The Old Station, Silloth, Cumbria- Building Investigation

Proposals to develop The Old Station at Silloth Cumbria, (NGR NY 10975 53410) included the demolition of a small brick building, located on the station platform, and thought to be a workshop. This resulted in an archaeological condition being attached to the planning consent (Planning Application Ref. 2/06/0981). In response to a brief issued by the Cumbria County Council Historic Environment Service (CCCHES), Mr Stuart Hinchcliffe commissioned Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) to undertake an English Heritage Level-II type building investigation of the workshop prior to demolition taking place.
The subsequent building investigation revealed that the building dates to at least 1856, when the Carlisle to Silloth railway line was opened. It was apparent that the general layout of the building had not altered greatly since its construction, and the only major changes were alteration of one of the doors and replacement of the roof covering. All of the doors and windows were blocked at the time of survey, which limited the scope of the work.
There would appear to be four phases of building and alteration at The Old Station, commencing with the construction of the station buildings prior to 1856. Phase two comprised the alteration (widening) of a doorway in the east elevation of the workshop, which probably occurred prior to the closure of the line in 1964. Phase three involved recovering of the roof, the general appearance of which seems to suggest a later twentieth century date. The final phase was the blocking of all the doors and windows, which may have been carried out recently.
There was no access to the interior of the building at the time of survey. CCCHES has agreed that the developer, during the demolition process, can provide photographic coverage of the interior of the building.