'Oldest' goods shed gets £250k for revamp

The goods shed is in a poor state of repair, heritage experts have warned

A project to restore what is thought to be the UK's oldest-surviving railway goods shed has been awarded more than £250,000.

Built in 1833 and later extended, the Grade II*-listed building in Darlington was the main point for handling goods on the Stockton and Darlington Railway Line.

It was added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2019 with the goods shed said to be in poor repair and its clocktower "in a particularly precarious state".

The organisation's grant aims to help transform it into the main entrance to the Darlington Railway Heritage Quarter, a £35m visitor attraction due to open next year.

Experts believe trains entered the shed through archways and stopped in bays where they were unloaded by merchants using horse and cart for onward shipment.

In the late-19th Century it was converted into a fire station before becoming a maintenance depot for railway road vehicles in 1951.

'Rich past'

More recently, it was tenanted by Darlington Railway Preservation Society.

Historic England's Giles Proctor described it as "one of the most important surviving railway buildings in the country" and said it was "wonderful that we are able to help secure its future as part of a visitor attraction that celebrates the history of steam locomotion”.

Mike Crawshaw, head of culture and heritage at Darlington Borough Council, added: "The goods shed is an important piece of Darlington’s rail heritage and a key focal point of the new development, where it will welcome visitors from around the world looking to discover our rich past."

Historic England says the only comparable earlier building in the UK is the Grade I-listed railway warehouse at Liverpool Road Station in Manchester, which dates from 1830 and provided for longer-term storage.