Agricultural History Review, Volume 63 Part 2 (2015), p. 330

Dr Richard Beeching is a name known to both railway buffs and rural historians alike. The branch line closures overseen by him in the 1960s transformed the transport landscape of Britain with nearly 2400 of the existing 7000 railway stations identified for shutting down. It was, moreover, in rural areas that the axe came down heaviest and the closures were hardest felt, and this despite the country station being regarded as a uniquely English thing of beauty set in the heart of the rural community. In this book Steven Parissien goes far beyond this popular history, presenting a carefully researched, well-written and superbly illustrated architectural history of the English railway station. From wooden-shed origins in the mid-nineteenth century to twentieth-century modern urban regeneration termini, with stops along the way at Victorian urban grandeur and mid-twentieth-century demolition, Parissien carefully charts the history of this commonplace but little considered architectural form.

Of the themes explored in the book, that of the country station is no doubt of most interest to agricultural and rural historians. The modernizing influence of railway expansion on rural communities is well-known. It provided access to new employment opportunities for agricultural workers and helped establish new markets for agricultural products – milk being one example noted by Parissien. Whilst the railway, and the location of country stations, could be regarded as an economic benefit to farmers, the new railway age was not wholly embraced by estate landowners. Not only topography, but also landowners’ desires influenced the route of railways across the mid-ninetieth-century landscape. Lords Exeter and Egremont are highlighted, for example, as successfully ensuring the railway was diverted around their respective parklands. The latter’s influence resulted in Petworth Station being built a brisk two-mile walk from the town it served!

Across England railway companies adopted a range of architectural styles and Parissien provides a number of examples to illustrate how county stations varied from modest brick halts to grand buildings that could be mistaken for country houses. The latter group included, for example, William Hurst’s 1856 double stone-fronted, Jacobethan mansion-like train station at Stamford East in Lincolnshire. Similarly, station design in urban areas provided an opportunity to bring country house and estate style to the town. In 1847, for example, J. P. Prichard designed Huddersfield’s station in a classical style that resembled the mid-Georgian Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, influenced perhaps by his close association with the Earls Fitzwilliam as their family architect. In designing the train shed at Newcastle Central between 1845 and 1850, Frank Dobson borrowed techniques of garden glasshouses, most notably Sir Joseph Paxton’s Great Stove at Chatsworth. As well as being an architect, Paxton was a director of the Midland Railway and his influence can also be seen at Buxton station, not far from Chatsworth.

Conversely, railway expansion established new wealthy landowners in the country who sought to combine their enthusiasm for the railway and traditions of the county house in creating their vision of a rural community. The railway contractor Sir Morton Peto in the 1840s, for example, commissioned the sculptor John Thomas to design the Jacobethan Somerleyton Hall in Suffolk together with estate village and matching station on the Norfolk Railway.

From the confident expansion era of the Victorian station and its early twentieth-century prime, Parissien’s focus turns to consider ‘Demolition and decay’ under Beeching, and the wider modernizing railway programme. Whilst lamenting the demolition of many fine country stations, Parissien points out that many were converted into private residences. Within the next two chapters, on ‘Brave new British Rail’ and ‘A new railway age’, the country station receives little attention: mid- to late twentieth-century modernization was mainly an urban occupation. Rare exceptions included the replacement of Victorian rural stations with practical, modern pre-fabricated units in the Southern Region during the 1960s. Finally – as Parissien points out – the resurgence of the country station as a reaction to the Beeching cuts is reflected today in the preservation of a number of heritage branch lines.

Throughout this enjoyable journey through the architectural history of the station Parissien maintains focus on his key destination, whilst at the same time providing interesting tracks for further inquiry. More could have been said, for example, about how country stations fitted in with the existing built environment of rural settlements and to what extent – if any – station architects took into account of the local vernacular. Estate records, too, might be a rich source in helping us better understand landowners’ relationships with railway companies, both in relation to estate access and in terms of station design and patronage – a theme for others to pick up perhaps. Yet overall The English railway station is a comprehensively researched, beautifully illustrated addition to the small literature on railway stations and their architecture, and a scholarly accompaniment to the booming literature on railway heritage.