Building record 6294/1/14 - Former London and North Western Railway Engine Shed

A two track through-shed for steam engines of 1855 for the London and North Western Railway, extended to a three track through-shed in 1871, partly demolished in the later C20.

{1}Shed related to the general industrial system that operated within and around Cotton end area.

{2} The engine shed was considered for listing in November 2020, but alterations over time cumulatively impacted its survival to the extent that it does not possess sufficient interest to merit national listing.

MATERIALS: brick with sheeted roof covering. Timber roof structure with metal supporting ties. Windows cast iron, timber and uPVC. Doors are timber.
PLAN: the building is a long, narrow rectangle, with a rectangular lean-to to the centre of the south elevation. The main body of the building is approximately 71m (238 feet) long and 11M (36 feet) wide. The lean-to is approximately 27m (89 ft) long and 6m (20ft) wide. The building was constructed in three phases – the later western end of 1871, the earlier eastern end of 1855 and the lean-to is early-C20. The north elevation faced the station, the south the yard behind.
EXTERIOR: tall, single-storey pitched roof building with parapet gable ends and kneelers supported by corbels. The 1855 east end of the north elevation is in brick with one decorative projecting brick course under the eaves. It is lit by six windows; five tall, cast-iron, vertical round-arched windows, two of which have modern alterations. The sixth, easternmost, window has a shallow pointed arch like the later 1871 phase, suggesting that the eastern end of the building may have been remodelled at the time of the western extension.
The 1871 west end of the north elevation is in English bond brickwork and is divided into 11 bays by
round-headed blue brick arches which spring from half-brick depth buttressing pilasters. These 11 bays house tall, shallow, pointed-arch cast-iron windows under brick lintels of the same shape, only four of which remain largely unaltered. Four of the openings have been partially filled in with brick, and seven of them now accommodate a variety of late-C20 windows. There is a string course of moulded blue bricks at low level.
Further ventilation is provided by a long roof lantern incorporating a louvered clerestory along the ridge of the 1871 west end. The roof lantern spans the central nine of the 11 bays. A band of diagonally set brick cogging, a typical decorative feature employed by the L&NWR, runs under the eaves of the 1871 section of the north elevation. This meets the single brick course eaves decoration of the earlier phase of the building.
The east gable end (of 1855, but possibly remodelled in 1871) is rendered, obscuring the brickwork. The gable is coped with blue saddleback bricks. There are two modern single doors with a blocked opening between them. A blocked double height recess to the north side indicates where the northernmost line of track which used to run through the shed exited the building.
The west gable end (of 1871) is coped with blue roll-top bricks. Within the recessed pediment are five louvered ventilation arches, another distinctive feature of L&NWR buildings. A course of three coffered terracotta panels sits below the cornice of the pediment. The area below this would have originally been open to allow the three lines of track to enter the shed from the west. The openings are now blocked with different phases of brickwork. A single door is on the north side and double door the south side, with an 18 light window over the double door.
The south elevation is largely obscured by the long mono-pitched lean-to and various storage sheds and cabins. For this less publicly visible elevation, the windows are not decorated by the blue brick arches of the north side. All but two of the visible original arched window openings have been partially bricked up and have had smaller later C20 windows inserted; only the westernmost original window survives. There is a single C20 doorway towards the east end.
INTERIOR: not inspected, but available sources show partition walls and timber roof trusses supplemented by metal ties. Archive plans show the internal layout and functions of internal areas have changed several times.

{3} A locoshed has been on this site since 1847 and the present brick building replaced the original in 1855. When a new larger locoshed was constructed further to the west in 1881 it became a carriage shed and was later used for track engineering purposes.

<1> ELLISON M., 1997, Proposed Conservation Area, Cotton End, Northampton: An Assessment by Northamptonshire Heritage, (unchecked) (Report). SNN42086.

<2> Historic England, 2020, Case Name: Former L&NWR Engine Shed, Cotton End, Northampton (Designation Advice Report). SNN112203.

<3> Trinder, B, 1998, The Industrial Archaeology of Old Towcester Road, Cotton End, Northampton, p. 68/site 300 (Report). SNN113792.

<4> Perkins, P, Whittaker, R and Denton, A, 2022, A Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Northamptonshire, p. 68/Site 300 (Book). SNN113793.

Record last edited

Jan 30 2025 8:59AM