Monument Type(s):

• RAILWAY STATION (Mid 19th century to 20th century (post-war) - 1848 AD to 1960 AD)

Summary

A railway station built in 1848 and closed in 1960. (Goods until 1965).

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA8704 - 2018 DBA and building survey at Leaton Station, Bomere Heath, Shropshire by Richard K Morriss

Description

Two platformed station W of level crossing in farming area. Small station house in brick on N platform. Additional waiting room added on this platform c.1900s in brick; curious rusticated wooden shelter on S platform. Signal box and goods yard to E. <1>

Shown on 2nd edition of Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map. Shows single station building with waiting room to the N. A signal box is shown just S of the level crossing to the E of the line. A signal point is further to the S. <2>

Photographs taken 20th June 2017. By this date the station building had been converted to a luxury B&B. The waiting room is still in existence but appears to be derelict. <3>

A heritage impact assessment was prepared in 2018, in accordance with proposals for extension to the 'new' station building of the former Leaton station on the old GWR Paddington to Birknehead main line. This describes the development of the station complex. ->

-> The original layout of the station is unclear. However, the 1st edition of the detailed 1:2500 Ordnance Survey map (reproduced in report), surveyed in 1881, shows the station as it was at that time, with a pair of platforms. The station house is at the south end of the east platform, immediately next to the lane, and there is also a rear wing to the north of it. In the angle between the wing and the station house fronting the platform is another structure, shown in grey; this was probably a shelter. Immediately opposite, on the southern end of the west platform, is another building, also coloured grey, which must have been a shelter or waiting room on that side of the station. ->

-> The acute attenuated triangle of land belonging to the railway on the east side of the station is clearly indicated on these maps, as is a pair of small buildings at its southern end by the road side. It is unclear if this land was intended for sidings and a small goods yard – accessed off the ‘up’ line north of the station – that was never completed. ->

-> By the time the revisions for the 2nd edition of the 1:2500 Ordnance Survey map (reproduced in report) were being made in 1900, the present ‘new’ station, further along the eastern platform, had been built in a typical late-19th century GWR house style. Although the map cannot show it, it does seem clear that the platform had been raised as well. The small annexe to the original station buildings at the south end of the platform had been removed, as had the waiting room on the opposite platform – to be replaced by a curious ‘Gothick’ structure of deliberate antique rustic timberwork opposite the ‘new’ station. No sidings are shown; at a slightly later date sidings were created as part of the improvements recorded as being made at Leaton in 1909 and were off the ‘down’ line to the south-west of the level crossing. ->

-> Leaton station was closed to passengers in 1960 – several years prior to the infamous Beeching report – a victim of road competition. The platforms had been demolished by the 1970’s along with the small waiting room on the ‘down’, or west, side. The GWR pattern signal box by the level crossing survived until being taken out of use in 1987 and pulled down in the following year. The stationmaster’s house became a private residence and has since become a B&B. New additions have been built in the grounds to the east of the station complex. In the mean time, the ‘new’ station on the ‘up’ platform has been disused since the station closed and, after being disused for well over half a century, is now derelict. <4>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.