Railway Goods Shed (Former Railway Station)

This railway goods shed, originally a railway station, was built between 1830 and 1834. The architect was James Walker. It is constructed of brown brick with a triple-pitched roof, hipped at the north end. The north elevation, which served as the former entrance, has an ashlar parapet and, despite alterations when converted to a goods shed in 1841 (indicated by a “1841” cast iron lintel), appears to have been designed as two storeys. The central four bays have modern window openings but retain the voussoirs of the original first-floor windows. The end bays project slightly and feature segment-headed, full-height doors. The side elevations feature windows with glazing bars, splayed reveals, and almost flat lintels built with finely gauged brickwork: four on the west side, one of which is blocked, and likely others obscured by later buildings; two on the east side. The south elevation is weather-boarded.

The interior reveals two rows of cast iron columns with slightly tapering forms and Egyptian capitals. The two outer spans are supported by timber king post trusses, while the broader, central span has queen post trusses.

Historically, this station served as the terminus of the Leeds and Selby Railway, the first incorporated railway company in the West Riding, initially conceived in 1821 as a response to the Aire and Calder Navigation's canal. Initial surveys were conducted by Joseph Locke, under direction of George Stephenson, who envisioned a railway connecting Liverpool to Hull. James Walker subsequently surveyed the project. The railway received its Act in May 1830, construction began in October 1830 and it opened in September 1834. The line included Richmond Hill Tunnel in Leeds, a pioneering railway tunnel. The station ceased operation in 1840 with the construction of the current station. In 1841, Robert Stephenson surveyed the line on behalf of the York and North Midland Railway, illustrating the building as it stands now, but with a clerestory ventilator over the central span.