The original Rowley Station.
Enjoy music, decorations and poetry as the museum celebrates 50 years of Rowley Station at Beamish this weekend (25th and 26th July).
In 1976, Rowley Station became the first relocated building to be opened at the museum, in a grand opening celebration culminating in the official opening by then-Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman, who also wrote a poem to commemorate the occasion.
Rowley Station stands along from the museum’s 1900s Town, and is presented as a North Eastern Railway station during the Edwardian period.
Paul Foster, Events Manager at Beamish Museum, said: “This celebration of Rowley Station at Beamish is a fantastic opportunity to showcase this part of the museum, and to really shine a light on this period in time. With poetry, music, and even a cake, we’re so pleased to be recording this moment in the museum’s history.”
The station was originally built in Rowley, near Consett, County Durham in 1873, on a station site dating back to 1845. The station itself was built to serve the village of Rowley which, at the time, had a population of around 20. The station never had gas or electricity, and was always lit by oil. The building included a booking and parcels office, waiting room, toilet facilities and a storeroom, as well as a covered area beneath the central arches.
In 1834, the Stanhope and Tyne Railway opened, becoming the earliest public railway on Tyneside and the sixth railway to be opened in Britain. One of the stations on the Stanhope and Tyne line was Cold Rowley, so named because it frequently experienced heavy snowfall in winter.
Cold Rowley became a major local collecting and dispatch point for goods traffic and, until 1846, all traffic to the station was goods traffic. The station was later renamed as Rowley in 1868.
In 1854, the North Eastern Railway (NER) was formed and incorporated several companies, including the York, Newcastle, Berwick line, the Stanhope and Tyne line and in 1863, the Stockton and Darlington line.
Competition from other forms of transport began to affect the railways and, after 1920, the decline in demand for passenger rail services on many small lines lead to the closure of smaller stations for passenger traffic. In 1931, 1,548 passengers used Rowley Station, by 1938, this figure had declined to 753. The station closed to passengers in 1939, and later closed for goods traffic in 1966.
By the 1970s, the station buildings had fallen into disrepair. Between 1973 and 1974, the station was dismantled, with each shaped stone and piece of timberwork being numbered for when the station was rebuilt at the museum.
Paul Jarman, Beamish’s Director of Development – Transport, Industry & Design, said: “It is quite sobering to consider how long some of the buildings at Beamish have been in their ‘new’ location, compared to their span of time in use with their former owners and users. This station building has now achieved a very large percentage of its total existence, in situ at Beamish. The building is of great significance to the museum, and one of which we are very proud, given its local provenance and impressive façade”.
Visitors are currently able to catch a steam train ride to and from Rowley Station on weekends during the local school holidays (25th & 26th July, 1st & 2nd August, 8th & 9th August, 15th & 16th August, 22nd & 23rd August).
The museum also explores the story of railways at its Georgian Waggonway exhibit, which opened in 2001 and represents 1825, the year the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened.
50 Years of Rowley Station at Beamish Museum is included in admission and is free for Beamish Unlimited Pass holders and Friends of Beamish members. For more information visit www.beamish.org.uk.
