Monument record 1160/387 - St James' Bus Depot, formerly tram car sheds

Built in 1904 by the Northampton Corporation comprising tram car sheds and workshops. The conversion to buses began in 1922. Extended 1910, 1923, 1928 and 1938. The bus depot was utilised as an aircraft factory 1942-5. Locally listed building.

{1}Tram depot on the site of the bus depot (St James). Mechanised trams ran in the town from 1904-1934. Tram tracks survive within the building - granite set paving in-situ.

{3} Bus depot utilised as aircraft factory 1942-1945. The Armstrong - Whitworth Aircraft Company took lease out on recent extension to the Northampton Corporation bus depot in St James End. Construction jig frames were set up for A.W. "Albemarle" production, then "Whitley's" and in 1942 Avro "Lancaster" MK II four-engined bombers.

{4} Corporation Omnibus Depot, St James was requisitioned for Lancaster work in Northampton in World War II. The five sections of the fuselage were brought here and assembled.

{6} The earliest phase built in 1904 with shaped gables with circular ventilation openings and originally with three round-arched openings below (still apparent in the left block).

{7} History
A horse-drawn tram service was established in Northampton in 1881 by the Northampton Street Tramways Company. The company was bought in 1901 by the Northampton Corporation, which sought to electrify and extend the network. A 1903 report by the Borough Engineer, Alfred Fidler, sets out the details of the scheme, which included a new ‘car shed’ at St James’ End. The building, which would house 24 trams, would be 36m long and 21m wide in two main spans each with three tramroads, and have accommodation for smiths, carpenters, painters and fitters, along with stores, mess rooms and lavatories. It was to occupy only part of the much bigger site, anticipating and enabling later extension. Construction was made under Fidler’s direction, by local firm John Watkins & Bros of Duston.
The building would be lit electrically using power from the trolley wire; power was generated at a separate site, utilising an existing refuse incinerator. The first electrically powered trams ran in July 1904, with the last horse-drawn service being withdrawn the following month. The new system was an immediate success and much admired, with the Borough Engineer being highly praised for the installation and his ingenuity in implementing the network without external consultation.
The building has been extended in several phases, reflecting the development of the company and the transport system. The first extension was in 1910, and saw one of the pair of tram sheds lengthened; a new range built on the north-west elevation; and the narrow left-hand range raised to two floors. Another range to the north-west was added in 1922 when motorised buses were introduced, with further extensions in 1928 and 1939. This last extension saw the construction of a large new bus garage and ancillary accommodation for maintenance and staff; buses, by 1934, had replaced trams entirely; subsequently, the tramroads were partially removed and carriageways were blocked. The construction of the new bus garage involved the removal of the eastern external wall of the 1923-1928 range; its replacement by a lattice girder and single supporting stanchion created a huge floor area with minimal interruption. The site was used in the Second World War for the construction of fuselage sections of Lancaster bombers. Interiors of the 1904 ranges have been altered; a two-storey storage block was built internally in front of the blocked carriageway arches.
Sections of internal walls, originally external elevations, enclosed by subsequent extensions, have also been removed and replaced by girders and stanchions, to create more flexible, uninterrupted floor areas.
The office block, standing at the front of the site, dates to 1933 (listed at Grade II).
Details
Tram and bus depot and offices, 1904, by the Borough Engineer Alfred Fidler, extended in 1910, 1922 and 1938.
MATERIALS: the principal building material is Duston red brick laid in English bond. The 1939 extension is built in buff sandfaced brick, continuing the English bond pattern. The office is in a brown brick with reconstituted stone dressings, and has a slate roof.
PLAN: the building stands set back on a large plot to the south-west of St James’ Road. The main range occupies a roughly rectangular footprint, with the office block projecting forward to the roadside at the eastern corner.
EXTERIOR: the building consists of a series of parallel ranges, which clearly express its chronological phasing. A pair of gables with raised apexes and large oculus windows are the original tram sheds, each of which had three tracks entering the building through Renaissance-arched openings. These openings have been infilled, though the masonry survives on the left gable. Moulded and stepped brickwork enriches the openings, margins and eaves. To the left is a lower, narrower gabled range; originally a single-storey, lean-to structure that was later raised to two storeys, containing offices and ancillary accommodation. Extensions were made to the south-east, where mono-pitched parallel ranges contained further ancillary accommodation: maintenance and engineering workshops and mess rooms. To the right, the next gabled range is a 1910 extension, which provided the additional accommodation for the expanding fleet of trams; the brick detailing of the original building was continued. The next gabled range to the right was added in 1922 when motorbuses were introduced to the network; the wider span and larger openings reflecting the requirement of the new vehicles.
The large 1930s bus garage extension stands to the north-west; it has a ‘ridge and furrow'-type roof with apex glazing, perpendicular to the earlier sheds. There are three large openings on either end of the building. A lower, flat-roofed range stands adjacent, terminating the building on the north-west. This has a series of regular window openings on each elevation, and contained workshops and staff facilities.
INTERIOR: the interiors of the vehicle sheds are generally utilitarian, with brick walls and concrete floors. The original sheds and the 1910 extension retain sections of their return elevations, which have piers beneath each roof truss, and oculus windows with hexafoil glazing bars. Elsewhere, return elevations have been replaced or underbuilt with steel beams and stanchions. Roofs within the 1904 ranges are supported on steel-framed Howe trusses and have continuous lengths of glazing on either pitch, with a raised apex. There are occasional instances of rails embedded within the floor, along with paved or cobbled sections. Most, or all, pits have been infilled. The southernmost range is divided into a series of rooms, formerly for the construction, repair and maintenance of trams. An additional floor has been inserted within an enclosed block in front of the original tramway arches.
The 1939 bus garage is open-plan. Its construction involved the removal of the return elevation of the 1923 garage, which was replaced with a deep girder with a single stanchion, creating a very large, minimally-interrupted floor area. The garage is top lit, where the apexes of the roof spans are glazed. A low platform runs the length of the north-west side of the garage, beyond which are a series of rooms used for maintenance and staff accommodation. Staff rooms have parquet floors and a timber-panelled dado.

<1> CADMAN G.E., 1997, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN49762.

<2> Cadman G, 2014, St James Tram Car Sheds, Northampton (Archive). SNN111089.

<3> Smith, D., 1998, Defence of Britain recording forms: St James' Bus Depot, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN51531.

<4> Gibson M.L., 1982, Aviation In Northamptonshire: An Illustrated History, p.341 (unchecked) (Book). SNN100276.

<5> Irons B., 2002, Ready for take off but I'm still in the bomb bay, (unchecked) (Article). SNN101494.

<6> Bailey, B, Pevsner, N, and Cherry, B, 2013, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p. 482 (Book). SNN111989.

<7> Historic England, 2024, Case Name: St James' Tram Depot and Bus Garage, St James' Road, Northampton (Designation Advice Report). SNN116583.

<8> Perkins, P, Whittaker, R and Denton, A, 2022, A Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Northamptonshire, p. 69/ Site306 (Book). SNN113793.

Record last edited

Jul 2 2025 11:38AM