York and North Midland Railway Company Workshops and Water Tank at Ngr SE 5951 5144

The workshops and water tank, dating from 1839, were designed by G.T. Andrews for the York and North Midland Railway Company. The water tank was manufactured by the Walker Foundry of Walmgate, York. The workshops are constructed of orange-red brick in English garden-wall bond, with an ashlar plinth, a moulded stone cornice, and a slate roof that is hipped at one end, featuring a timber louvre and brick stacks. The water tank is of cast iron.

Originally facing the railway line, the front of the building comprises a one-storey, three-bay structure that supports the water tank, and a lower, one-storey, five-bay attached workshop. The tank building features a segment-arched opening blocked with later brick, linked by a broad stone impost band to a round-arched radial-glazed window with stone sills on each side. A sharply moulded cornice encircles the building beneath a low parapet. The water tank has cross-braced panels with central circlets; one plate inscribed Y&NM survives from others that formerly enclosed date and manufacturer’s plates. The rear of the building has segment-headed doorways with replacement doors, one with overlight, flanking inserted windows with timber lintels and brick sills. The workshop front has one blocked doorway and four windows with stone sills, all with segmental arches; the rear has an original doorway with a replacement door, one inserted doorway, and three original windows. Moulded cast-iron guttering forms a cornice around the building. The right return facade reveals a four-panel door with overlight and a window to the left, both with segment-arched heads. These windows feature small panes with iron glazing bars and central opening panels. The interior has not been inspected.

Historically, this building formed part of a temporary station outside the city walls, used during the construction of the Old Station and former Station Hotel at Toft Green between 1840 and 1841, and therefore represents one of the earliest purpose-built railway structures in the country. A plate recording manufacturer and date was removed around 1993.