Bingley Station, including the south-west platform walkway and Park Road entrance, Bingley, Bradford

Summary

Railway station, 1892, by Charles Trubshaw for the Midland Railway, in neo-Renaissance style.

Description

Railway station, 1892, by Charles Trubshaw for the Midland Railway in neo-Renaissance style.

MATERIALS: sandstone ‘bricks’ with ashlar dressings and slate roof coverings.

PLAN: the station is aligned north-west to south-east, with the main station building located on the south-west side of the railway line with a reverse C-shaped plan, and a smaller platform building on the north-east side of the line.

EXTERIORS: externally the station has gabled bays to both the main building and north-east platform building, and tall corniced chimneystacks to the roofs. Quoined surrounds exist to the doors and windows, and the windows are a mixture of casements and fixed windows with multipaned upper sections. Most original panelled doors survive, along with decorative cast-iron hoppers to the rainwater goods. Modern lights* and CCTV systems* erected around the station are not of special interest.

The main building’s principal seven-bay front (south-west) elevation facing Wellington Street has projecting, gabled cross-wings at each end and five lower bays to the centre with a parapet incorporating raised heads above the bays. The cross wings have ball finials and carved stonework to the gable apexes, including cartouches with a carved wyvern (a dragon-like creature that was a symbol of the kingdom of Mercia - roughly the area of the present-day Midlands - which the Midland Railway chose as their emblem) above; the cartouche to the left (north-west) gable incorporates the initials of the Midland Railway in relief lettering, whilst that to the right (south-east) gable bears the date ‘1892’ in stylised numerals. The south-east gabled cross-wing and the five central bays originally had a glazed canopy affixed in front, which was removed in the late C20 and the pitched rooflines of the canopy are denoted by larger stones above the windows and doors. The main entrance is located to the centre of the elevation and consists of a wide arched opening with early-C21 electric sliding doors* (the doors are not of special interest) inserted behind. Windows and doorways exist to the two bays flanking the entrance; a doorway to the left leads into the former booking office (now disused), whilst one to the right leads into the former telegraph office (now the station office and ticket office), with a further larger doorway with double doors leading into what was possibly a refreshment rooms in the south-east gabled cross wing. Both cross wings are lit by a large four-light mullioned window to the front; that to the north-west wing has a raised arched head above with a carved tympanum and keystone. The wing’s north-west return has paired and single-light windows and due to a fall in ground level it also has a visible lower-ground floor, which incorporates a boarded-up doorway. The south-east wing’s south-east return has a wide doorway and is connected via a section of walling to an enclosed flat-roofed passageway/walkway that slopes gently down to the south-west platform in a sweeping curve. The walkway, which is also constructed of sandstone ‘bricks’ and ashlar and has a timber roof structure, has an arched entrance in the same style as that to the main building, and two cast-iron gates, painted walls, and a stone-flag floor. The upper half of the north wall is glazed and has replaced laminated glazing*, which is not of special interest.

Due to a change of ground level the main station building appears to be of two-storeys when viewed from the rear (north-east), with an additional lower-ground floor onto the platform. The rear elevation incorporates the rear gables of the cross wings, which are in the same style as those to the front, except that both gable ends have raised carved arched heads above the windows and the reliefs to the apexes are reversed so that the right (north-west) gable bears the date ‘1892’ and the left (south-east) gable bears the initials ‘MR’; both with the same depictions of a wyvern (the Midland Railway's emblem) above. The central section incorporates wall stacks and a window with a gableted head. Linking the main station building with the north-east platform is an enclosed walkway bridge that has altered glazing but appears to retain its original lower section. Access down onto the platform level from the main building is via a wide stair flight leading down from the south-east side of the bridge. The stair has original newel posts and handrails and replaced balustrades. A corresponding stair flight on the north-west side has been removed and replaced by an early-C21 grey-clad passenger lift*, which is not of special interest. Glazed canopies (the original glazing has been replaced by plastic laminated sheeting*, which is not of special interest) cover the platform and are supported by octagonal painted cast-iron columns that help drain rainwater off the canopy roofs via a central drainage hollow that means that they effectively act as additional downpipes; the canopies have been truncated at the north-west end. Set underneath the canopies at platform level are a series of doorways, windows (some boarded over and with glazing removed) and blind panels serving current and former waiting rooms, former toilets, and storage and services areas, as well as blocked-up openings at the north-west end, which originally led into a range depicted on historic maps that continued along the platform, but has now been demolished apart from a rear wall and gable end.

