COUNCIL TO PROTECT WELLINGBOROUGH SHED
Wellingborough’s surviving Midland Railway roundhouse could be protected from demolition by the local council.
The borough council’s development committee is considering a local listing of the building, and removing permitted development rights, meaning that the owner would have to seek planning permission if it wanted to demolish it.
Constructed in 1872 and once home to BR’s ten-strong fleet of Crosti-boilered ‘9Fs’, the 24road No. 2 roundhouse closed to steam in 1966. Later used as a warehouse by safety workwear firm Totectors, it is now owned by developer Vistry Homes.
The owner has not indicated an intention to demolish the shed, but a previous attempt to list it in 2011 was rejected by English Heritage, partly on the grounds that it is similar to other surviving examples, including the preserved Barrow Hill depot.
Although the track, turntable and smoke vents have all been removed and the turntable pit filled in, it retains the original windows, albeit bricked up from the outside. An indoor market is one possible use suggested by Wellingborough Civic Society.
Steam Railway has contacted Wellingborough Borough Council for comment.