Oswestry station to be revitalised
Funding in place to allow historic building to be restored by local authority owner.
OSWESTRY’S Grade II listed station building is to be renovated after a funding package was secured by Shropshire Council, which owns the building – part of which is used by Cambrian Heritage Railways (CHR).
The cost of the restoration is estimated to be £900,000 and a bid to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has been successful in securing 70% of this – a total of £630,550. This grant offer requires 30% match funding, which has been made available from the council’s capital programme, allowing the project to proceed.
It is hoped work will be carried out by contractors, with the aim of the external restoration being completed before March 2025, to comply with the grant terms.
Shropshire Council took possession of the building in early 2023 after it had suffered storm damage the previous year. During the storm a number of corbels became loose, and as a safety precaution scaffolding has been placed around the building to prevent any corbels or pieces of masonry falling on pedestrians or visitors.
Shropshire Council has since been working with CHR, Oswestry Town Council, the Future Oswestry Group and conservation experts to agree a programme of repairs for the listed building to help secure a viable long-term use for it.
An inspection by the council’s conservation team and building surveyors has also identified that, at some time in the past 40 years, the original slates from the roof have been removed and replaced with tiles made of a ceramic composite which includes asbestos. These tiles have become weathered and asbestos fibres are now exposed requiring their replacement.
Once the exterior works are complete, the council will need to undertake any necessary internal works required to bring the building fully back into a suitable end use. Funding has been secured to undertake more detailed building surveys and to commission a Conservation Management Plan (CMP). These surveys and the CMP will be undertaken in the coming months in parallel with the essential external works, before a recommended end-use(s) and business case is brought back to the council’s cabinet in the second half of this year.
Once the headquarters of the pre-Grouping Cambrian Railways Company, the structure is listed by Historic England (HE) and dating back to ‘circa 1865’ It is constructed largely of brick and with an ornate row of corbels forming part of the soffit under the eaves. The corbels are specifically referenced in the listing by HE and are a key feature of the building.