History of the Station
The first station on this site was opened in 1852 on the Oxford to Birmingham line of the Great Western Railway. Engineered by Brunel, the track was broad gauge and the original station had a timber overall roof, later cut back to very ugly canopies.
Aided by government loans, the GWR redeveloped the whole site in the 1930s, creating access at road level. The buildings and fittings are in Art Deco style, rare in British mainline stations as there was little modernisation being carried out elsewhere at that time. After nationalisation of the railways in 1948 few big changes were made, but decades of neglect led to a shabby appearance and loss of features such as the running-in boards and the booking office clock.
This map of the two stations in Leamington in 1951 (taken from the excellent Birmingham and West Midlands Railway Atlas) shows how extensive the facilities were. The Avenue station and the line to Rugby are long closed but the route north west to Coventry and many places beyond remains, whilst a new Kenilworth station is scheduled to be opened in 2018.
On privatisation in 1997 the station was initially managed by Railtrack / Network Rail, but Chiltern Railways took over in 2006 and have led a series of significant improvements to the fabric.
Diligent photography by enthusiasts such as Patrick Kingston provided important references during restoration. The distinctive Art Deco style helped in getting a Grade ll listing in 2003. This was achieved by Ruth Bennion, Janet Storrie, Patrick Kingston with the support of Alan Mayes, Conservation Officer for Warwick District Council.
This link takes you to warwickshire railways website, with a vast amount of historic detail.
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