Wingfield railway station served a rural area of Derbyshire, England between 1840 and 1967. Started in 2019, the building has been restored to how it looked in 1840, and now operates as a tea room, shop, and heritage centre, with views of the Midland mainline.

History

It was built in 1836-40 by the

North Midland Railway The North Midland Railway was a railway line and Great Britain, British railway company, which opened a line from the city of Derby in Derbyshire to the city of Leeds in Yorkshire in 1840. At Derby, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby J ...

(NMR) on its line between

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

and

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, close to the road between

South Wingfield South Wingfield is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England, it is now part of the borough of Amber Valley and formerly in the Scarsdale hundred. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,514. History and description ...

and

Oakerthorpe Oakerthorpe is a village in Derbyshire, England. History Oakerthorpe is a small village near Alfreton Alfreton ( or locally ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The t ...

. The station closed in 1967 and the buildings, by

Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...

, still stand, but had become derelict until restoration work, funded by a National Lottery grant, began in 2019, with completion announced in October 2023. The line adjacent to the station is still in use as part of the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line (MML), sometimes also spelt Midland Mainline, is a major Rail transport in Great Britain, railway line from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras railway ...

. Thompson designed thirteen stations for the NMR, of which Wingfield is the only one to survive as-built. In times past, this area was important for

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

, with a branch to

Shirland Shirland is a former pit village in Derbyshire, England. Together with the neighbouring villages of Higham, Derbyshire, Higham, Stretton, Derbyshire, Stretton and Stonebroom, it forms part of the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Shi ...

Current status

The empty station building and paved forecourt are

Grade II* listed 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 ...

due to being one of the earliest surviving railway station buildings, and the only surviving example from the opening of the line. It was listed on

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

for some years as being in a 'very bad' state. In May 2018, the station was compulsorily purchased by Amber Valley Borough Council, due to neglect by its owner. A March 2017 repairs notice, served by the council with the support of Historic England, had not been acted upon. In November 2019, the Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust (DHBT) announced that it would be taking over the ownership from the council, following the receipt of lottery funding, and would be restoring the building with the aim of finding new uses, including holding living history events and open days. As of October 2023, the building has been restored to how it looked in 1840, and now operates as a tea room, shop, and heritage centre, with a model railway and views of the Midland mainline.Wingfield Station: World's oldest rural station reopened back to how it looked in 1840
'' Derbyshire Live'', 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023

References

External links

* History of Derbyshire Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1840 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1967 Disused railway stations in Derbyshire Grade II* listed buildings in Derbyshire Grade II* listed railway stations Beeching closures in England 1840 establishments in England Francis Thompson railway stations {{EastMidlands-railstation-stub

History

Current status

See also

References

External links