Wymondham Railway Station (Main Building) and North Platform

Wymondham Railway Station (Main Building) and North Platform

Railway station built in 1844-1845 for the Norwich and Brandon Railway Company, later operated by the Norfolk Railway. A station master's house and station master's office were added at the end of the 19th century for the Great Eastern Railway Company. In 1988-1989, the original station building and station master's office were converted into a restaurant and showroom, now used wholly as a restaurant (as of 2020), while the station master's house became a private dwelling.

The late-19th-century footbridge, platform 2 structures including the late-19th and early-20th-century waiting room, and the later-20th-century platform canopy and screen wall are not of special interest.

Materials and Construction

The main station building and its additions are constructed of knapped flint with red and blue brick dressings, brick stacks and slate roofs.

Plan and Form

The 1844-1845 station building stands on the north side of the tracks on platform 1 and is rectangular in plan, aligned north-east to south-west. The station master's house and station master's office of later-19th-century date are positioned at the north-east and south-west ends respectively.

Principal Elevation

The principal façade faces north-west across a small forecourt and is 11 bays long, arranged in a 3:5:3-bay composition. The knapped flint façade features blue-brick diapering in a diamond pattern, while red brick forms the rusticated Gibbs-type window and door surrounds, the blocking course and the stone-coped parapet. All windows unless otherwise stated are timber-framed horned sashes.

The central five-bay range has a slightly higher ridge line with two ridge stacks. The middle three bays project further and are topped by a triangular gable. At the centre is a tall six-over-six sash flanked by slightly smaller and narrower two-over-two sashes. These are in turn flanked by entrance bays with half-glazed double doors accessed by stone steps with moulded wooden handrails, moulded newel posts and ball finials. The flanking three-bay ranges have four-over-four sashes to each bay, except for the left-hand end bay which has a half-glazed wooden door.

Within the gable is a pointed relieving arch with a tympanum containing a late-20th-century stone plaque reading: "HISTORIC RAILWAY STATION / WYMONDHAM / RESTORED BY / DAVID A AINGER-TURNER / AND UNVEILED BY / ACTOR BILL PERTWEE / FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF ALL / ON THE 8 OCTOBER 1989".

The station master's house at the left-hand (north-east) end rises above the eaves line of the adjoining three-bay range. It is of two bays with later-19th-century date and features diamond-shaped red-brick diapering. It has a tall, narrow two-over-two sash to the left-hand ground-floor bay and a four-over-four sash to the right-hand first-floor bay.

The station master's office at the right-hand (south-west) end is also of two bays, later-19th-century date, with four-over-four sashes to each bay and identical architectural treatment to the main building.

Platform Elevation

The platform elevation of the original station building displays identical architectural treatment to the principal façade and is 13 bays long, arranged in a 5:5:3-bay composition. The five-bay centre range has a large four-over-four sash flanked on each side by narrower two-over-two sashes and half-glazed double doors. The five-bay range to the left-hand (south-west) side has four-over-four sashes to all but the fourth bay, which has a half-glazed wooden door. The three-bay range to the right-hand (north-east) side has four-over-four sashes to each bay.

All but the two left-hand bays of this 13-bay range are spanned by a platform canopy supported by iron wall brackets with spandrels featuring pierced decorative scrollwork. The canopy has a scalloped valance, wood-boarded soffit and a bituminous felt roof.

The station master's office at the south-east end has a lower ridge line than the adjoining five-bay range and is of three bays with identical treatment to the original station building. Its diapering, however, is restricted to a single row of half-diamonds beneath the cills of its two four-over-four horned sashes. At its left-hand end is a half-glazed wooden door beneath a flat wooden hood with a scalloped valance.

At the north-east end, the adjoining station master's house has a late-20th-century rendered façade with a late-20th-century horned sash to the ground floor and a blind first floor.

Interior

The interior of the original station building was refurbished as a railway-themed restaurant in 1988. The majority of its fixtures and fittings, including the seating, luggage racks and servery, date from the late-20th and early-21st centuries. The wide floorboards are probably original, along with one cast-iron fireplace. A second fireplace is a 1920s or 1930s replacement in Art Deco style.