Every time I take the train to Birmingham New Street station, I try to appreciate a bit more of Curzon Street Station building itself. This Roman inspiring architecture is one of my favourite Grade I listed buildings in town. It’s magnificent. But I confess it took me a while to realise it also used to be a train station.
Actually, a very important one that had operated as a passenger train station for over 16 years.
Opened in 1838, Curzon Station was a terminus for trains coming from London to Birmingham until the year of 1854. The oldest railway passenger terminus was closed for business in 1966.
It had a very short life as a passenger station, but its facilities have been well preserved until nowadays. However, the original platform and trainsleds were demolished in 1966. Here, you can have an idea of how the train station used to be back to 1838.
There is plenty of history to be find out inside this I listed building and truly gem of Birmingham that since 2010 has been prepared to be the terminus for the High Speed 2 project in from London to Birmingham.
While the building is not been modernised, I could have a look inside this brilliant piece of architecture designed by the English architect Philip Hardwick. It happened during the Birmingham’s Hidden Spaces exhibition and despite not being a full tour, I could explore a bit more of this historical place.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t go upstairs (or visit the basement) in the three-store structure but it’s possible to have an idea of its grandiose. It’s also possible to imagine how important this terminus was to the development of Birmingham, connecting important cities like Liverpool and obvious, the capital London.
Source | Wikipedia Photos | Simone Ribeiro
More photos of Curzon Street Station:
