Porte Cochere, Pedestrian Loggia And Octagonal Turret Forming Frontage To Leicester Station

Railway station porte cochere, pedestrian loggia and octagonal turret forming the frontage to Leicester Station, built in 1892 for the Midland Railway Company. Designed by Charles Trubshaw, the company's architect.

The building uses red brick with terracotta detailing and dressings, and is covered with a glazed roof structure supported by riveted metal roof beams. The plan follows a north-west/south-east axis, incorporating passenger and vehicle access from London Road as well as entry and exit to and from the platforms and the station booking hall.

The London Road frontage presents an arcaded front of nineteen bays divided by flat brick pilasters. Above this runs an entablature with an arcaded parapet supported on fourteen large urns. Each bay contains a round-headed arch framing either a window or pedestrian passage, with a fluted keyblock and continuous impost mould. Four large elliptical arch carriageways feature bas-relief decoration in the spandrels, with the two arrival carriageways marked by open pediments rising through the parapet. All carriage and pedestrian openings are fitted with decorative iron gates made by Elgood Brothers of Leicester. At the south-east end, a curved corner transitions onto a shorter frontage wall to Conduit Street, which contains a further arched carriage entrance detailed as those on London Road, together with two blind arches. At the north-west end stands an octagonal domed turret with lantern executed in terracotta, the drum sides bearing clock faces set below scrolled broken pediments. Adjacent to the turret, at a lower level, is a further elliptical arch-headed carriage entrance flanked by large lidded urns above the parapet.

Internally, the glazed roof of the porte cochere spans three widths across eleven bays. The main trusses comprise riveted metal beams with full-width tie beams supporting inclined roof truss members and continuous collar beams, plus longitudinal valley beams running the length of the building. The rear wall features seven arch-headed window and door openings at the north-west end, some providing access to the booking hall. Alongside these are further arch-headed openings, including two originally designed for staircase access from the platforms below for departing passengers. The north-west end wall contains two wide-arched openings and two doorways with overlights, providing access to a curved passageway from the street-level openings at the north-west corner, within which runs a balustraded passenger walkway.

The present Leicester Station opened in 1892 and was completed in 1895, replacing an earlier Midland Railway station of 1840. The new station was designed on two levels, with passengers arriving and departing at street level on London Road via what was effectively a wide railway overbridge spanning the railway below and supporting the station booking hall and porte cochere. The ornamental gates were designed by Thomas Elgood, who with his two brothers had established an art metal company in Leicester. In the late 1970s, the station underwent substantial remodelling, including the rebuilding of the main platforms and removal of the glazed roof at platform level. In 1985, further alteration saw replacement of the original booking office. The porte cochere remains the principal surviving element of Trubshaw's design.