Rowley Station

Footbridge

In the early day of railway operation, passengers had been allowed to walk over the tracks to approach or leave a train, however, the growth of rail traffic gradually forced the railway companies to provide more footbridges which were usually open-lattice types with varying degrees of decoration along the columns and arches.

The footbridge to the west of the station came from Dunston Staiths. Footbridges could also be installed to satisfy landowners whose land had been severed by railway construction. The footbridge to the east of the station served this purpose at Howdon-le-Wear in County Durham, connecting to a farmer’s field through which a railway track had been built.

The Signal Box

Originally from Carr House East, near Consett, and built around 1897, the signal box at Rowley Station is furnished as it would have been in around 1910.

Inside, there’s a full fireplace and range, wood-grained furniture and linoleum flooring. From the signal box, the signalman had to record the time every train entered and left his section of the track using ledgers like those on display in the exhibit.

The Station Building

Built by the North Eastern Railway to replace the original building, the station itself was built to serve the village of Rowley which, at the time, had a population of around 20.

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.

The Station Yard

The buildings in the station yard at Beamish have been brought together to show what an important railway community looked like in the early 1900s. Each building has been saved from demolition and stands at the museum as a monument to the era before road transport became popular, a time when the railway enjoyed unrivalled importance.

Coal Drops

Coal was king in the North East in the early 1900s and was the most important commodity carried by the railways in the region. It was the basis of most industrial power as well as light and heat for industrial and domestic use. Coal drops, like the ones in the station yard, could serve the immediate locality.

The cells in our station yard date back to 1834, are from West Boldon, near Sunderland and belonged to Stanhope and Tyne Railway Company.

Weigh Cabin

A whole range of commodities passed through railway stations including coal, sand, wood and agricultural produce. Most items had to be weighted and checked when entering or leaving the goods yard, which meant that the weigh cabin was a very important building in the yard.

Our weigh cabin came from Glanton in Northumberland and was originally built in 1887, the weighbridge came from Waskerley.

Goods Shed

Even the smallest railway goods yards had to deal with a whole range of items, from livestock and foodstuffs to machinery and raw materials. These items were loaded and unloaded from railway waggons inside the goods shed.

The goods shed in our goods yard came from Alnwick in Northumberland and was built in the 1880s. The shed includes an office to the rear of the building where the customers’ accounts were drawn up and records kept.

The Track

Trains run on rails called Permanent Way. There are four basic parts to the track; the rails on which the trains run, the sleepers, the chairs or base plates which attach the rails tightly to the sleepers to keep the rails at the correct distance, and the stone ballast in which the sleepers sit.

Rowley Allotment

During the First World War, allotments became a vital way to produce food for a nation whose imports had taken a severe hit. Spare land near railways was seen as being perfect for the establishment of new allotments, using space that previously had no real use.

In August 1914, there were already around 7000 allotments on NER land, by the end of the war this had risen to 16,969.

Our allotment was created using an original NER allotment guide, The Allotment Year, to ensure historical accuracy. In 1912 and 1930, Rowley won the prestigious NER award for Best Kept Wayside Station.