Monument record 7203/113 - United Counties Bus Company Depot

Former bus depot at Rushden. The former United Counties Bus Depot at Rushden is an interwar building designed in a stripped-down functional style, and appears to have sustained little external alteration. Its form and appearance are characteristic of its period, its broad brick facade devoid of any modelling. The wide former depot entrance, now partially infilled, is flanked by paired tall windows with plain lintels and metal window frames. The shallow-pitched roof incorporates a large expanse of glazing. To the left-hand side is a lower single-storey bay with a band of metal framed windows set below narrow painted concrete lintels. The bus depot closed in 1987. The site has been used as a recycling centre which closed in 2011.

{1} United Counties Bus Company Depot, Newton Road/Rectory Road. The depot in now in use as a recycling depot for East Northants Council.

{2} The former bus depot at Rushden, latterly the Rushden Recycling Centre, was built in 1938 for the United Counties Bus Company.
The United Counties Omnibus & Road Transport Co Ltd was founded in 1921 by Tillings, when it took over the Wellingborough Motor Omnibus Co Ltd. In 1933 the company's name was changed to United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd, and they were now operating over 150 buses throughout the county, in a livery of green with a cream band. This company built new depots in several towns. In 1948 the Tilling Group sold their bus interests to the government, and in January 1950 the Rushden depot was opened…In 1987 United Counties Omnibus Company Ltd was purchased from the National Bus Company by Stagecoach, and the Rushden depot was closed.

It is not clear whether the building is present on the 1939 edition of the Ordnance Survey map.

The former United Counties Bus Depot at Rushden is an interwar building designed in a stripped-down functional style, and appears to have sustained little external alteration. Its form and appearance are characteristic of its period, its broad brick facade devoid of any modelling. The wide former depot entrance, now partially infilled, is flanked by paired tall windows with plain lintels and metal window frames. The shallow-pitched roof incorporates a large expanse of glazing. To the left-hand side is a lower single-storey bay with a band of metal framed windows set below narrow painted concrete lintels.

{3} The bus depot was demolished prior to 2016.

<1> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Industrial Period, (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN4.

<2> ENGISH HERITAGE, English Heritage Listing File, Designation Adviser, 27th July 2011 (Report). SNN111579.

<3> Info Terra Ltd; Blue Sky; Tele Atlas, Google Earth Imagery, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM AUG-2003 ACCESSED 07-FEB-2019 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN112277.

Record last edited

Sep 6 2023 11:46AM