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BRISTOL TEMPLE MEADS STATION

ALTERNATIVE NAME:

Bristol Joint Station, Bristol Old Station

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Bristol Temple Meads railway station was first established in 1839-41 as the terminus and offices of the Great Western Railway's London to Bristol line. In 1852 a railway office and train shed were built to serve the Bristol & Exeter line and in 1865-78 a third station was built as a through station. Between 1930-5 the station was extended. During the Second World War a wartime engineering school was established and extensive tunnels were dug below the station. The original station (1839-41) was closed in 1965 and all services were transferred to the later station.

The first terminus, known as Bristol Old Station, was one of the original stations constructed on the Great Western Railway. Built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, for the Great Western Railway Company, the station is in the Tudor Revival style. It is built in limestone ashlar and is axially-planned with offices, an engine shed and passenger shed. The functional space of the station was designed by Brunel and is today (2009) almost entirely intact.
The station had dedicated platforms to Departures and Arrivals and hydraulic turntables in the engine shed were used to transfer the trains between tracks. Passengers moved between platforms through the undercroft which contained the waiting rooms.

The second terminus was designed by SC Fripp in 1852 for the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company. A headquarters, built of limestone ashlar, is Jacobethan in style, planned around a central atrium. An associated train shed was later demolished when the later terminus was built.

The third station, originally the Bristol Joint Station, was built in 1865-78 . It was designed by Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt for the Great Western Railway and Midland Railway. Built in a Tudor Revival style it originally had a steep French Empire roof, which was destroyed in the Second World War.

Temple Meads Station is still a major station and its architecture well illustrates the growth of a large railway station over more than a century.

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ST59537237 Old Temple Meads Station, built by Brunel in 1840. The finest early railway terminus extant in Britain. Grade I. (1)

Bristol Old Station built 1839-41 by IK Brunel for the Great Western
Railway Company. It is built in limestone ashlar, Pennant rubble and has a hipped slate roof. It is axially-planned with offices across the end facing the road, the engine shed behind and the passenger shed to the SE now linked with Temple Meads Station (qv). Tudor Revival style. The GWR line to London was completed in 1841 when the Bristol terminus opened. Arrivals and Departures were on opposite sides, passengers passing through the undercroft which held the waiting rooms. The engines were turned around on turntables and moved from line to line in the engine shed.
The functional space of the station as designed by Brunel is
almost entirely intact and is the most complete survivor of the early provincial termini.

Temple Meads Station, known as Bristol Joint Station, was built in 1865-78 by Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt for the Great Western Railway and Midland Railway. Additional platforms were added in 1930-5. It is built of a conglomerate material with limestone dressings in a Tudor Revival style.
It had a steep French Empire roof to the tower (destroyed in the Second World War) and the booking office has forward projecting screens to the train sheds.
The station was a joint venture between the Great Western Railway and the Midland Railway.

For a full and detailed record please refer to the Listed Buildings System. (2)

Bristol Temple Meads is actually made up of three stations: Brunel's Great Western Railway station of 1839-41; the Bristol & Exeter Railway office of 1852-45 to the south; and the Joint Station designed by Wyatt in 1871-8.

The GWR offices have a symmetrical Tudor façade built of limestone. It has an oriel in a five-bay centre with octagonal angle turrets. The platforms were dedicated departure and arrival and the carriages changed tracks using a hydraulic 'traversers'. The train shed had a mock hammerbeam roof with aisles behind Tudor arcades.

The Bristol & Exeter line was constructed 1841-4 and initially a wooden train shed was provided at right angles to the GWR sheds. Opposite this were the offices in a Jacobean style, designed by S.C. Fripp.

The Joint Station was designed by Matthew Digby Wyatt serving the GWR, the Bristol & Exeter and the Midland Railways. The Midland shed extended the earlier GWR train shed. The walls are made of conglomerate with Bath stone dressings.

In 1930-35 the station was enlarged with the addition of five platforms.
For a full and detailed description please see the source. (3)

A Railway station, now offices built in 1852 by SC Fripp for the
Bristol and Exeter Railway Company. The station is built of limestone ashlar with a slate hipped roof. It is Jacobethan in style, planned around a central atrium. It is 2 storeys with basement and attic and has a symmetrical front with projecting ends and a centre flanked by square towers. Paired engaged Doric columns flank a semicircular-arched doorway.
The railway offices were built by the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company and an associated train shed existed but was demolished when the current Temple Meads station was built. (4)

The wooden elements of the Bristol and Exeter station led to it earning the unflattering local sobriquet of "the Cow Shed". (5)

SOURCE TEXT

(1) Bristol Archaeological Research Group field guides

(2) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

City of Bristol, 01-NOV-1966

(3) Andrew Foyle 2004 Bristol

The Buildings of England Page(s)88-90

(4) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

City of Bristol, 04-MAR-1977

(5) Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments

(6) World Wide Web page

Wapedia. No date. 'Waepedia: Wiki: Bristol Temple Meads station http://wapedia.mobi/en/Bristol_Temple_Meads_railway_station#1. [accessed 30-NOV-2009]

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