Former Bexhill West Station Bexhill-on Sea

Former Bexhill West Station, Bexhill-on-Sea

This is a former railway station comprising a linear main building facing south-west with a formerly detached refreshment room to the north-east, now linked to the main structure by a brick link block and glazed canopy.

The main station building is constructed primarily of red brick in Flemish bond, with a black brick plinth and orange brick voussoirs. Bath stone dressings are used throughout, with some timber-framing to the gables, terra cotta details, and Welsh slate roofs with tall moulded brick chimneystacks. The building extends across seventeen bays.

The south-west entrance front features a central projecting entrance with two projecting gables. An elaborate central cupola with wooden clock faces is enclosed within cambered heads and pilasters, topped with a lead dome and base. The central entrance displays an open moulded stone pediment stretching above the roof line with a semi-circular opening above a large moulded stone horseshoe-shaped arch. This arch has keystones and end pilasters in alternating brick and stone, with blank shields below the pediment and miniature pediments and moulding halfway down. Behind the arch stands an elaborate wooden and partially glazed internal porch with a carved pediment and entrance doors. On each side of the central bay are two tall casement windows with keystones, interrupted by a moulded stone band, set above a moulded plinth. Adjacent to these are large gables with terra cotta finials and moulded barge boards. The upper parts feature close-studded timber-framing, with large round-headed moulded stone arches below containing three sash windows each, with elaborate terra cotta overthrows including oval fanlights and console brackets. At the building's ends are lower recessed three-bay sections containing three cambered sash windows.

The side elevations also display large gables with terra cotta finials and close-studded timber-framing. The west side contains three windows and two small ornamental metal grilles, while the east side has two windows. The north-east or platform side is plainer in treatment, with a central doorcase featuring a curved pediment and pilasters, flanked by three sash windows on each side, with further sash windows at the lower ends. A glazed canopy with a roof of six hips, supported on cast iron columns and featuring wooden fretwork edging, is attached to this side.

The former refreshment room is single-storeyed, constructed of red brick with a steeply-pitched roof displaying a diaper-shaped pattern of ornamental tiles on the east side. In the centre stands an elaborate square tapering wooden cupola topped with an ogee-shaped metal dome and finial. Gablets with close-studding project to the north and south. The lower northern part with a gable probably housed the porters and lamp rooms. This building is now linked to the main station by a single-storey brick gabled link block.

The interior is accessed from the main entrance directly into the former booking hall. This space retains an internal wooden and glazed porch with a curved pediment, a four-bay boarded roof of arch-braced type, and plank dado panelling. A baronial-style fireplace with a cambered arch and green tiles is surmounted by a moulded wooden cornice. The eastern wall retains two original ticket office windows. A double door on the western side opens into a large room, probably a ladies' waiting room, which features a bolection-moulded fireplace and original ladies' toilet cubicles. A door to the north leads into another room, probably an additional waiting room, also with a bolection-moulded fireplace. Doors on the eastern side lead into former offices retaining an original safe and metal fireplace, though later partitions and a staircase were inserted after the building ceased to be used as a railway station.

The former refreshment room contains a large room with a ceiling of moulded wooden ribs supported on console brackets and patterned ventilation grilles round the edges. A narrow doorway to the north leads to the original gentlemen's toilets.