East Farleigh Station

Reasons for Designation

East Farleigh was opened in 1844, on the same date as the opening of the branch line which it serves, the Maidstone Road (Paddock Wood) to Maidstone line. Clad in 'Kentish clapboard', it is characteristic of stations of the South Eastern Railway, of which it is a particularly good example and rare survival. Although it has lost its chimneys and original slate roof, the rest of the building is intact both internally and externally and it survives as a characterful and early station building, for which it has special architectural interest in a national context.

Details

BARMING

1804/0/10011 FARLEIGH BRIDGE 19-APR-07 EAST FARLEIGH STATION

II Railway station, built in 1844 for the South Eastern Railway. Timber framed, faced in 'Kentish clapboard'(horizontal timber weather-boarding) resting on a brick plinth, with a corrugated asbestos roof, previously slate. A single-storey, rectangular building parallel to the railway line.

EXTERIOR: The north, platform side elevation has four two-over-two paned sash windows and two doors with wooden plain valanced canopies over, supported on decoratively pierced cast iron brackets. One provides access to the waiting room through half glazed double doors, the other to the ticket office. The building has a hipped roof, originally with two tall chimneys, now removed.

INTERIOR: The waiting room contains original features including a dado rail with panelling below. A panelled partition with a band of glazing below the ceiling separates the waiting area from the ticket office. This is pierced by two ticket windows, one large and one small; the larger of the two seems to be a later insertion. A door from the main waiting room leads to two further rooms, both with dado rails and panelling: one has a fireplace. There is a small lavatory beyond.

In the ticket office the panelled partition shared with the waiting room has cupboards built below the ticket windows. Around the remaining walls there is similar panelling to that in the waiting room; this panelling also wraps around the safe in the south west corner. All rooms are lit by sash windows in the south elevation similar to those in the north.

HISTORY: East Farleigh Station was opened on 25th September 1844, on the same date as the opening of the line it served, the South Eastern Railway's branch line from Maidstone Road (Paddock Wood) to Maidstone, which runs beside the River Medway. Initially a single track line, it was doubled in 1846. The staggered platforms of the down and up lines are separated by the level crossing. The line was the first in the South Eastern system to be equipped with electric telegraph.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: East Farleigh was opened in 1844, on the same date as the opening of the branch line which it serves, the Maidstone Road (Paddock Wood) to Maidstone line. Clad in 'Kentish clapboard', it is characteristic of stations of the South Eastern Railway, of which it is a particularly good example. This was the company style, but few of these stations now survive. Although it has lost its chimneys and original slate roof, the rest of the building is intact both internally and externally and it survives as a characterful and early station building, for which it has special architectural interest in a national context.

TQ7348653606

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

495904

Legacy System:

LBS

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