Liverpool Road railway station (Manchester)

Liverpool Road Railway Station is a former railway station in Manchester, England. The building is Grade 1 listed and is the oldest surviving railway station building in the world. [cite web |title=History of the Museum |publisher=Museum of Science and Industry |url=http://www.msim.org.uk/about-us/history-of-the-museum |accessdate=2008-01-22]

The station opened on 15 September 1830 as the original Manchester terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. However, the station served as a passenger station for only 14 years, closing in 1844 when the line was extended to join the Manchester and Leeds Railway at a new station situated in Hunt's Bank, which was immediately given the name Manchester Victoria station. [http://www.msim.org.uk/uploadedDocs/Document_Depository_01/Liverpool%20Road%20Station.pdf]

In consequence, the original station buildings, now used as offices, were preserved down the years. After closure in the 1970s, the site became the setting for the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. The station buildings are now part of the new museum complex.

Since Liverpool Road ceased operation, the oldest railway station still in use as such is probably Edge Hill station in Liverpool, built in 1836.

Early History

As a consequence of opposition from the proprietors of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, it had been intended to terminate the railway on the Salford side of the Irwell. A last minute agreement brought about a change in plan. The river would be spanned by a two arched stone bridge, incorporating a cart road for the use of the Navigation company. The real problem was how to cross Water Street. The levels would not permit an arched bridge to the dimensions demanded by the Manchester Highway Commissioners. The only alternative was a flat span across a distance judged to be too wide. Fortunately, William Fairbairn, in the quest to perfect fireproof mill flooring, had developed a parabolic 'T' section girder that could span such a distance. Thus, the Water Street bridge might be said to be the first modern girder bridge.

The station itself comprised a slightly curved brick viaduct that terminated in the slope that led up from Water Street to Deansgate, alongside Liverpool Road. The viaduct fronted a solid brick warehouse, a construction that owed much to canal warehouses, beyond which was a low-level yard that was excavated into the hillside. There was a wooden transit shed at the viaduct end, on the corner of Liverpool Road and Byrom Street, and turnplates gave access to coal drops at the end of the yard. Of course, at that time, goods traffic was considered the most important potential source of income, and for this, the terminus was well placed in the midst of the Castlefield canal and warehousing complex.

Provision for the passengers was something of an afterthought. An existing house on the corner of Liverpool Road and Water Street was purchased for the use of the 'Station Agent'. A brick structure was erected next to it, incorporating elaborate door and widow surrounds, the whole being finished in stucco rendering, scored to imitate stonework. The most curious feature was the positioning of a sundial over the first class entrance.

Early Operation

The railway only carried first and second class passengers, and each class had its own booking hall and waiting room. As the station was some distance from the centre of Manchester, most intending passengers purchased a handwritten ticket from an agent at an Inn or Hotel. Several routes of horse omnibuses then conveyed them to the station. A clerk in the booking hall exchanged the ticket for a counterfoil (similar to a modern airline boarding pass), and made up a waybill from the ticket information for the train guard. (The train guard thus had a passenger list indicating class of travel and destination, the only check against fraud.) The passengers proceeded upstairs to the waiting room, and licenced "outdoor porters" took charge of their luggage, being paid a set scale of fees. "Indoor porters" took charge of the luggage on the station platform and strapped it to the carriage roofs. The ringing of the station bell then announced that the passengers could go through the door on to the platform and board the train. The bell was also rung as a warning of departure, but the actual signal was given by the guard's trumpet or horn. The original bell is still exhibited in the station building.

Station Development

The station buildings were extended in 1831 by the construction of a simple two road carriage shed on top of a range of rooms along Liverpool Road. These were intended as shops, but due to the unsalubrious situation, were just used as offices. Beyond this range was a gate and a ramp leading to viaduct level. This was used to load and unload gentlemen's carriages, which were conveyed on flat wagons, a popular form of travel for those who could afford it.

The Grand Junction Railway, Britain's first trunk line, began to convey passengers from the station to Birmingham in 1837, and a separate booking office and waiting room were provided (there were through carriages to London Euston by some trains after 1838). This resulted in one of the first private railway hotels opening in Liverpool Road. Congestion required the opening of a separate arrival station across Water Street, on the site of a former dyeworks. Further goods warehouses were erected.

Nevertheless, the fate of the station was sealed with the construction of the branch from Ordsall Lane to Hunts Bank. All passenger traffic was transferred to the new Victoria Station in 1844.

Subsequent History

Liverpool Road expanded as a goods complex under the ownership of the London and North Western Railway. The Byrom Street Warehouse (an early girder-frame structure), together with an iron viaduct to approach it, was constructed, and the Grape Street Warehouse soon followed. When railway use was abandoned in 1975, the Grape Street warehouse and its surroundings were purchased by Granada Television. Part of it was used for the Granada Studio Tours theme attraction, and part is still the site of the Coronation Street set. Today the station building and adjacent historic railway warehouses form part of Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester which is located in the Castlefield Urban Heritage Park.

References