More information : The station now known as Acton Central was originally developed in 1853 as part of the second phase of the North London Railway, an orbital line connecting Richmond and North Woolwich via the capital's northern suburbs. Initially known as Churchfield Road, it at first served a semi-rural hinterland; by 1876, however, Acton had developed into a populous suburban centre, and the complex was rebuilt on a more ambitious scale, with an imposing entrance block and canopied platforms behind. A number of other stations on the line were rebuilt at around the same time, including Camden Road, Hackney Central and Kew Gardens. The present name was acquired in 1925. During the 1950s and 60s the majority of the stations on the line were demolished and redeveloped, Acton Central being one of only a handful where substantial Victorian buildings still survive.
The principal structure on the site is the former booking hall and office building, now the Station House pub. This is a two-storey Italianate building of gault brick, with a slightly projecting two-bay centrepiece flanked by single-bay wings. A valanced timber canopy, its extreme right-hand section now lost, runs across the main front on ornamental cast-iron brackets; beneath it, the right-hand entrance door has been encased in a modern flat-roofed lobby. The first-floor windows have arched heads of fine gauged brickwork, and the wall between them is treated as a series of pilasters. The hipped slate roof is concealed behind a balustraded parapet. The ground-floor interior, now the bar, retains simple timber dado panelling and plasterwork, although the ceiling appears to have been lowered. A modern concrete staircase leads to the first-floor dining room, with windows in arched recesses under an open timber roof of moulded beams resting on stone corbels.
The western platform is backed by a long single-storey brick structure, once probably combining passenger waiting rooms with staff accommodation and goods and parcel storage areas. This shares the main building's Italianate style but is more simply detailed. Its projecting northern section has been converted into a shop, while the remainder is now boarded up. Immediately behind this is a plain two-storey brick building in brown brick, perhaps a later addition. The platform itself is sheltered by a fretted timber canopy supported on decorative cast-iron brackets, which in turn rest upon a row of thirteen iron columns. A broad stairway, divided in two by a decorative iron balustrade, leads down to an underpass, from which a similar stairway ascends to the east platform. The canopy here has been completely rebuilt to a simpler design; the brick structure behind still partly survives, although its windows have been replaced and its southern section has been largely demolished. (1)
Acton Central Station was assessed for listing in 2009 but failed to meet the required criteria. |