent alterations to accommodate different phases of canopy construction. The southern six-bay section of this area, interrupted by the footbridge, follows the gabled form of the southern canopy; its girders with makers plates which read ‘EASTWOOD AND SWINGLER LIMITED. MAKERS, LONDON AND DERBY.’ The northern section terminates above the end of a central two-track access into the centre of the island platform, the end girder faced with vertical boarding and a decorative valance. Beyond this area, the north end of the platform divides into two sections. Their late-C20 canopy roofs are carried on central arcades of riveted columns with decorative side brackets supporting later cantilevered steel beams. At the south end of the platform is a small single-storey service building, remodelled during the C21. It has a single side wall stack, coped gables and, on the east side, two window openings with glazing bar frames. To the left is a doorway with a glazing bar overlight, and further left are four narrow windows and a doorway in the south gable.

The east island platform retains a much-altered single storey building which formed part of the 1870 station. A number of windows with bracketed cornices survive in the west wall, but much of the building has been heavily modified to accommodate the C21 footbridge and associated access stairways. The C21 south footbridge terminates at the east platform, and, at the north end there is a single storey service building with a pitched roof and three chimney stacks, thought to date to the late-C19. At the north end of the platform, the northernmost end of the platform canopy is supported by a number of slender cast-iron columns with short in-line brackets to the column heads, a design replicated nowhere else in the station complex. These columns are included in the listing.

Throughout the station complex there are a number of late-C20 and C21 buildings and structures added incrementally or as part of campaigns of renewal and remodelling.

INTERIORS: most of the station buildings have undergone several phases of adaptation and renewal, with the consequential replacement of original fixtures and fittings. The principal interior survivals form part of the early C20 station extension. Above the access stairs to the C21 footbridge, and access to the west platform. are three bays of coved plaster ceilings, originally part of the early C20 station ticket office. At the north end of the west frontage range, the interiors of the west platform refreshment room and the first class dining room are the most complete survivals forming part of the public house and brewery. The former refreshment room, now the main bar area, has a patterned, glazed tile dado and frieze and a three-bay coved ceiling with skylights. The original bar counter and panelled back bar with mirrors and clock have been re-sited against the back wall of the room. The former first class dining room has Rococo-style tiling and semi-circular wall panels and mirrors. The arches have cartouches, and the panels have faience heads as keystones. There is an elaborate Rococo-style fireplace and partially-glazed ceiling panels which incorporate console brackets to the plastered beams. The upper floor of this range has not been refurbished.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, it is declared that: the east island platform building and canopy: all post-1957 canopies: C21 extensions to buildings: C20 and C21 overbridges: C20 and C21 platform signage and metal seating are not of special architectural or historic interest and are excluded from the listing.

History

The Midland Mainline is the outcome of a number of historic construction phases undertaken by different railway companies. The first two phases were carried out simultaneously between 1836 and 1840 by the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway. The North Midland Railway, which operated between Derby and Chesterfield, was pre-eminently the work of George (1781-1848) and Robert Stephenson (1803-1859) who, along with Brunel, are the most renowned engineers of this pioneering phase of railway development. They worked closely with the railway architect Francis Thompson (1808-95) who designed stations along the line. The less demanding route for the Midland Counties Railway, which ran between Derby and Nottingham to Leicester, was surveyed by Charles Vignoles (1793-1875) who was engineer to a large number of railway projects. These two companies (along with the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway) did not yield the expected profits, partly because of the fierce competition between them. This led to the three companies merging into the Midland Railway in 1844 which constituted the first large scale railway amalgamation. The next part of the line from Leicester to Bedford was constructed between 1853 and 1857 by the engineer Charles Liddell (c.1813-1894) and specialist railway architect Charles Henry Driver (1832-1900). In 1862 the decision was made to extend the line from Bedford to London which was again the responsibility of Liddell, except for the final fourteen miles into London and the design of the terminus at St Pancras (listed at Grade I) which was undertaken by William Barlow (1812-1902). Additional routes were then added from Chesterfield to Sheffield in 1870, and from Kettering to Corby in 1879. The most important changes to the infrastructure of the Midland Railway were the rebuilding of principal stations such as Sheffield, and the increasing of the line’s capacity, involving the quadrupling of some stretches south of the Trent from the early 1870s to the 1890s.

Sheffield Railway Station, formerly known as Pond Street Station and later Sheffield Midland Station, was built as the Midland Railway Company’s terminus for its new direct route to London via Chesterfield. The route from Chesterfield to Sheffield followed the Drone and Sheaf river valleys northwards, a challenging engineering feat requiring the driving of the 2027- yard long Bradway tunnel at the summit level of the new route, and the provision of a series of substantial new stone road bridges, a tall viaduct at Unstone and a massive masonry-lined embankment alongside the River Sheaf at Heeley. The site for the new station lay to the east of Pond Street, cutting into the eastern slopes of the Sheaf valley, and requiring the construction of a masonry retaining wall which now defines the eastern extent of the station site. Such was the extent of the site that the Town Council insisted that public access be maintained across it for fear that the eastern part of the town would be cut off from the rest of Sheffield. The new station had a two storey Italianate frontage and a twin-arched train shed, and became the second of the Midland Railway Company’s stations in Sheffield, the other being the Midland Railway Station at the Wicker which served the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway; until 1870 this was the only route to London.

In 1904-5, the station was extended and remodelled to the designs of the company’s architect Charles Trubshaw. An ambitious new west frontage range was created around an arcaded porte-cochere, with the former station entrance becoming part of an island platform to the east of a newly-created west platform. The station platforms were connected by two footbridges, the northern one for passengers, the southern one for railway staff. When completed, the new Midland Railway Station became the largest station complex on the company’s network after London’s St Pancras station.
In 1956-7, the original train shed was removed, and replaced by platform extensions with canopies. Late-C20 alterations to canopies and to platform buildings took place, together with the provision of new passenger facilities on the island platforms. In 2002, a major refurbishment of the station’s frontage range took place, together with the construction of a new pedestrian footbridge and the creation of a new station approach and public square.

The late-C20 and C21 works to the station site created a number of new buildings, including a glazed entrance to the west platform and a new station shop. A glazed passenger waiting room was built at the middle of the west island platform, and a new building housing a cafe, shop and waiting room was added to the east island platform. The most recent interventions saw the installation of a new ticket office, announcements board and retail and cafe units within the pedestrianised porte-cochere, and the creation of a new passenger footbridge incorporating access stairways, lift shafts and a new station entrance and ticket hall at its eastern end.

Reasons for Listing

Sheffield Railway Station, completed in 1870, enlarged and remodelled in 1904-5, with further alterations in 1956-7 and remodelled again in 2002, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historic interest: the station marked the successful completion of the Midland Railway Company's direct line from Sheffield to London and was the largest station complex on the company's network apart from St. Pancras Station in London. The Midland Railway was one of the largest and most influential railway companies of the railway era, and provided the city of Sheffield with a railway station befitting its status as the world's pre-eminent steel-making and manufacturing centre in the late-C19 and early C20;

* Architectural interest: the station retains its character, external masonry detailing and interior decorative finishes of high quality, together with complex structural engineering in the form of the lattice girder construction of the porte-cochere roof and platform canopies;

* Completeness: despite a number of phases of alteration and remodelling, the plan of the station, as originally laid out and later remodelled in 1904, remains almost entirely intact, save for the removal of the original engine shed.

External Links

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