Shrewsbury Station
Region:
Red Wheel Site:
Transport Mode(s):
Address:
Postcode:
Visitor Centre:
Opening Times:
Daily. See railway timetables, visit website or telephone 0845 6061 660
Website:
Visit websiteThis 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.
Barman, Christian, An Introduction to Railway Architecture, Art & Technics, (1950)
Biddle, Gordon, Great Railway Stations of Britain, David & Charles, ISBN 0 7153 8263 2 (1986)
Biddle, Gordon, Britain's Historic Railway Buildings, Oxford University Press, ISBN-10: 0198662475 (2003)
Biddle, Gordon & Nock, O.S., The Railway Heritage of Britain : 150 years of railway architecture and engineering, Studio Editions, ISBN-10: 1851705953 (1990)
Biddle, Gordon. 'The railway stations of John Livock and T.M. Penson'. Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical Society, 31:2 (1993), 61-71. Publisher: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISSN 00338834.
Biddle, Gordon and Simmons, J., The Oxford Companion to British Railway History, Oxford, ISBN 0 19 211697 5 (1997)
Biddle, Gordon,and Spence, Jeffry, The British Railway Station, David & Charles, ISBN 0 7153 7467 2(1977)
Butt, R.V.J., The Directory of Railway Stations, Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. (October 1995, 1st Edition)
Conolly, W. Philip, British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas And Gazetteer, Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 0-7110-0320-3 (1958/97)
Denton, John Horsley. Shrewsbury Railway Station: a brief history. (1986)
Jones, G.B. and Dunstone, D., The Origins of the LMS in South Wales. ISBN 1 85902 676 1 (1999)
Lloyd, David and Insall, Donald, Railway Station Architecture, David & Charles, ISBN 0 7153 7575 X (1978)
Morriss, Richard, Rail Centres: Shrewsbury. 0 7110 1571 6 (1986)
Simmons, J., The Railways of Britain, Macmillan, ISBN 0 333 40766 0 (1961-86)
Simmons, J. The Victorian Railway, Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0 500 25110X (1991)