Former Railway Works Building

Former Railway Works Building

This is a railway works building constructed in 1845 for the London and Birmingham Railway on Stratford Road in Wolverton. It was extended in 1850 and underwent further alterations during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the London and North Western Railway. The building is constructed of red brick with stone dressings and slate roofs with extensive glazed lights. It comprises a high single storey with gabled roofs running in different directions.

The original 1845 structure is rectangular, facing west onto the railway line, with five gabled roofs running east-west; the southernmost gable flanks Stratford Road. Stretching north along the railway to the canal bridge is a gabled range, which was once the tender shop. To the north and east of the original building are extensions dating to 1850 and later. The entire complex occupies a triangular infilled site with the west elevation facing the railway, the south elevation facing the road, and the north-east elevation facing the Grand Junction Canal. The different phases of construction are visible as separate builds with straight joints between them, though their similar architectural character makes them difficult to distinguish.

The west elevation features three and a half bays of the former tender shop running parallel with the track, followed by five gable ends of the engine plant. Each of the left-hand bays contains sunk panels with two arch-headed metal-framed multi-pane windows. Piers between the bays carry a plain stone cornice. The half-bay to the right has a single window, and a glazed ridge light runs along the roof. The five gables to the right are fronted by a wall with sunk panels to each gabled section, containing two recessed arched windows, some of which have been bricked up. Stone parapets and stone-coped gables feature arched louvered vents. The second bay from the left is set forward and originally contained carriage doors in the returns, with a through line and turntable inside providing rail access to the workshop. The south elevation to the road is largely hidden by the perimeter wall, though the east end of the south gable has a tripartite light.

The north-east elevation is partially obscured at the south end by an old reading room. Where it fronts the canal, there are four bays parallel with the water, each containing a single arched window. Then follow four gables, each divided into two sunk panels containing an elliptically headed window, with a small central arched louvered vent in the gable above.

The interior has not been examined, but it is known to contain timber roofs of wide span carried on plain cast iron columns. The roof trusses have principal rafters carrying collars and king posts. The principals do not extend to the ridge but instead connect to large purlins surrounding the ridge glazing.

The locomotive erecting shop was the second phase of Wolverton works development, following beginnings to the west of the line in 1838. After J. McConnell became Locomotive Superintendent of the southern division of the London and North Western Railway in 1847, the shop became extremely busy and was where his famous 'Bloomers' locomotives were constructed between 1851 and 1862. Following McConnell's resignation in 1862, locomotive building was confined to Crewe, and Wolverton became the principal carriage works of the London and North Western Railway. These buildings served as the locomotive erecting shop and forges until 1873, then as the carriage painting shop until reorganisation in 1963. Subsequently it became the cell shop and general store until final closure in 1991. The building is of particular significance as the earliest surviving part of Wolverton works, which for a long period was one of Britain's premier industrial complexes.