The Midland Railway Station (now East Midland), adjacent to Sheaf Square, Sheffield. Originally constructed in 1870 but extensively remodelled in 1905 by the railway's architect, Charles Trubshaw, which Harman and Minnis point out “is quite unlike much of his work of this period which is characterized by the use of red brick and terracotta. Here the style is broadly classical faced in fine ashlar from the quarries in Peasenhurst, Derbyshire, with a large cast iron porte cochère [a porch large enough to admit wheeled vehicles] behind an arcaded and glazed stone screen” (140). At some point the modern sheet glass filled in the arches. [Click on these images to enlarge them.]
Left: A partial view of the station from near the Matilda Street small cutlery and plating works. Right: A beautiful example of iron-and-glass construction; note the delicate tracery in the doorways and roof beams.
Left: This section of the station with its very long, curving platform dataes from the 1905 expansion. Right: According to Harman and Minnis, “Parts of the 1870 station remain on Platform 2, used as offices.” I'm not certain this photograph includes the building they mentioned, but if so the iron-and-glass platform roof was a later addition.
Left: At some point in the twentieth century, these metal platform roofs replaced the original 1905 glass ones. Right: large cast iron porte cochère or drop-off point.
Photographs, formatting and text by George P. Landow. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Sheffield. Harman, Ruth, and John Minnis. Pevsner Architectural Guides. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 2004.
Last modified 24 November 2011