Seven railway sites, including the world’s first purpose-built railway pub, have now been listed at Grade II.
Five heritage railway stations, alongside two other railway sites, have been listed at Grade II by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.
These listings celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of modern passenger railway services with the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway on 27 September 1825; an event which ultimately transformed the world.
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Cleveland Bay Proto-Railway Station
Opened 17 October 1825, The Cleveland Bay, Eaglescliffe is the earliest identified pub in the world built specifically in association with a railway line.
Originally known as The New Inn, it was built for Thomas Meynell, chairman of the Stockton & Darling Railway, to oversee the coal and lime depot at the end of the Yarm branch line.
Following the establishment’s success, the Stockton & Darlington Railway commissioned their own public houses at the coal depots at Stockton, Darlington and Heighington. All four buildings can be seen as early proto-railway stations, built before the concept of the railway station had fully evolved.
The Cleveland Bay remains in use as a public house and is located within the Eaglescliffe Conservation Area.
Havenstreet Railway Station, Isle of Wight
This small station was built in 1926 for the Southern Railway, soon after the establishment of the rail company in 1923.
The building design combined a signal box and booking office, with an adjoining waiting room. It is an example of a single-manned station which would have been operated by a single railway worker acting both as a railway porter and as signal machinery operator. Elements including the lever frame, ticket counter, furniture, and the ticket window, are believed to be original.
The station is now open to the public as a heritage station run by Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
Woody Bay Station, Devon
Woody Bay Station was built in 1898 and is the best-surviving example of a station on the former Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in Exmoor National Park. It’s ‘chalet style’ design reflects the area’s nickname, ‘Little Switzerland’.
The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway operated from 1898 to 1935. It was funded by publisher and philanthropist Sir George Newnes, who saw the opportunity for an onward rail link from Barnstaple to Lynton and Lynmouth to bring tourists from locations between Devon and London, but also to enable local people to access markets and events in Barnstaple.
The station has survived mostly unchanged. Today, it is the hub for The Lynton & Barnstaple heritage railway.
Sheringham Station, Norfolk
Sheringham Railway Station was built in 1887 for the Eastern and Midlands Railway on its line from Melton Constable to Cromer. It was constructed to serve the fast-developing tourist destinations along the north Norfolk coast and transformed Sheringham from a small fishing village into a popular tourist resort.
The main building, containing a booking hall, booking office, station master’s office and two waiting rooms, has survived substantially intact since it closed in 1967. With the exception of a separate office for Great Eastern Railway staff in 1906, its original external form has not had any significant modern additions or alterations.
Weybourne Station, Norfolk
An additional station was erected at Weybourne in 1900 for the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, opening to passengers the following year.
Weybourne Station’s main building, including a booking hall, booking office, station master’s office (now bookshop), waiting room (now buffet), ladies’ waiting room, ladies’ toilet, porters’ room, lamp room (now buffet kitchen), gentlemen’s toilet and coal shed, has survived intact since it closed in 1966. Its external form has not been altered either and many original features, such as the doors, chimneys and the platform canopy, remain.
Both are now part of the North Norfolk Railway Poppy Line, a 5¼ mile heritage railway from Sheringham to Holt.
Swanage Engine Shed and Turntable, Dorset
The steam locomotive engine shed was built in 1885 and continues to be used today. The Locomotive turntable pit is also a rare example on the British railway system since so few survive and it is still in working order. Despite the loss of the original turntable, the pit was modified only slightly to accommodate the 1950s turntable that was installed in 2012 but is otherwise intact.
Northbrook Road overbridge, Dorset
Just east of the Swanage Engine Shed and Turntable, Northbrook Road over the Swanage Railway is one of a series of bridges on the line which opened in 1885. It was built in Purbeck stone, and was designed by notable engineer, W R Galbraith.
The construction of Swanage Railway contributed to the widespread use of Purbeck stone in Dorset and beyond, and to the development of Swanage as a seaside destination.
Now, the Swanage Railway heritage line operates from Swanage to Norden (and occasionally to Wareham).
