Relateable photos on Flickr

A creepy spot of land by Peter Kittsteiner

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Muncaster Castle near Ravenglass, Lake District, Cumbria

Some background information:

Muncaster Castle is located on the right bank of the River Esk, about a mile south of the west-coastal town of Ravenglass. The estate is situated in sparsely populated and scenic countryside between the Irish Sea and Hardknott Pass, near England's tallest mountain, Scafell Pike. It is still owned by the noble Pennington family, who has lived there for at least 800 years.

In 1208 Muncaster estate was granted to Alan de Penitone. The oldest parts of the castle include the great hall and the 14th century pele tower, a type of watch-tower fortification unique to the English-Scottish border region, which were erected by wealthy English families to protect themselves and their estates against Scottish invaders.

It is suspected that the site of the castle lies on foundations dating to the Roman era, which may relate to the nearby Roman fort of Glannoventa at Ravenglass. An indication for this suspicion is the name "Muncaster", which contains the Latin word "castra", meaning "encampment" or "fort".

After the battle of Towton in 1461, Henry VI fled to Muncaster Castle where Sir John Pennington sheltered him. Henry gave Sir John a glass drinking bowl with a prayer that they might prosper for as long as the glass remained unbroken. The glass is known as "The Luck of Muncaster" and remains unbroken to this day.

Over the course of the centuries Muncaster Castle was extended and enlarged on a number of occasions. Recent historical research has uncovered records which indicate that in 1678 the castle had 14 chimneys, while a document relating to payment of window tax in 1746 recorded that it had 103 windows as well as 55 rooms and corridors at that date.

However, by the time of the ownership of Sir Joseph Pennington in the 1770s, the castle had fallen into serious decay. His son, Sir John Pennington, arriving to live at the castle after his wedding in 1778, wrote with despair of how a part of the building collapsed even as he was inspecting it. The preservation of the castle to this day is due to the efforts of Sir John Pennington to rebuild and restore it, which costed him some six thousand pounds, an enormous sum of money in the late 18th century.

In August 2005 an archaeological investigation was conducted in the castle grounds and an architectural heritage peport was produced. This investigation revealed that the castle's north tower was constructed in the 1830s. Previous literature on the north tower mistakenly attributed its construction to the architect Anthony Salvin, who was engaged to refurbish the castle by the fourth Lord Muncaster in 1862. The north tower complements the pele tower to provide a symmetry to the castle's appearance.

Muncaster Castle estate in the early 20th century was around 23,000 acres (93 km²) in size. Today the castle is surrounded by "only" 77 acres (310,000 m²) of woodland gardens in a park of some 1,800 acres (7.3 km²). The gardens contain many rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas, and the castle's Plant Centre offers the largest collection of rhododendrons in the north of England.

In common with many such ancient estates in the British Isles Muncaster Castle is open to the public. But unfortunately visitors are not allowed to photograph the interiors. The castle also operates as a site where civil weddings may be held, has bookable accommodation for 24 guests, shows bird of prey demonstrations and is the location of the headquarters of the World Owl Trust, a registered UK charity dedicated to the preservation of owls and their habitats.

Muncaster Castle and its hauntings:

Muncaster Castle has acquired a reputation for being one of the most haunted castles in England, perhaps even the most haunted one. It only competes with Hampton Court Palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and Chillingham Castle in Northhumberland, which can come up with a similar number of hauntings.

The two most famous ghosts of Muncaster are the ones of Thomas Skelton, reputedly the last court jester in English history, and Mary Bragg, a local girl who was most likely murdered on the castle grounds by two young men in the 19th century after they'd kidnapped her on behalf of her rival in love. But let’s take one thing at a time:

Tom Fool:

At the end of the 16th century Thomas Skelton, better known as Tom Fool, acted as as jester on Muncaster Castle. Although a friend of William Shakespeare, he was by all accounts a dark character responsible for a number of deaths during his time at Muncaster. One of his ideas of a "joke" was directing anyone asking him for directions to Ravenglass towards the hidden quicksand and bog marsh by the River Esk rather than the ford – some realised in time, many did not and were never seen again.

Despite Thomas Skelton being a jester, the local carpenter certainly wasn't laughing about him. Under the orders of Sir Ferdinand Pennington, Thomas chopped the carpenter's head off as a punishment for falling in love with Helwise, Sir Pennington's daughter. Skelton died around 1600, according to legend in the very marshes where he'd sent so many to their deaths when trying to return to the castle whilst drunk.

His portrait hangs in the castle, which contains his will to this day and the Pennington family still believes, that Thomas Skelton keeps a watchful eye on the castle and occasionally gets up to more sinister mischief. Therefore most of the ghostly goings on are attributed to this fiendish fool. Every evening the current owners Phyllida and Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington place a dram of whisky on the commode under his picture, because already during his life he enjoyed having a wee dram. Nowadays Muncaster castle also hosts the special annual event "Tom Fool's day", which is a family fun day with various attractions.

