SCRCA Location Introduction
The ornate cast iron and glass wrap-around awning at Hellifield Station is believed to be one of the earliest examples of a railway station platform canopy that falls away from the building (towards the rails) along its full length. It is impressive in both scale and ornamentation and it rewards close inspection.
Features to seek-out include:
- The panelled and fluted columns with eclectic (composite) capitals. The decorative forms on the latter include tight scrolls, stylised foliage (possibly acanthus leaves) and what could be interpreted as peas in a pod.
- The adjacent spandrels (triangular sections of ironwork) that incorporate either the Midland Railway Company's 'MR' monogram (with a four-petal flower above and a heavily stylised leaf below) or the Company's wyvern crest (surrounded by riveted bands and a quartet of rose-like flowers).
- The stylised sunbursts and foliage at the apex of the central spans.
- The wide variety of curving and square-form scrollwork / strapwork. Some of these elements terminate in stylised foliage.
The ironwork was manufactured by W. MacFarlane & Co. Ltd. of Glasgow and the entire structure is modular in form. The key structural elements are joined together via a series of slots, brackets, joining plates and nuts & bolts. (Many of these can be seen from platform level and some are visible in the photographs that accompany this post.)
