Description

Sir William Tite (London) 1848 with later additions including Blyth & Westland 1884 and WA Paterson 1893 (see Notes). Expansive station complex comprising 1848 Tudor-Gothic multi-bay former ticket office block with off-centre 5-stage crenellated octagonal tower and later 1884 platforms to E. Later 1968 flat-roofed single-storey linking extension forming ticket office. Coursed, grey and pink sandstone with contrasting cream ashlar sandstone margins. Polygonal cast-iron columns to platforms. Stairways and bridges with decorative trellis iron balustrades and iron Tudor-arched detailing to balusters with iron handrail. Platform canopies with some decorative timber valances.

MAIN BUILDING: to W. Asymmetrical, 2-storey, long, multi-gabled block. Base course, eaves cornice, blocking course. Some hoodmoulds. Double-chamfered 2-and 3-light windows with stone mullions and transoms. Tudor-arched doorways. Some panelled timber leaf doors. Some advanced timber bay windows, and one timber oriel window. Buttressed crennellated tower with pointed-arch windows and pyramidal slate roof.

Predominantly timber sash and case windows. Slate roof to former office building, saw tooth glass roofs over platforms.

INTERIOR: former office and waiting rooms remain largely intact. One large room to ground with decorative coffered ceiling, timber floor, Corinthian columns and decoratively carved timber fire surround and panelling. Other rooms with some simple cornicing and panelled timber doors. Some fire surrounds.

CARRIAGE SHED: to NE. Large former carriage shed with cast-iron columns and trellis beams. Saw tooth corrugated iron roof with part clad sides open to ground and with some modern additions.

GATEPIERS: to N. Pair of narrow square-plan cast iron capped gatepiers, flanked by pair of larger, crenellated stone gatepiers.

Statement of Interest

Perth Railway Station was the major thoroughfare in the 19th century for passengers travelling from the South to the Highlands. The station has undergone a series of additions and extensions since its original conception, but the early buildings in particular retain their character and have good decorative detailing both externally and internally. The octagonal tower is an distinctive feature which gave the 1848 block an impressive frontage. Some of the impact of this has been reduced due to later additions, but the elevation reflects Perth's wealth and growing importance as a transport hub.

Originally know as Perth General Station, the railway station at Perth was originally built as a co-operative venture between the Edinburgh, Perth & Dundee Railway, the Scottish Midland Junction Railway and the Scottish Central Railway. The companies had to have a public enquiry before they could agree on a site for the station and it was jointly owned. The earliest section of former office and waiting room block, facing the current Platform 4 resembles Tite's previous station at Carlisle in 1847. The station was extended in 1884 to accommodate increasing numbers of travellers and Blyth & Westwood introduced curved platforms going to Dundee to the East with awning cutting into the original Tite block to the West. A pair of 3-arched Gothic openings with a linking corridor joined these two sections of the station to the North. This linking corridor was subsequently demolished and the Southern aspect of the V-shaped entrance was infilled in 1968 by a flat-roofed ticket office by the British Railway Board's Architects Office. Other extensions include platform awning to the West of the main block which was completed by Donald A Matheson in 1910-11 and a 2-storey extension to the North of the main block which was completed by A & A Heiton in 1854.

The wall standing to the West of the station was originally the eastern wall of one of the original station buildings which was demolished in 1866 to provide a larger carriage shed for the North British Railway; the openings are still visible in this wall.

The carriage shed to the North East is likely to have been built as part of the station's extensions in the 1880s and is unusual for being an open-sided carriage shed.

Sir William Tite (1798-1873) was a London-based architect whose work in Scotland is mainly confined to railway stations, as he worked for a short time for the Caledonian Railway.

Cunningham Blyth and Westland were a firm of consulting engineers with an excellent reputation. The majority of their work was for the railways.

Category changed from C(S) to B 04-05-93.

List description updated as part of Perth Burgh resurvey, 2010.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Perth railway station at Wikipedia
• Wikidata IDs Q17849221 Q302555

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
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  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
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