The Midland Railway Society are proud to have taken possession of a pair of gems of Derbyshire railway history, which are to be held as part of the Midland Railway Study Centre collection, in partnership with Derby Museums.
When plans for two separate railways to be built in Buxton were being prepared in the early 1860s, the town was already gaining its reputation as a spa destination. The 7th Duke of Devonshire was extensively invested in the town and so had a keen eye on the development of railway schemes. One was from Manchester (the Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway, later to become part of the London and North Western Railway) and the other from the south in the guise of the Midland Railway’s Rowsley & Buxton line. Cleary not by chance, the Duke’s agent, Sir Joseph Paxton was on the board of the MR and was a shareholder in the Stockport concern, and so was able to bring his considerable influence to bear on both companies. Thus, on 7th January 1862 the Midland’s Construction Committee resolved that..
“Sir Joseph Paxton be authorised and requested on the part of this company to confer and agree with the Engineer and Directors of the Stockport, Disley & Whaley Bridge Company the form and style of the front to be constructed for the stations of the two companies at Buxton, so as to ensure a uniformity of design”.
Whilst Paxton’s characteristic style can be seen in the resulting design, the actual implementation was left to Manchester Architect Edward Walters (1808-1872), who was designing the other stations on the Rowsley & Buxton line for the Midland. The casting for the window frames themselves was carried out by Andrew Handyside of Derby at their Britannia Foundry.
What has been gifted to the Midland Railway Study Centre are Walters’ original drawing for the facade and the detail drawing for the window frames.
The survival of these drawings is thanks to a now sadly deceased Buxton resident who, we are told, was “active in civic circles in the town” in the last third of the 20th century. He had them professionally mounted, back to back in the same frame, and was clearly hugely proud to have possession of them. However, how he came by them perhaps a century or so after their creation, is unfortunately lost to history.
