Heighington & Aycliffe Railway Station was originally listed at Grade II in 1980 in recognition of its role within the early development of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. It was here that George Stephenson’s Locomotion No.1 (then known as Active) was put on the rails in 1825 for the inauguration of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. It was also the site of tragedy three years later in 1828 when the Locomotion’s boiler exploded, killing its driver.
Following new research by Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and Historic England, the building has now been upgraded to Grade II*, elevating it into the top 10% of England’s most important historic buildings. The building was first thought to date to the mid-1830s, but it has now been revealed that it was completed in 1827, which experts believe make it the earliest ever example of a railway station although it was not officially referred to as one until the late 1830s.
When the building was commissioned, the concept of the railway station had yet to be developed and its original purpose was to function as a tavern to provide shelter and refreshment for workers and customers at the adjacent coal and goods depot. But a newspaper report in September 1827 clearly shows that the building was fulfilling the main functions of what later came to be recognised as a railway station: a stopping point for trains, a building providing shelter for passengers, and a receiving point for unaccompanied parcels and goods being transported by rail.
There is also evidence of someone using the site to commute to work. Furthermore, the incorporation of domestic accommodation could be seen as the forerunner of the station master’s house, a key part of railway stations built throughout the Victorian period.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