Mary Bragg:

Mary Bragg, whose ghost also haunts the castle, was a housekeeper in the nearby town of Ravenglass. In 1805 she met with a violent and untimely end. Mary was in love with the footman at Muncaster Castle. Unfortunately for Mary, so was one of the housemaids, and she was not keen on competition. It is said that the house maid plotted to rid herself of this love rival, and she may have been ultimately responsible for Mary's death.

Mary Bragg's mother was the last person to see her alive. After Mary’s death she reported how two men called, claiming her lover was seriously ill. Mary told her mum that the two men were taking her to his bedside, but she was never seen alive again. Mary's body was found some weeks later, floating in the River Esk. It was hardly recognizable because of the horrendous injuries. The body had also been partially eaten by eels and the coroner could not say for certain how she died and no one was charged with her murder.

The ghost of Mary Bragg can often be seen wandering the grounds of the Castle and along the local roads. Mary's ghost is mostly dressed in white. Her form however varies: Occasionally she's a misty figure, but other witnesses have reported a solid form or a darting figure sometimes jumping out in front of cars before vanishing. Some wood workers also swear black and blue that the tree, where Mary is said to have met with her untimely death on the site of Muncaster Castle, was bleeding briskly when they were cutting it down.

Margaret Pennington:

The most haunted room at Muncaster Castle and hence the focal point of the paranormal activity there is the Tapestry Room. Visitors often report feeling an unwelcoming presence in the room. Guests who have stayed the night in the Tapestry Room, have reported the sound of babies crying or children singing softly. Black figures have been seen leaning over alarmed guests, whilst others have experienced a heavy weight falling on top of them in the antique four poster bed. A paranormal investigation team reported seeing a black, featureless figure walk into the Tapestry Room and vanish. James Cartland, archivist and friend of the Pennington family, was invited to stay at the castle during the early 1980s and was put up in the Tapestry Room. In the morning he reported: "I heard this sort of strange muttering sound as if someone was talking. I stuck my head up the chimney because I thought it could have been the sound of the wind, but it was a very still and frosty night. I was the only person in the wing of the castle that night, so there was nobody else around to make a noise. Everybody else was at the other end. I walked around a little and out into the corridor. When I returned to my room, the noise was still going on and was more audible by then. It was definitely the sound of a child crying. I got back into bed - I never slept a wink that night. It was a terrible night!"

A teenage girl had stayed at the castle with her mother a year earlier. The girl, now a trainee lawyer, has spoken how she heard footsteps along the corridor outside her room when, suddenly, the door of her room opened, and the sound of a crying child filled the room.

The late Lord Carlisle had a similar experience which he recounted to an ex-curator of the castle, Philip Denham-Cookes: "Lord Carlisle told me that he had only stayed once in Muncaster and that was in the Tapestry Room. He had been woken up during the middle of the night by the sound of a young child crying. He admitted he had never been more terrified in his life. Lord Carlisle was awarded the MC in the last war so he wasn't a man easily frightened, but he has said that nothing would ever get him to stay at Muncaster again."

Recent investigations revealed that in the Tapestry Room had previously been a children's nursery. During the castles long history there have been a number of deaths. Several of these have been children and some of these were buried in the castle grounds. But there was even one girl, Margaret Susan Elizabeth Pennington, who died of screaming fits in 1871 at the age of eleven.

Of course there are also several other lost souls, who haunt the castle, like the one of the carpenter beheaded by Tom Fool, who is reported to haunt several rooms whilst carrying his head under his arm, and the one of a lion, whose skull was brought as a trophy to the castle by the last Lord Muncaster, after he had shot the lion in Kenya.

By the way the Pennington family makes a special offer to those visitors, who are skeptical: Guests are allowed to spend a night at the Tapestry Room. But once settled for the night, the alarms are set and there's no escaping. So don’t say, that you haven’t been warned. :-)

St Mary the Virgin, Goudhurst, Kent by Jelltex

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For the best part of the last year, I have been posting shots of Kent churches on Twitter, to break up the torrent of horrible news relating to COVID, Brexit and our Dear Leader, and in doing so, I have discovered many churches I visited at the start of the project, needed to redone.

Goudhurst, is, apparently, the highest point in Kent, or so Jools tells me. I will just check that with Wikki: Hmm, it seems not. That is Betsom's Hill north of the M25 near to the border with London. Goudhurst is not even in the top ten.

I can confirm we approached the village along a long hill from a river valley, finally climbing up the narrow high street, getting round the parked cars and finding a space nearly big enough for the car near to the church.

On the other side of the road from the church, a series of very Kent houses and buildings, all decorated with pegtiles, in the Kent fashion, and to the south, the imposing structure of The Star and Eagle Hotel.

