Whitehead Railway Station, Chester Avenue, Whitehead, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, BT38 9QG

Whitehead Railway Station is a detached multi-bay single-storey Victorian railway station built around 1860 to designs by John Lanyon. It is located to the south of Chester Avenue, with the main station positioned to the east side of the railway.

The station comprises a number of adjoining buildings arranged from left to right: a former station master's house, former waiting room, entrance vestibule, porter's office, waiting room, and signal tower. An enclosed yard to the north contains a single-cell gabled former toilet block.

The roofs are pitched and naturally slated with deep overhanging eaves supported by timber brackets, fretted timber bargeboards, clay ridge tiles and decorative iron finials to the gables. The chimneys are of ornate red and yellow brick with corbelled detailing. The walls are constructed in stretcher-bonded red brick over a projecting plinth, with blue brick string courses and diapering as decorative detail. Windows at ground floor are segmental-headed timber-framed 1/1 sliding sash with flush sandstone chamfered sills. First-floor windows are round-arched-headed timber-framed 3/2 sliding sash with projecting cavetto-moulded brick sills.

The former station master's house features on its east elevation a two-bay single-storey section at the left containing a vertically sheeted timber entrance door with brick voussoirs, surmounted on the left by a wall-head dormer, and a single window to the centre. A two-bay two-storey section at the right has each bay gabled, with pairs of windows at ground floor and single windows at first floor. The west elevation has a two-bay two-storey section at the left with roughcast at ground-floor level and two square-headed windows at ground floor and a single window at first floor to the south. A two-bay single-storey section at the right contains a round-arched-headed window at the centre and a square-headed timber vertically sheeted entrance door with semi-circular fanlight at the left. The north elevation is roughcast at ground floor with brickwork above, containing a blind window at ground-floor left with plain brick voussoirs and two windows at first floor.

The former waiting room is a single-bay single-storey structure. Its west elevation features timber-framed walling over a rendered plinth with diagonal timber aproning to sill height and plain glazing to door height, stained glass above, and a canted gabled porch abutting the centre with timber-panelled entrance doors to north and south with glazed top panels. The east elevation contains a square-headed timber door with transom light at the centre, four square-headed replacement timber casement windows to the left, and two to the right.

The entrance vestibule and porter's office comprise a one-and-a-half storey gabled entrance bay. The west elevation contains segmental-headed double-leaf vertically sheeted timber entrance doors with brick voussoirs and a window at the right. The east elevation is roughcast over brick to sill height with two square-headed windows at the left. To the right, two projecting bays feature a single round-arched-headed window to the left, flanked at the right by a one-and-a-half storey gabled bay with a round-arched-headed window.

The waiting room is a three-bay single-storey structure with bays separated by brick piers. Timber-framed glazing rises over diagonal timber aproning to sill height. Timber-panelled double-leaf entrance doors with glazed top panels occupy the central bay. A timber-framed pitched canopy supported on square timber columns abuts the platform. The east elevation consists of five bays with horizontal timber walling above brick to sill height; each bay contains a group of nine glazed lights surmounted by a central light.

The signal tower is a single-bay three-storey structure. Its west elevation consists of brick walling to first floor with timber-framed walling above, with openings now blocked and two windows at ground floor. The south elevation features the signal tower to the left with segmental-headed windows at ground and first floor and remains of a timber platform access to the tower at second floor, supported on decorative cast-iron brackets. The east elevation consists of rendered walling between brick piers to first floor with timber-framed walling above, with openings now blocked.

To the west side of the railway is a secondary single-cell waiting room, rendered to sill height with timber-framed construction above and pitched roof detailed as the main station. Its principal elevation faces east and consists of two square-headed entrance openings separated by timber-framed plain glazing to door height, with timber boarding to the eaves above.

The station is set within the town centre with entrance through modern square brick pillars from the north-east and north-west. A level crossing lies to the north and an ironwork footbridge to the south. The platforms are modern with tarmac and paved surfaces and are bounded by original brick walling with recessed panels to the east and west. The enclosed yard to the north contains a single-cell red brick shed (the former toilet block) with entrance to the south through a square-headed timber-sheeted door. Cast-iron ogee gutters and square downpipes form the rainwater goods throughout.