Brunel's Temple Meads Station [2 photos] in ST5972

Shared description

Brunel's Temple Meads Station

The first Great Western trains left Temple Meads on 31 August 1840 but they only went as far as Bath. It was not until 30 June 1841, with the completion of Box Tunnel, that trains reached London. For this service Brunel designed a terminus station with a train shed 200ft long & a mock hammerbeam roof providing an uninterrupted span of 72ft. In front of the shed Brunel provided an imposing office building in neo-Tudor style of Dundry stone. On either side were archways: the northern one for entry carriage traffic, the southern one for exit traffic. Unfortunately the pleasing symmetry of the building was spoilt by the demolition of the exit archway in 1878 to provide space for tram-lines & a widened approach road. The rail tracks were 15ft above ground level supported on vaulting, the space provided being used as waiting rooms & associated passenger facilities.

With the expansion of the rail network this terminus station soon proved to be inadequate & Temple Meads was developed to the form we know today with a curved train shed providing through platforms. The new entrance building sits at the top of long, rising approach road. This development, by architect Matthew Digby Wyatt working with civil engineer Francis Fox, was completed in 1878. Brunel’s train shed was relegated to serving trains to & from the midlands & the north, & local services.

Eventually in 1965, Brunel’s station was taken out of use altogether & it suffered the ignominy of being relegated to a car park. More than 50 years on it may be difficult to believe but at that time its future was in serious doubt. At that time the importance of the country's industrial heritage was not widely recognised. The fact that it was the world's oldest mainline terminus to survive relatively intact would have counted for very little when confronted with the threat of road widening. (Witness what happened to Euston's Doric Arch & Great Hall only a few years previously). Happily our worst fears were not realised: the station survived & gained a Grade 1 listing.

by Martin Tester

Created: Mon, 25 Feb 2019, Updated: Mon, 25 Feb 2019

2 images use this description: (all images taken in 1966)

ST5972 : Brunel's Temple Meads Station (1840) from Temple Gate by Martin Tester

ST5972 : Brunel's Temple Meads Station (1840) from Redcliffe Way by Martin Tester

Shared descriptions

This shared description

Shared descriptions are specifically licensed so that contributors can reuse them on their own images, without restriction.

About shared descriptions

These Shared Descriptions are common to multiple images.

For example, you can create a generic description for an object shown in a photo, and reuse the description on all photos of the object. All descriptions are public and shared between contributors, i.e. you can reuse a description created by others, just as they can use yours.