Alton Towers Station
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Alton station stood on the Churnet Valley line of the North Staffordshire Railway. It was built in an Italianate villa style in about 1849. The station was used by the Earl of Shrewsbury, and had a luggage lift to hoist the Earl's baggage up to the entrance to Alton Towers. The station also comprised a three-storey tower which contained the Earl's suite of waiting rooms and its platform was particularly long to satisfy the Earl's desire to have impressive surroundings in which to receive his guests.
In 1954 the station was renamed Alton Towers. After the line closed in the 1960s, the station was acquired by the Landmark Trust.
It is something of a puzzle as the Earls of Shrewsbury were Roman Catholic and admirers of the Gothic revival. The house called Alton Towers was built in this vein as was nearby Cheadle Church, one of A.W.Pugin's greatest works, and sponsored by the Shrewsburys. It is therefore surprising that this station is not in the style of Cheddleton station, further up the Churnet Valley, which is said to have been inspired by Pugin (see OTH entry for Cheddleton Station).
By road: Off B5032.
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