The Railway Tavern, a former Stockton and Darlington Railway inn

Public house, originally intended as an inn forming a proto-railway station, 1826 by John Carter for the Stockton & Darlington Railway, with later alterations including those by J Ross & R Lamb (1871), and GG Hoskins (1898).

MATERIALS: brick, the front elevation finished with painted render, with applied timber dressings to the ground floor and stone quoins to the first floor. Former slate roof replaced with modern tiles.

PLAN: inside the central public entrance is a small lobby giving access to the flanking public rooms that are served by a single bar that spans across the rear of the entrance lobby.

EXTERIOR: front (west) elevation is of two storeys and four bays, that to the south being double width. The first-floor windows are domestic-style single-pane sashes. The ground floor has a frontage incorporating timber pilasters rising from a simple plinth to support a plain frieze topped by a dentilated cornice, these pilasters flanking the windows and the central double doorway. The pilasters have fielded-panelled bases rising to windowsill height. The windows have large, plate glass lower lights and smaller top lights that are divided up with glazing bars to form lozenges. These windows are attributed to the alterations by Hoskins, however the top lights are very similar to the fan lights over the front entrance to the S&DR’s 1826 inn in Stockton. The central entrance is approached by three steps and has a plain rectangular overlight. To its left (north) are two large windows each framed by pilasters, to the right (south) is a double-width canted bay, the frontage carrying around the corner of the building to include a single (now blocked) doorway with a lozenge overlight. The roof has coped gables and brick end stacks, with a smaller ridge stack to the centre.

The other elevations are more domestic in character, generally retaining sash windows. To the centre of the ground floor of the side elevation to the south there is a double window with lozenge top lights, but this lacks pilasters or other external dressings.

INTERIOR: this includes a small timber panelled entrance lobby with opposed doors leading to the two public rooms and evidence of its former use for off-sales. The two public rooms are served by a single bar extending between the rooms. The ornamented, stripped pine bar front is Victorian and was probably originally painted. The rooms contain some fitted bench seating which is thought to relate to the alterations by Hoskins.