NEW research by the Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and Historic England has resulted in the status of Heighington & Aycliffe Railway Station, County Durham being upgraded.
Now with a Grade II*-listed status, it is thought the building dated from the mid-1830s, but it has been revealed that it was actually completed in 1827, which experts believe make it the earliest-ever example of a railway station, although it was not officially referred to as one until the late 1830s.
When the building was commissioned, the concept of the railway station had yet to be developed and its original purpose was to function as a tavern to provide shelter and refreshment for workers and customers at the adjacent coal and goods depot.
However, a newspaper report in September 1827 clearly shows that the building was fulfilling the main functions of what later came to be recognised as a railway station: a stopping point for trains, a building providing shelter for passengers, and a receiving point for unaccompanied parcels and goods being transported by rail.
Furthermore, the incorporation of domestic accommodation could be seen as the forerunner of the station master’s house, a key part of railway stations built throughout the Victorian period.