Shrewsbury Station
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This fine station was opened in 1849. The first railway was from Chester which arrived in 1848. It was followed by lines to Crewe, Wolverhampton, the Severn Valley, Hereford, and Welshpool. The architect was T. M. Penson who was responsible for a number of stations in the Welsh Marches. (see Hereford entry). In this instance the style appears to have been influenced by an Oxbridge college with its mildly Tudor character, central clock tower, and castellations, and mullion windows.
The building is unusual, in that the station was later extended in 1901 by the construction of a new floor underneath the original station building. The station's platforms also extend over the River Severn. It was operated jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR).
Severn Bridge Junction signal box, at the south end of the station and built by the LNWR, is the world's largest operational mechanical signal box, with a frame accommodating 180 levers. Like the station, it is a listed building and has been renovated in 2009.
By road: Off A5191, Castle Gates, in centre of Shrewsbury.
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