Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

STATION ROAD, DUMFRIES STATION, INCLUDING PLATFORMS, LAMP STANDARDS, FOOTBRIDGE, SIGNAL BOX, CHARGEMAN'S HUT, RAILINGS, GATES AND GATEPIERSLB26343

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
B
Date Added
06/03/1981
Local Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Planning Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Burgh
Dumfries
NGR
NX 97653 76478
Coordinates
297653, 576478

Description

Mid 19th century station complex oriented N-S on curving track, comprising principally of 2 long gabled blocks to E and W platforms.

Red sandstone ashlar walls to principal buildings, slate roofs with overhanging timber eaves, round-arched windows and doors at ground. Timber sash and case windows, some with decorative etching to lower panes. Roof pitches pierced by corniced gablehead and ridge stacks.

W (PRINCIPAL) BLOCK: Glasgow and South Westrn Railway, 1863. Near-symmetrical, 2-storey and attic 4-bay centrepiece flanked by 10-bay single storey wings with pendant timber eaves; additional 5-bay single storey former toilet block with narrow blind round-arched windows extending to S from S wing. Pilastered and corniced timber newsagent's stand with curved corners projecting from platform elevation of centre block. Decorative niche-like cast-iron drinking fountain set into platform elevation. 10-bay glazed awning fronting platform elevation: ridge and furrow roof supported on round cast-iron columns with paired filigree brackets incorporating company coat of arms. Awning canopy extends further 10 bays from N elevation over former Kirkcudbright terminus; matching bracketed columns to E section and panelled brick screen wall to W.

E BLOCK: (Map Ref: NX 97682, 76489): 1875-6. Roughly symmetrical, advanced and gabled 3-bay centrepiece to E elevation flanked by 7-bay wings. Exposed rafter-ends to eaves and decorative timberwork to central gablehead. Decorative niche-like cast-iron drinking fountain set into platform elevation fronted by 6-bay canopy with shallow mono-pitch and cast-iron columns matching those of the W block.

PLATFORMS: principal platforms to main line; further platforms flanking former Kirkcudbright terminus (infilled) to N of principal block.

LAMP STANDARDS: decorative cast-iron standards by James Allan Senr. & Son of Elmbank Foundry, Glasgow.

FOOTBRIDGE: (Map Ref: NX 97651, 76544): timber, steel and cast-iron bridge linking north ends of E and W blocks. Bridge comprises double warren trusses spanning railway lines, linking landings supported on 4 squat columns accessed from platforms by vertically-boarded timber-sided stairs.

SIGNAL BOX: (Map Ref: NX 97641, 76673): British Rail (ScR) Type 16, early 1950s design. 2-stage, brick and concrete construction with raised margins and flat roof with oversailing canopy. W (Track) elevation: glazed in two sections returning to N and S elevations; 3 small windows to locking room below. Smallr recessed block to N fronted by concrete dog-leg forestair with metal rail to cabin entrance. 2-leaf door and recessed doorways to S elevation. Replacement metal frame windows in 6-3 glazing pattern.

CHARGEMAN'S HUT: (Map Ref: NX 97663, 76451): single storey L-plan hut adjacent to S gable of principal block's S wing. Clap-boarded sides, 4-pane hoppered timber windows, shallow-pitched piended roof with overhanging eaves pierced by single-flue stack on W side. Some internal fittings surviving including chimneypiece and glazed timber screen.

RAILINGS, GATES AND GATEPIERS: 2-leaf hooped gates adjacent to S gables of station buildings, gates linked by hooped railings to road bridge at S; octagonal cast-iron gatepiers with corniced caps to W gate.

Statement of Special Interest

Dumfries Station is a fine, well-detailed example of a mid 19th century station, built in the Italianate style on a gentle curve with its glazed platform canopies adding significantly to its design interest. The refined styling of the principal station building is notable, as are the number of structures and period features surviving in this station group including the footbridge, decorative lamp standards and single storey clapboarded rectangular-plan hut with panelled door and 4-pane glazing pattern. The footbridge was formerly roofed.

The railway line was opened in 1848 by the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway. Dumfries Station was built in 1859 by Glasgow and South Western Railway with the original station building sited to the south of the present group of buildings.

Signal boxes are a distinctive and increasingly rare building type that make a significant contribution to Scotland's diverse industrial heritage. Of more than 2000 signal boxes built across Scotland by 1948, around 150 currently survive (2013) with all pre-1948 mechanical boxes still in operation on the public network due to become obsolete by 2021. The signal box at the N end of the Dumfries E platform, is a British Rail (ScR) Type 16 box dating from the early 1950s with streamlined Moderne styling. These early post-nationalisation boxes were built in large numbers across the UK but very few now remain, particularly in Scotland. This is the best surviving example of its type in the country. The current 6-3 pane glazing pattern replaces an earlier 4-2 pane glazing pattern but remains in keeping with the style of the building.

List description and statutory address revised as part of Scottish Signal Box Review (2012-13).

References

Bibliography

John Hume, Industrial Archaeology, Vol I (1976) p96. Gordon Biddle and O.S. Nock, The Railway Heritage of Britain - 150 Year of of Railway Architecture (1983) p125. Groome's Gazeteer (2nd ed), Vol II, p391. The Signalling Study Group, The Signal Box - A Pictorial History and Guide To Designs (1986). Peter Kay and Derek Coe, Signalling Atlas and Signal Box Directory - Great Britain and Ireland (2010 - 3rd Edition).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 28/03/2024 09:38