The Architecture and Legacy of British Railway Buildings


Book Description

Railway buildings have always had a fascinating character all of their own, despite many no longer being in operational railway service. This book tells the story of how these buildings evolved alongside the development of the railway in Great Britain and examines how architects over the years have responded to the operational, social and cultural influences that define their work. Written for those with a keen interest in architecture and the railway, as well as those new to the subject, The Architecture and Legacy of British Railway Buildings provides an unique insight into the production of railway architecture, both in the context of railway management and the significant periods of ownership, and the swings in national mood for railway-based transportation. As well as tracing its history, the authors take time to consider the legacy these buildings have left behind and the impact of heritage on a continually forward-looking industry. Topics covered include: the context of railway architecture today; the history of how it came into existence; the evolution of different railway building types; the unique aspects of railway building design, and finally, the key railway development periods and their architectural influences.




Britain's Railway Architecture & Heritage


Book Description

The majestic architecture of nineteenth and early twentieth-century railway buildings reflected the pride of the railway companies who commissioned them. The structures themselves, from classically designed stations to mighty viaducts, tunnels and bridges, inspired awe in a traveling public receptive to the splendor of a new kind of transport that was changing their lives. Today, helped along by the popularity of preserved steam railways, these wonderful examples of railway architecture are widely appreciated for their beauty and the role they played in our social and industrial past. In this highly illustrated book, filled with his own photographs and detailed drawings, Trevor Yorke describes the huge range of buildings associated with the golden age of steam, including waiting rooms, booking halls, stations large and small, and hotels. He explains the dynamics of their construction, the materials used and the myriad of styles employed by leading architects and engineers of the day.




Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations


Book Description

Discover the architectural gems that are Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations in this Sunday Times top 10 bestseller 'This is a cracker . . . a beautiful book' Chris Evans It is the scene for our hopeful beginnings and our intended ends, and the timeless experiences of coming and going, meeting, greeting and parting. It is an institution with its own rituals and priests, and a long-neglected aspect of Britain's architecture. And yet so little do we look at the railway station. Simon Jenkins has travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Waterloo to Wemyss Bay, Betws-y-Coed to Beverley, to select his hundred best railway stations. Blending his usual insight and authority with his personal reflections and experiences - including his founding the Railway Heritage Trust - the foremost expert on our national heritage deftly reveals the history, geography, design and significance of each of these glories. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of our social history shows the station's role in the national imagination; champions the engineers, architects and rival companies that made them possible; and tells the story behind the triumphs and follies of these very British creations. These are the marvellous, often undersung places that link our nation, celebrated like never before. 'However spectacular the book's photographs, it's the author's prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages' The Times 'An uplifting exploration of our social history' Guardian







Britain's Lost Railways


Book Description

The beautifully restored St Pancras Station is a magisterial example of Britain’s finest Victorian architecture. Like the viaducts at Belah and Crumlin, cathedral-like stations such as Nottingham Victoria and spectacular railway hotels like Glasgow St Enoch's, it stands proud as testament to Britain's architectural heritage. In this stunning book, John Minnis reveals Britain's finest railway architecture. From the most cavernous engine sheds, like Old Oak Common, through the eccentric country halts on the Tollesbury line and the gantries of the Liverpool Overhead Railway, to the soaring viaducts of Belah and Cumlin, Britain’s Lost Railways offers a sweeping celebration of our railway heritage. The selection of images and the removable facsimile memorabilia, including tickets, posters, timetables and maps, allows the reader to step into that past, serving as a testimony to an age of ingenuity and ambition when the pride we invested in our railways was reflected in the grandeur of the architecture we built for them.




Railway Architecture


Book Description

The great arched train sheds of Victorian Britain are often seen as the nineteenth-century equivalent of medieval cathedrals: once specific railway buildings became necessary around 1830 British architects seized the opportunity with both hands, designing some of the great buildings of their age. However, these grand buildings are only part of the story – not only was the country peppered with humbler individually styled station buildings, but also with bridges, signal boxes, engine sheds and other structures specific to the railways. In this illustrated introduction, Bill Fawcett tells the story of railway architecture from the age of George Stephenson to modern times, including such influential architects as Sir George Gilbert Scott and Charles Holden.




Industrial Britain


Book Description

A fascinating insight into Britain's industrial past as evidenced by its buildings, richly illustrated with intricate line drawings. Industrial Britain goes far beyond the mills and machine houses of the Industrial Revolution to give an engaging insight into Britain's industrial heritage. It looks at the power stations and monumental bridges of Britain, including the buildings and engineering projects associated with the distribution of manufactured goods – docks, canals, railways and warehouses. The gasworks Temples of mass production The mill Warehouse and manufactory Dock and harbour buildings Water power and water storage Waterways: canals and rivers The railway age Breweries and oast houses Markets and exchanges The twentieth century: industry on greenfield sites It's a story of industrial development, but also a story of its ultimate decline. As manufacturing has been increasingly replaced by services, new uses have been found for at least some of the country's great industrial buildings. Not least as containers for art and heritage, such as the Bankside Power Station (Tate Modern) and Salts Mill. Other buildings featured are still used as originally intended today, such as Smithfield Market in London and the Shepherd Neame brewery in Faversham. Illustrated throughout with over 200 original line drawings, Industrial Britain is a celebration of industrial architecture and its enduring legacy.




Southern England


Book Description

This guide covers from Cornwall to Kent, including Somerset and parts of Wiltshire and Surrey. It provides an informative look at some of the internationally renowned examples of historic development and engineering skills throughout southern England, including such examples as: Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse.




Conserving the Railway Heritage


Book Description

Great Britain not only invented the main-line railway but has also led the way in it's preservation - not just locomotves and carriages but also the buildings and structures that bear witness to the confidence of railway developers, architects and engineers. This book defines the nature of the railway heritage - from signalboxes, viaducts, tunnels and locomotive depots - and then discusses priorities and the best practice for it's conservation. The subject is a strongly topical one due to current concern over privatization, the effects of planned high-speed rail links and lively debates concerning the role of the enthusiast in railway preservation.




The Early History of Railway Tunnels


Book Description

To the early railway traveller, the prospect of travelling to places in hours rather than days hitherto was an inviting prospect, however a journey was not without its fears as well as excitement. To some, the prospect of travelling through a tunnel without carriage lighting, with smoke permeating the compartment and the confined noise was a horror of the new age. What might happen if we broke down or crashed into another train in the darkness? To others it was exciting, with the light from the footplate flickering against the tunnel walls or spotting the occasional glimpses of light from a ventilation shaft. To the directors of early railway companies, planning a route was governed by expense and the most direct way. Avoiding hills could add miles but tunnelling through them could involve vast expense as the Great Western Railway found at Box and the London and Birmingham at Kilsby. Creating a cutting as an alternative was also costly not only in labour and time, but also in compensation for landowners, who opposed railways on visual and social grounds having seen their land divided by canals. Construction involved millions of bricks or blocks of stone for sufficiently thick walls to withstand collapse. However, the entrance barely seen from the carriage window might be an impressive Italianate arch as at Primrose Hill, or a castellated portal worthy of the Middle Ages as at Bramhope. This book sets out to tell the story of tunnelling in Britain up to about 1870, when it was a question of burrowing through earth and rock with spade and explosive powder, with the constant danger of collapse or flooding leading to injury and death. It uses contemporary accounts, from the dangers of railway travel by Dickens to the excitement of being drawn through the Liverpool Wapping Tunnel by the young composer Mendelssoln. It includes descriptions from early railway company guide books, newspapers and diaries. It also includes numerous photographs and colored architectural elevations from railway archives.