High Wycombe Railway Station

High Wycombe Railway Station

This railway terminus station and engine shed, later converted to a goods shed and now in commercial use, was built in 1854 by the Wycombe Railway. The design is probably by one of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's assistants, though it follows a basic Brunel design. The buildings are constructed with timber frames and brick cladding beneath Welsh slate roofs, while the offices are built of knapped flint with red brick dressings and are heightened entirely in red brick.

The station follows a long rectangular plan with a gabled train-shed, offices positioned on the south (down) side, and an engine-shed with covered platform on the north (up) side. The buildings were added at different periods, which is evident in their construction.

The south elevation features a long panelled brick wall divided by piers, arranged in twenty-two bays. From left to right these comprise six bays, eleven bays, and five bays, dating respectively from around 1870, 1854, and the 1860s. The first four bays contain segmental headed windows with four lights by three lights; the fifth has a doorway with a hood above; the sixth another window. The next six bays are blind, though two contain rolling shutters over doors which originally provided direct access to the platform when the building served as a goods shed. The offices project in front of the following five bays and contain six ground floor windows on the 19th-century level (two of these are tripartite, the rest casements), all now replacements. Above these are one single-light window, two 2-light windows, and one 3-light window. The roof is concealed behind a parapet with three brick stacks. A single-storey toilet block stands to the right with another window in the train-shed wall beyond it. The elevation concludes with a blind bay, followed by another bay containing a window, and two final blind bays.

The west end is gabled with pilasters framing the train-shed entrance, while the gable end facing the up platform is blind. The west gable itself is blind.

The north wall is more evenly divided by brick pilasters and contains entrances at the third, sixth, ninth, thirteenth, fifteenth, nineteenth and twenty-first bays from the left; the remaining bays are blind. The roof exhibits varying pitches and sections reflecting different construction periods. The engine shed retains its original smoke louvre, and the old goods shed section preserves the characteristic Brunel-type ridge stack.

The interior is particularly notable for its train-shed, which is a classic example of a wide-span all-timber roof. The structure comprises eleven large queen post trusses with a continuous roof light running down the centre. These trusses are supported on carved hardwood brackets, all still in place. The roof was extended eastward with three additional trusses of similar design. The original gable screen, partly glazed with original glass, remains in position and has been incorporated into a fourth truss. The engine-shed roof contains four plain queen post trusses, with all rafters and boarding appearing to be original.

The Wycombe Railway opened from Maidenhead in 1854, engineered by Brunel and worked by the Great Western Railway from its inception. The GWR took formal ownership in 1866. When the line was extended to Thame in 1862, the High Wycombe station was rebuilt on the through lines to the north, and the original station was converted to a goods shed. It was enlarged at this time and again around 1870 when additional parts were added to the west end. Further alterations followed around 1900. The station remained in railway use until goods services were withdrawn in 1967. The line itself closed finally in 1970.