The north-east platform is accessed via a similar stair flight from the bridge on the north-west side, and its corresponding south-east stair has been replaced by an early-C21 passenger lift*, which is not of special interest. The north-east platform building is single-storey in height and consists of a waiting room at the south-east end lit by tall triple-light mullioned windows to the platform side with cross-shaped glazing bars and an integral doorway, and single-light windows to the rear. A high wall continues north-westwards from the waiting room along the rear of the platform and incorporates gables that mirror the pitched rooflines of glazed platform canopies designed in the same style as those to the south-west platform (the original glazing has also been replaced by plastic laminated sheeting*, which is not of special interest); the canopies have been truncated at the south-east end. The wall also incorporates ashlar banding detail, shallow buttresses, and an entrance doorway. An additional section of lower walling topped by large flat coping stones with chamfered edges projects north-westwards for approximately 12 metres from the north-west end of the building. To the north-west of the north-east platform building is a flight of steps with low sandstone side walls incorporating triangular copings that leads up to Park Road. At the top of the steps is an archway constructed of the same sandstone 'bricks' as the station with ashlar dressings, including a raised head to the centre with the initials 'M.R.' in large relief lettering. Both the archway and flight of steps form the station's Park Road entrance.

INTERIORS: internally the main entrance hall/foyer retains its original cream and brown glazed-tiling to the walls. Early-C21 floor coverings*, a suspended ceiling*, and a modern ticket machine* and fixed seating* in the foyer are not of special interest. Electric sliding doors* (not of special interest) at the rear of the hall lead out to the enclosed footbridge and the platform access. Off to the right is a later inserted hatch opening into the ticket office, which was originally the telegraph office; the space has been modernised and partitioned* to create a toilet* and kitchenette*, and a suspended ceiling* inserted (these later insertions are not of special interest).

A doorway in the north-west wall of the entrance hall with panelled double doors leads into the north-west cross wing and an entrance vestibule (also accessed via an external doorway on the front elevation), which has a panelled dado and an original panelled roof lantern. The cross wing has high ceilings and simple moulded cornicing, and appears to have originally been two rooms to the front (possibly offices), but a wall has since been partly knocked through to create a single space. The opened-up space has a chimneybreast with a painted-stone fireplace. The rear space (accessed off the vestibule and an additional inserted doorway) was originally the booking office and is top-lit by skylights. It has a panelled dado and a chimneybreast with a painted-stone fireplace in similar style to that in the front room. The north-west end of the former booking office has been modernised and a stair flight*, mezzanine* and partitioning* inserted, which are not of special interest.

The interior of the south-east cross wing, which was possibly a refreshment room originally, has been modernised and mezzanines* inserted (the mezzanines are not of special interest), but gas light fittings and a chimneybreast survive. The fireplace has been removed.

The south-west platform's general waiting room retains its chimneybreast (fireplace removed) and has modern painted-steel seating benches*, which are not of special interest. Another possible former waiting room (now a disused space) at the bottom of the platform access stair has painted-brick walls and a chimneybreast (fireplace also removed). The interior of a disused former gentlemen’s toilet at the south-east end of the platform was not inspected, but the sanitary ware is understood to have been removed.

The north-east platform’s waiting room has original fixed timber bench seating along the rear wall and a chimneybreast, but the fireplace has been removed.

* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest.

History

The Leeds and Bradford Railway (L&BR) was formed in 1843 to construct a line between the two cities via Shipley, and in July of the same year an Act of Parliament was secured for the line's construction. Robert Stephenson was the consulting engineer and the line and its two termini opened on 1 July 1846.

George Hudson was chairman of the Leeds and Bradford Railway and also chairman of the North Midland Railway (NMR), and in 1844 he persuaded the NMR and two other companies that he controlled to merge to form the Midland Railway (MR).

The Leeds-Bradford line was extended from Bradford to Keighley through marshland (more than 100,000 cubic yards of stone was excavated and tipped into the bog to create a suitable base for the railway) in 1847 and then to Skipton in the same year, and in 1848 it was further extended to Colne to meet the East Lancashire Railway. In 1851 the Leeds and Bradford Railway Company's lines were acquired by the Midland Railway.

The present Bingley Railway Station was constructed in 1892 to designs by the Midland Railway's chief architect, Charles Trubshaw and replaced an earlier station of 1847 that was located further to the west. A petition had been lodged by the Memorial of the Bingley Station Improvement Commissioners in 1884 seeking improved accommodation as the old station was inadequate in terms of capacity, comfort, and sanitary and drainage conditions, and its level crossings had been the scene of several accidents.

The two front cross wings of the station have been leased in recent decades for a variety of uses, including a dance school, cyber cafe, and a radiator retail showroom; both were empty at the time of inspection (2018).

Reasons for Listing

Bingley Station, constructed in 1892, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it has a distinguished and elegant design with neo-Renaissance styling that reflects the level of investment being put into the railways in the late C19, even for smaller stations;

* the exterior detailing incorporates numerous references to the original owners, the Midland Railway, including carved initials and the company's wyvern emblem;

* despite some later alteration overall the station survives well and retains numerous original features, including windows and doors, platform canopies, two of the four original platform stairs, panelled dados, fireplaces, a roof lantern and gas-light fittings in the main building, glazed tiling in the entrance foyer, and fixed-bench seating in one of the waiting rooms.

Historic interest:

* it is a good example of a second-generation intermediate station representing the expansion of the railways in the latter half of the C19 and the growing need for improved passenger facilities.

Group value:

* it has strong group value with other Grade II-listed structures on the Leeds & Bradford line, including Keighley Station and Skipton Station.

External Links

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