Railway Station

MINEHEAD

SS9646 THE ESPLANADE 900-1/3/84 (South side) 07/09/93 Railway Station

II

Railway station. 1872, extended c1897. Red sandstone rubble with freestone dressings; continuous crested plain tile roof; 4 ridge stacks off-set below diagonal shafts, truncated except one to inside left. Rectangular plan. Italianate Romanesque style. EXTERIOR: Single storey; 8-window range. Continuous chamfered plinth. Semicircular arched openings with chamfered long/short dressings and keystones. The first stage, to the right, was symmetrical 4-window range; an almost full-height gabled porch with 5 open trusses and tie bars, corbelled out over double doors with a semicircular overlight is flanked by paired and single windows. The windows are paired, separated by round columns with cushion caps, with plate-glass sashes. 2 full-height openings to the c1897 block to the left have segmental arches. The booking office to the far left is of tongued-and-grooved wood on a higher rubblestone plinth, articulated by panelled pilasters with moulded capitals. The platform canopies and the booking office have fretted wood fronts. INTERIOR: noted as having original joinery and fireplaces. HISTORY: The arrival of the railway to Minehead was the most significant factor in its development as a resort. On 27 May 1872 the Minehead Railway Company accepted a tender for building Minehead Station for »1,118.17s.6d from John Pearce. In October 1882 the GWR converted the entire line from Taunton to Minehead to narrow gauge in one weekend. On 1 July 1897 the Minehead Railway amalgamated with the GWR. (Clinker CR: The West Somerset Railway: The Exmoor Press: 1980-1986: 7).

Listing NGR: SS9748346304