Monument record MDR11029 - Old Station Buildings, Old Station Yard, Creswell

Elmton and Creswell Station. Redundant station buildings of the mid 1840s in local magnesian limestone on the Midland Railway Mansfield-Worksop line. These have been superseded by a modern station in 1998. (1) Part of building shown on 1st and 2nd eds OS 25", but mapped using 3rd ed. OS 25". This building was seen to be in a poor state when visited in 2007. (2) The former Elmton and Creswell railway station opened in 1875 as part of the Nottingham, Mansfield and Worksop line. It was built in Creswell primarily to provide transport for the coal industry which was then becoming established in north-east Derbyshire. The architect was J. H. Sanders who was responsible for designing the standard Midland Railway station buildings which comprised a main station with booking office, waiting rooms and lavatory; a platform building on the opposite platform usually providing a further waiting room; a Station Master's house; and a goods shed. The Ordnance Survey (OS) map from 1875 shows a similar arrangement at Creswell where there is a station building on the east side of the rail tracks, a platform building on the other side, and the Station Master's house to the north-east of the station. By the time of the publication of the 1916 OS there is a small building to the south of the station and an extension on the north end of the platform building. Since then, the building to the south of the station and the entire platform building have been demolished. Historic photographs show a timber track crossing, for passenger use, at the south end of the platforms. This too has since been removed. A new station was built in Creswell when the Robin Hood line opened in 1998, leaving the old station derelict. It is now [2010] surrounded by a scrap yard and is in very poor condition. The station building itself is constructed of squared, rock-faced magnesium limestone laid in regular courses with ashlared dressings and tooled quoins. The pitched roofs are clad in concrete tiles (partially lost), surmounted by three ashlared ridge stacks with rock-faced stone bases and moulded caps. The one-storey building is approximately rectangular in plan, comprising a middle section with a projecting central bay on the east front, flanked by side wings recessed on both fronts. There is wide, stone banding at eaves level and the gables have scalloped timber bargeboards. The fenestration consists of deeply recessed, one-over-one pane sashes, containing parts of the original decorative timber glazing bars. The platform canopy in between has a straight timber fascia, originally supported by four cast-iron columns (one of which is now missing) with decorative iron brackets. A plan shows the configuration of rooms which, from the left, consist of a male lavatory, booking office, waiting room and waiting area under the canopy, ladies' waiting room and lavatory, and services including lamp room and coal store. The interior is currently used as storage for the scrap yard which occupies the former station yard, and it cannot be fully accessed. It is in a bad state of disrepair with very little of the original fittings and fixtures remaining, except for part of the fitted timber bench in the former waiting room. The great majority of the plaster has been lost, leaving exposed brick walls and ceiling joists. The station was assessed for listing in 2010, having been identified by the District Council as an unlisted building of merit. However, it was not considered to meet the criteria for inclusion on the statutory list. (3)