The railway town of

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England, contains 34 buildings recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as designated

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. Each is at Grade II, the lowest of the three gradings given to listed buildings, and applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". Until the

Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846. The line built by the company, which opened in 1837, linked the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham via Warri ...

established a railway station in 1837, Crewe was a "tiny township with a few farms". There are only two listed buildings dating from before the arrival of the railway: a much altered farmhouse that probably originated in the 16th century and a

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

farmhouse dating from the late 17th century. In 1842 the locomotive works opened, and Crewe had become an important railway junction, with lines coming from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and the south, and then going on to

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, Manchester, and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Houses were built to accommodate the railway workers. Most of these have been demolished, but some have survived and have been listed; these are in Betley, Dorfold, Tollitt, and Victoria Streets. There is also a surviving manager's house at 47 Delamere Street. Churches and chapels were built to serve the workers, and seven survivors, or part-survivors are listed. With the development of the town came civic buildings, listed examples of which include the Municipal Building, the Market Hall, an orphanage, and a theatre. Notable educational establishments are the listed Ruskin Road School and a teacher-training college now part of

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

. To provide a place of recreation for the workers, the railway established Queens Park in 1887–88, commissioning Edward Kemp to assist in its design. The listed buildings in the park are its two lodges, a clock tower, and a memorial to those lost in the South African Wars. Later, in 1922, came a memorial to the First World War, which was originally sited in the Market Square. In 2020 another war memorial was listed to remember workers from the Crewe tranship shed.

Notes and references

Notes Citations Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crewe Listed buildings in the Borough of Cheshire East Lists of listed buildings in Cheshire

See also

Notes and references