Office Building at St James' Depot

Summary

Office building at St James' Tram and Bus Depot, 1933, for the Northampton Corporation.

The former tram sheds, garages and ancillary accommodation to the rear are excluded from the listing.

Reasons for Designation

The office building at St James’ Tram Depot and Bus Garage is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* an architecturally distinctive and eclectic design which stands out on its corner plot, intended to convey the prestige of the company;
* a richly detailed interior, retaining an extensive scheme of marble-effect tiling within the publicly accessible ground floor rooms, and with low-relief plasterwork and timber panelling to first-floor boardrooms and offices, and a cantilever stair.

Historic interest:

* as a particularly good example of a municipal transport company's offices.

History

The Transport Office building at St James' Tram and Bus Depot was built for the Northampton Corporation in 1933.

A horse-drawn tram service was established in Northampton in 1881 by the Northampton Street Tramways Company. The company was bought in 1901 by the Northampton Corporation, which sought to electrify and extend the network. A 1903 report by the Borough Engineer, Alfred Fidler, sets out the details of the scheme, which included a new ‘car shed’ at St James’ End. The building, which would house 24 trams, would have six tramroads, and accommodation for smiths, carpenters, painters and fitters, along with stores, mess rooms and lavatories. It was to occupy only part of the much bigger site, anticipating and enabling later extension. Construction was made under Fidler’s direction. The building would be lit electrically using power from the trolley wire; power was generated at a separate site, utilising an existing refuse incinerator.

The first electrically powered trams ran in July 1904, with the last horse-drawn service being withdrawn the following month. The new system was an immediate success and much admired, with the Borough Engineer being highly praised for the installation and his ingenuity in implementing the network without external consultation.

The building was extended in several phases, reflecting the development of the company and the transport system. The first extension was made in 1910 to create addional spaces for trams and ancillary and administrative accommodation. Another extension was made in 1922 when motorised buses were introduced, with further expansion in 1928. The final extension, in 1939, saw the construction of a very large new bus garage.

The office block was built at the front of the site in 1933. By this stage, Northampton’s trams were in decline, being superseded entirely in 1934 by motor buses. The office building, which also appears to have functioned as a ticket office, has lost some fittings internally, and the newels and balustrade below the landing have been removed.

Details

Office building, 1933, for the Northampton Corporation.

The former tram sheds, garages and ancillary accommodation to the rear are excluded from the listing.

MATERIALS: constructed from brown brick with reconstituted stone dressings, with a slate roof.

PLAN: the office building stands within the large plot of the former tram and bus depot, on the south-west side of St James Road. It is located at the eastern corner of the site, set forward of the vehicle sheds. It has a rectangular footprint, running from north-east to south-west.

EXTERIOR: the principal elevation faces north-east onto St James’ Road. It is rectangular on plan with a shallow hipped roof with deeply overhanging eaves, lined with corbels. The front of the building has a central entrance with half-glazed timber double doors with fielded panelling and marginal glazing bars. A reconstituted stone door case has geometric mouldings, and panels to either side. A panel above the doorway and a storey band is inscribed ‘NORTHAMPTON CORPORATION / TRANSPORT / OFFICES’. Windows occupy regular openings, and have marginal and diagonal glazing bars, with moulded stone architraves and aprons.

The pattern is continued on the return elevations, each of which is eight bays. On the north-east return elevation a doorway at either end appears to have been the public entrance and exit to a ticket office. The south-west end of the building steps back from the building line.

INTERIOR: the building is laid out with a lobby leading to a stair hall, with one large room with smaller side rooms on the ground floor. The lobby and stair hall have full-height tiling with pale green, marble effect tiles, with black borders. The remainder of the ground floor is also tiled to head height, and there are internal windows with coloured glass and marginal glazing bars. Doors throughout are solid timber with five horizontal panels. The stair is a cantilever open well, with reconstituted stone treads, string, and heavy square newel posts. The balustrade, which survives along the landing, is made up of steel posts and bars forming a geometric pattern. The surviving newel on the landing has the fixings for a lantern – a brass shaft with scroll work and a glass flame shade – since removed. On the first floor there is a large room with low relief plaster mouldings in the style of wall panelling. To the rear is a corridor with a full-height timber panelled screen, leading to a panelled office and closet. Toilets are fully tiled in metro-style cream and green tiles.

Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the former tram sheds, garages and ancillary accommodation to the rear are not of special architectural or historic interest.

Sources

Books and journals
Golby, Fred, A History of Old Duston and Old St James Northampton, (1992), 91-96, 107-117

Websites
St James' Bus Depot, formerly tram car sheds, ref 1160/387, Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record, accessed 23/05/24 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=1044&uid=MNN17161
Northampton Corporation Transport Offices, ref 1160/387/1, Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record, accessed 23/05/24 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=1044&uid=MNN172641
Information and photographs from ‘Save St James Depot’, Northampton Transport Heritage, accessed 23/05/24 from https://ntheritage.org/save-st-james-depot

Other
Municipal Journal, 29 July 1901, no 600 vol XIII, 601-603
Northampton Corporation Transport – Historical Data, from Northampton Transport Heritage (April 2020)

End of official list entry

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