Bingley Station, including the south-west platform walkway and Park Road entrance

Railway station built in 1892 by Charles Trubshaw for the Midland Railway in neo-Renaissance style.

Construction and Materials

The station is constructed of sandstone 'bricks' with ashlar dressings and slate roof coverings.

Layout

The station runs north-west to south-east. The main station building stands on the south-west side of the railway line with a reverse C-shaped plan, whilst a smaller platform building occupies the north-east side of the line.

External Features

Both the main building and north-east platform building feature gabled bays and tall corniced chimneystacks. Doors and windows have quoined surrounds. The windows are a mixture of casements and fixed windows with multipaned upper sections. Most original panelled doors survive, along with decorative cast-iron hoppers on the rainwater goods.

The main building's principal seven-bay front elevation faces Wellington Street. Projecting gabled cross-wings stand at each end, with five lower bays to the centre beneath a parapet incorporating raised heads above each bay. The cross wings have ball finials and carved stonework to the gable apexes, including cartouches with a carved wyvern—a dragon-like creature that was a symbol of the kingdom of Mercia (roughly the area of the present-day Midlands), which the Midland Railway chose as their emblem. The cartouche on the left (north-west) gable incorporates the initials of the Midland Railway in relief lettering, whilst that on the right (south-east) gable bears the date '1892' in stylised numerals.

The south-east gabled cross-wing and the five central bays originally had a glazed canopy fixed in front, which was removed in the late 20th century. The pitched rooflines of the canopy are indicated by larger stones above the windows and doors. The main entrance is located centrally and consists of a wide arched opening. Windows and doorways flank the entrance on both sides: a doorway on the left leads into the former booking office (now disused), whilst one on the right leads into the former telegraph office (now the station office and ticket office). A further larger doorway with double doors leads into what was possibly a refreshment room in the south-east gabled cross wing.

Both cross wings are lit by large four-light mullioned windows to the front. The window in the north-west wing has a raised arched head above with a carved tympanum and keystone. The wing's north-west return has paired and single-light windows and, due to a fall in ground level, also has a visible lower-ground floor incorporating a boarded-up doorway. The south-east wing's south-east return has a wide doorway and is connected via a section of walling to an enclosed flat-roofed passageway/walkway that slopes gently down to the south-west platform in a sweeping curve. The walkway, also constructed of sandstone 'bricks' and ashlar with a timber roof structure, has an arched entrance in the same style as that to the main building, two cast-iron gates, painted walls, and a stone-flag floor. The upper half of the north wall is glazed.

Due to a change of ground level, the main station building appears as two storeys when viewed from the rear (north-east), with an additional lower-ground floor onto the platform. The rear elevation incorporates the rear gables of the cross wings, which are in the same style as those to the front, except that both gable ends have raised carved arched heads above the windows and the reliefs to the apexes are reversed so that the right (north-west) gable bears the date '1892' and the left (south-east) gable bears the initials 'MR', both with the same depictions of a wyvern (the Midland Railway's emblem) above. The central section incorporates wall stacks and a window with a gableted head.

An enclosed walkway bridge links the main station building with the north-east platform. Access down onto the platform level from the main building is via a wide stair flight leading down from the south-east side of the bridge. The stair has original newel posts and handrails with replaced balustrades. Glazed canopies cover the platform and are supported by octagonal painted cast-iron columns that help drain rainwater off the canopy roofs via a central drainage hollow, effectively acting as additional downpipes. The canopies have been truncated at the north-west end. Set underneath the canopies at platform level are a series of doorways, windows (some boarded over with glazing removed) and blind panels serving current and former waiting rooms, former toilets, and storage and services areas, as well as blocked-up openings at the north-west end, which originally led into a range shown on historic maps that continued along the platform but has now been demolished apart from a rear wall and gable end.

The north-east platform is accessed via a similar stair flight from the bridge on the north-west side. The north-east platform building is single-storey in height and consists of a waiting room at the south-east end lit by tall triple-light mullioned windows to the platform side with cross-shaped glazing bars and an integral doorway, and single-light windows to the rear. A high wall continues north-westwards from the waiting room along the rear of the platform and incorporates gables that mirror the pitched rooflines of glazed platform canopies designed in the same style as those on the south-west platform. The canopies have been truncated at the south-east end. The wall also incorporates ashlar banding detail, shallow buttresses, and an entrance doorway. An additional section of lower walling topped by large flat coping stones with chamfered edges projects north-westwards for approximately 12 metres from the north-west end of the building.

To the north-west of the north-east platform building is a flight of steps with low sandstone side walls incorporating triangular copings that leads up to Park Road. At the top of the steps is an archway constructed of the same sandstone 'bricks' as the station with ashlar dressings, including a raised head to the centre with the initials 'M.R.' in large relief lettering. Both the archway and flight of steps form the station's Park Road entrance.

Interior Features

Internally, the main entrance hall/foyer retains its original cream and brown glazed tiling to the walls. Off to the right is a later inserted hatch opening into the ticket office, which was originally the telegraph office.

A doorway in the north-west wall of the entrance hall with panelled double doors leads into the north-west cross wing and an entrance vestibule (also accessed via an external doorway on the front elevation), which has a panelled dado and an original panelled roof lantern. The cross wing has high ceilings and simple moulded cornicing, and appears to have originally been two rooms to the front (possibly offices), but a wall has since been partly knocked through to create a single space. The opened-up space has a chimneybreast with a painted-stone fireplace. The rear space (accessed off the vestibule and an additional inserted doorway) was originally the booking office and is top-lit by skylights. It has a panelled dado and a chimneybreast with a painted-stone fireplace in similar style to that in the front room.

The interior of the south-east cross wing, which was possibly a refreshment room originally, retains gas light fittings and a chimneybreast, though the fireplace has been removed.

The south-west platform's general waiting room retains its chimneybreast (fireplace removed). Another possible former waiting room (now a disused space) at the bottom of the platform access stair has painted-brick walls and a chimneybreast (fireplace also removed).

The north-east platform's waiting room has original fixed timber bench seating along the rear wall and a chimneybreast, but the fireplace has been removed.