Mistley Station

Mistley Station is a railway station built in 1854 for the Eastern Union Railway and extended in the later 19th century. It was designed by either Francis Thompson or Frederick Barnes. The building is constructed of red brick with yellow brick dressings and has Welsh slate roofs. The yard elevation features two storeys and three bays. The central section includes paired doorways framed by yellow bricks, complete with imposts and keystones, leading to a lobby that provides access to the station master's house and the station offices. Above this, there is a first-floor band with a central window in an arched yellow brick frame with an apron. The side bays are accentuated by yellow brick pilasters that rise to support a broken timber pediment at the eaves. Each side bay has a large marginally glazed casement window on the ground floor and an arched sash window above, both framed in yellow brick.

The platform elevation has a projecting ground floor with an open waiting area between infilled bays, a blocked window on the left, and an arched doorway with side windows on the right. There are four windows on the first floor, and single-storey extensions on either side. The building features brick end chimneystacks and a central ridge chimney. The platform on the opposite side of the tracks is modern. The interior has not been inspected.

Mistley Station was built as part of the Harwich branch, which opened in 1854 from the Eastern Union Railway main line at Manningtree. By the time the line opened, the Eastern Union Railway had already been taken over by the Eastern Counties Railway, which became part of the Great Eastern Railway in 1862.

This station is a good example of a mid-19th century railway station that has seen little alteration and can be attributed to one of two early railway architects.