Aylesford Goods Shed

This is a railway goods shed, built around 1856 for the South Eastern Railway as part of the Medway Valley Line. It is constructed of red brick laid in English bond, with a slate roof covering.

The building is a single-storey rectangular structure, open internally to the roof. Originally, a railway track ran along the south length of the building. There was a central platform for unloading goods and a cart entrance at the north. The building measures approximately 26.5 metres long and 13 metres wide.

The north elevation is the main façade and features five bays with a central cart entrance, now fitted with a roller shutter, and four round-arched windows with cast-iron frames dividing each into 12 panes. Doric pilasters separate each window bay. The west end features two blocked round-arched openings with flanking pilasters, a central arched window, a square-headed doorway, and a window in the southernmost bay. The east end has been altered; the southern bay has an opening with a roller shutter, a square-headed doorway and window in the northern bay, and a single square-headed window in the central bay. A modern fascia covers the original dentil cornice at the eaves. The south elevation largely mirrors the north façade, but the central bay is blind.

Inside, the goods shed is open to a timber queen-post roof structure featuring seven tie-beams with paired queen posts connected by a straining beam and straining sill. Most trusses have struts to the queen posts and support purlins with common rafters. Iron bracing strengthens the queen posts and trusses. A central beam runs the length of the building, and originally may have supported a jib crane from a central platform. There is a small office in the south-east corner, and the floor is of concrete.