Southampton Terminus
| Southampton Terminus station originally opened on 10th June 1839 as plain Southampton, the terminus of the London & Southampton Railway though wasn't fully operational until 11th May 1840 by which time the L&SR had become the London & South Western Railway. It was renamed Southampton Docks in July 1858, Southampton Town & Docks in September 1896, Southampton Town for Docks in November 1912 and finally Southampton Terminus on 9th July 1923, by which time it was primarily used by local trains. When opened the station was initially excluded from passenger operations due a dispute over running rights, with tickets issued from a small platform just north of the station, known as Southampton Northam Road. The main building was designed in the Italianate style by Sir William Tite and is now a Grade II listed building. Originally there was a train shed with six platforms, all now demolished and replaced by housing. There is still a railway line that passes around the station and goes into the docks, used mainly for goods traffic these days though there are infrequent passenger services in connection with cruise ships. |
| The south-west corner of South Western House, at the corner
of Canute Road and Terminus Terrace. This was built by the Southampton
Imperial Hotel Company on land leased from the London & South Western
Railway and was completed in, according to the English Heritage listing
description, 1872. The hotel was used particularly by passengers awaiting
departure of liners from Southampton Docks. The LSWR bought the hotel in 1882
and renamed it the South Western Hotel. The extension, to the left fronting
Terminus Terrace, dates from 1927. The hotel closed in 1939 following the
outbreak of war and the building was subsequently used as offices. Far too
large for the railway, it was also occupied by the military and the BBC. The
building is now converted to luxury apartments.
photograph by Gregory Beecroft |
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The Canute Road frontage to South Western Hosue. In the
foreground is the Canute Road level crossing which takes the railway from
Northam into the Eastern Docks.
photograph by Gregory Beecroft |
| The canopy over the former station concourse, which was built in
1927 when the hotel was extended. Platforms were to the right and the station
building can be seen in the background. Today it is simply a covered car park.
photograph by Gregory Beecroft |
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A view from where the platforms were, looking at the rear of
South Western House. There was originally a timber-roofed trainshed, but that
was replaced by individual platform canopies when the station was extended in
1891.
photograph by Gregory Beecroft |
| This is the main entrance and is part of the 1927 extension
which allowed passengers to access the hotel directly from the station
concourse.
photograph by Gregory Beecroft |
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This is the rear of the station building and part of the former
concourse. Again, platforms were to the right.
photograph by Gregory Beecroft |
| This is the Southampton Terminus station building, built by the
London & Southampton Railway for the opening of the line. The
single-storey extension to the left is a later addition. The long demolished
London terminus at Nine Elms was in similar Italianate-Classical style, but
less imposing. The present use for this building is as a casino and offices.
photograph by Gregory Beecroft |
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This page was created 28 December 2009
