Dawlish Railway Station

Dawlish Railway Station

A railway station opened in 1875, built in Italianate style for the South Devon Railway on the site of an earlier station building destroyed by fire. The platform canopies were replaced in 1961 and the footbridge in 2013.

The station comprises two parallel ranges aligned north-east to south-west, with rectangular stepped footprints connected at the southern end by a footbridge. The upside (west) platform range is faced in rusticated stucco, while the downside (east) range is partially faced with granite. Both buildings combine hipped slate and flat roofs.

The two-storey upside platform building faces Station Road with a stepped main elevation. At the southern end, a canopy is carried on quatrefoil-decorated cast-iron cantilever trusses, covering the footpath and leading to the main entrance. The windows are grouped from south to north as follows: four, four, three full-height windows, five and two. Ground-floor openings comprise a mixture of square sash windows and archways, some blocked. First-floor sash windows are topped by rounded arches with central stucco keystones. The three full-height windows at the centre light the booking hall. The south elevation is a rusticated-stucco single bay. To the north is a mid-20th-century extension containing a guards room; the original rusticated north elevation, including sash windows, is now internal.

The parallel downside platform building faces the sea on its east side and stands on a battered stone base. Recessed-arched seating alcoves punctuate the lower level of the battered stone wall. Above this is a granite-faced single-storey platform building with three and five windows arranged from south to north. The northern return of the stone base extends slightly beyond the platform building. The southern return has a large blocked opening in the stone base and a rusticated-stucco single-bay floor above. The overhanging platform at the south end is carried on a row of decorated cast-iron columns. Mid-20th-century angled cantilever canopies cover the platforms. The main span of the covered footbridge was rebuilt in 2013 in fibre-reinforced plastic.

The booking hall features a coffered ceiling with a central star-shaped boss and a mid-20th-century booking office to its northern side. A café is located in the former parcel office at the southern end. Storage rooms lie beyond the booking office to the north. A staircase leads up to the platform and a waiting room containing a blocked fireplace. Toilets and staff areas occupy the northern end of this floor within the mid-20th-century extension. Former waiting rooms at the southern end now serve as staff areas. The pedestrian bridge is accessed by internal dog-leg stairs with timber handrails at the southern end of each platform building. The downside platform range contains a series of waiting rooms and toilets with blocked fireplaces, now disused.