Swanage Railway launches £60,000 appeal to rebuild Victorian canopy

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 9 Oct, 06:43 · Archive

Swanage Railway volunteers are seeking £60,000 to rebuild a Victorian entrance canopy at Corfe Castle station removed in the 1950s.

Swanage Railway has launched a £60,000 appeal to rebuild a wooden entrance canopy at Corfe Castle station in Dorset. The canopy was removed in the mid-1950s, probably because the wood had rotted and British Railways was unwilling to repair it. The original feature was part of the 1884 station building and was designed to shelter passengers from the weather whilst completing the Victorian architectural character of the Grade II-listed site.

The project represents the final phase of the station's restoration, which was started by Swanage Railway volunteers in the early 1990s. Deputy stationmaster David Scott, who has volunteered for the railway for 11 years, said the removal left the entrance "bare and exposed to the weather". He described the rebuild as "a chance to make Corfe Castle station complete again by fully returning the building back to the way that it looked when the first train ran on the new Swanage branch line in May 1885".

Architect Peter Smith has drawn up plans for the new canopy based closely on the original design. The original railway line from Wareham to Swanage closed in 1972, but has since been restored as a heritage railway.

How it is being reported

• Demolished Victorian station canopy to be rebuiltThe canopy, which covered the entrance to Corfe Castle Station, was demolished in the 1950s.BBC Dorset · 9 Oct, 06:11
• £60,000 appeal launched to rebuild lost Victorian canopy at Corfe Castle stationSwanage Railway volunteers have launched a £60,000 appeal to rebuild a Victorian entrance canopy and complete the restoration of Corfe Castle station.Bournemouth Echo · 9 Oct, 05:00

In this story: Swanage Railway · Corfe Castle station · Dorset · David Scott · Peter Smith · British Railways

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