Barry Island Railway Station

This is a railway station built in the Jacobethan style, dating from 1896. It is constructed primarily of red brick with limestone and yellow brick dressings, and has a slate roof featuring contrasting fishtail banding, decorative ridge tiles, and moulded brick stacks. The windows are large-pane sash windows, with a mix of 4-pane and 2-pane glazing, and timber-panelled doors.

The main elevation faces Station Approach, and is characterized by a central entrance range flanked by advanced wings with stepped gabled shapes; continuous cornice and plinth courses run along the building. The central range has three sets of paired windows with a 2-over-4 pane configuration, separated by high stone transoms. Two of these window sets flank a doorway located to the right, which itself has a 3-pane light above. Projecting brackets and ironwork remain from a former canopy, though the canopy cover itself is now missing. The left outer wing has paired small windows set high, and a central rectangular plaque displays the letters 'B.R.'. A similar projecting bay on the right has tripartite windows with a high transom and 2-over-4 pane windows, along with a plaque displaying '1896'. The return to the right shows two windows and a continuation of the platform screen wall. A wide arched double door and railings are also present.

Attached to the left wing is a projecting flat timber canopy, followed by a Great Western Railway (GWR) ticket office. A gap in the original structure has since been filled. The GWR ticket office is built in a matching style, with a gabled front and a projecting 3-bay canopy to the left, covering a GWR cast iron vendors screen. A circular 4-pane window remains on the platform side gable, although the glass is lost. The roof design has an elevated ridge section with continuous ribbons of small square-paned windows on either side, illuminating the interior.

The platform elevation is dominated by a wide, double-pitch timber and glass canopy supported by cast iron columns and a substructure, which curves slightly with the track and platform. The columns are marked with the manufacturer’s mark ‘J. Lysaght, Bristol. 1896’. The station building’s detail matches the front elevation. The right side features a single door with a 2-pane light above, flanked by windows with 2-over-4 panes. A central double door leads to a former ticketing hall, with a 3-pane light above and paired windows matching the front elevation. The left side has a double door with a 3-pane light above, followed by high 2-pane windows serving as rest rooms.

The earlier Barry Railway building retains its original internal layout. A small internal window, used for serving tickets, survives within the partition wall between the original ticketing hall and the offices in the right wing; a wooden shutter is located on the staff side. The left wing contains rest rooms with original décor, with the ladies' room facing the street and the gents' room facing the platform, originally separated by an archway, now enclosed. The later GWR ticket office retains a booth around the ticket vendor’s screen. Two squat queen post roof trusses are exposed, set below the rooflights.