A guide, descriptive and historical, through the Town of ShrewsburyLeighton, W. A. (William Allport)
History
A guide, descriptive and historical, through the Town of Shrewsbury
Leighton, W. A. (William Allport)
Shrewsbury (England) -- Guidebooks
In the left wing, as the visitor approaches, is a door opening into the
booking and parcel offices: At the end of the right wing an entrance to
the arrival and departure
PLATFORMS,
respectively 600 feet and 450 feet in length, and 16 feet wide. A
wrought-iron roof of 70 feet span covers the platforms and lines of rails
for a space of 450 feet.
The water required for the use of the Station, Engines, and Carriages, is
conveyed in iron pipes along the rim of the railway from high ground in
the neighbourhood of Hencott, (60 feet above the level of the rails at
the Station,) to a large iron tank near the Station, whence a constant
supply can be immediately obtained in the event of fire breaking out.
The Goods, Engine Station, and Coal Depôts of the Shrewsbury and Chester
Railway are situated between Coton Hill and the General Passenger
Station, with convenient access from the Castle Foregate Street, where an
abundant supply of Welsh Coal and Lime is always on hand.
Branch lines diverge from behind the railway platforms, which pass under
Howard Street to the Canal Wharf, where is the Depôt of the Shropshire
and Staffordshire Coals and Cokes.
The Station House and Offices were designed by Mr. Thomas Penson, jun. of
Oswestry. The Engineering works by Messrs. Robertson and Baylis. The
former cost £6,000, the latter about £45,000, and the Goods, Engine,
Station, and other necessary works, above £20,000.
The total cost of the above works, together with the Viaduct over the
river Severn, and the brick Bridge over Cross Street, including land and
buildings, exceeds £100,000.
The whole of the works have been executed by Mr. Brassey, the Contractor,
under the direction of Mr. James Baylis, the resident Engineer, at the
joint expense of the four Railway Companies whose lines unite in
Shrewsbury.
The Railway to Chester was first opened October 12th, 1848. The line to
Birmingham, November 12th, 1849. The line to Hereford was opened to
Ludlow, April, 1852; and throughout, October 31st, 1853.
Turning on the left, immediately opposite the entrance to the Railway
Station, we pass on the same side, the Road leading across the Raven
Meadow to Mardol. This meadow is now converted into a spacious and
convenient
SMITHFIELD, OR CATTLE MARKET,
a great boon to the town, inasmuch as the Fairs were previously held in
the open streets, to the great annoyance, in point of cleanliness and
convenience, of inhabitants and passengers.
The works with the site cost about £13,000, and are capable of affording
accommodation for 700 horses, (with extensive trial grounds for the
same), 1,400 cattle, 5,000 sheep, and 1,000 pigs, with suitable
receptacles for sheep and cattle coming to town previously to the fairs
which occur on the alternate Tuesdays in every month.
Here are also held the Agricultural Shows, which are considered to equal
those of most places where similar exhibitions have been established; and
a Great Horse Fair is held annually in March.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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