The church sits in it's large graveyard, pretty as a picture on a sunny summer's afternoon as on my first visit, but on a grey, late autumn afternoon, just as the light fades, it loses some of its charm.

The church itself is resplendent with it's honey-coloured stone, squat tower and spreading aisles on both sides.

There is a welcome notice on the door in the west end of the tower stating that the church is always open and all are indeed, welcome.

Its a fine touch.

Inside, it is light and spacious, so spacious to have to grand leather sofas in the nave, not sure if this is for glamping, or for some other reason, but they're doing no harm.

There are several fine wall monuments and brasses, and a wooden memorial to a couple set under a window from the 16th century.

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Seen from afar Goudhurst is Kent's answer to Rye - a small hilltop village over which broods the lovely church. Its west tower, dating from the seventeenth century, is rather low, but the honey-coloured sandstone is particularly beautiful here. We enter the church through the tower, and are impressed by the way in which the width and height of the nave and its aisles combine to make such a noble structure. There are two remarkably fine wooden effigies dating from the sixteenth century, carved and painted and set into a purpose-built bay window. Nearby, in the south chapel, the walls are crammed with monuments and there are three brasses, one of which is covered by a stone canopy - not particularly grand but unexpected and functional.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Goudhurst

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GOUDHURST

LIES the next parish southward from Marden. The northern part of it, as far southward as the stream formerly called Risebridge river, which flows from Bedgebury to Hope mill, and a smaller part likewise on the other side of it, adjoining to the rivulet called the Bewle westward, is in the hundred of Marden, and lower division of the lath of Scray; the rest of the parish southward of the first-mentioned stream, is in the hundred of West, alias Little Barnefield, and lath of Aylesford, comprehending the whole of that hundred. So much of this parish as is within the borough of Faircrouch, is in the hundred of Cranbrook; as much as is in the boroughs of Pattenden, Lilsden, Combwell, and Chingley or Bromley, is in the same hundred of West, alias Little Barnefield; and the residue is in the hundred of Marden. It lies wholly within the district of the Weald, and in the division of West Kent.

The borsholders of the boroughs of Highamden, Pattenden, and Hilsden, in this parish, are chosen at the court-leet holden for the manor of East Farleigh, and the inhabitants owe no service but to that manor; only a constable for the hundred of West Barnefield may be chosen out of such parts of them as lay within it for that hundred. The manor of Maidstone likewise extends into this parish, over lands as far southward as Rise-bridge.

THE PARISH OF GOUDHURST is very pleasantly situated, being interspersed on every side with frequent hill and dale. The trees in it are oak, of a large size, and in great plenty throughout it, as well in the woods, as broad hedge-rows and shaves round the fields. The lands are in general very fertile; the soil, like the adjoining parishes, is mostly a deep stiff clay; being heavy tillage land, but it has the advantage of a great deal of rich marle at different places, and in some few parts sand, with which the roads are in general covered; and in the grounds near Finchcocks, there is a gravel-pit, which is the only one, I believe, in this part of the county. There is much more pasture than arable land in it, the former being mostly fatting lands, bullocks fatted on them weighing in general from 120 to 130 stone. It is well watered with several streams in different parts of it, all which uniting with the Teis, flow in one channel, along the western side of this parish, towards the Medway. The eastern and southern parts of it are much covered with thick coppice wood, mostly of oak. The turnpike road from Maidstone over Cocksheath through Marden, leads through the upper part of this parish southward, dividing into two branches at Winchethill; that to the left goes on to Comborne, and leaving the town of Goudhurst a little to the right, joins the Cranbrooke road a little beyond it. That to the right, having taken into it a branch of the Woodgate road from Tunbridge, near Broadford-bridge, goes on to the town of Goudhurst, and thence eastward to Cranbrooke and Tenterden; and the great high road from Lamberhurst through Stonecrouch to Hawkhurst, and into Sussex, south-east, goes along the southern bounds of this parish.

The parish is about eight miles long and four broad. There are about three hundred houses in it, and somewhat more than five inhabitants to a house. It is very healthy; sixty years of age being esteemed, if not the prime, at least the middle age of life; the inhabitants of these parts being in great measure untainted with the vices and dissipation too frequently practised above the hill.

There are two heaths or commons here; the one called Pyles-health, and the other Killdown, in West Barnefield hundred.

THE TOWN, or village of Goudhurst, stands in the hundred of Marden, about half a mile within the lower or southern bounds of it, on an hill, commanding an extensive view of the country all around it. It is not paved, but is built on the sides of five different roads which unite at a large pond in the middle of it. The houses are mostly large, antient and well-timbered, like the rest of those in this neighbourhood, one of them, called Brickwall, belongs to the Rev. Mr. Thomas Bathurst. Within memory there were many clothiers here, but there are none now. There is some little of the woolstapling business yet carried on.

On the summit of the hill, on which the town stands, is the church, a conspicuous object to the neighbouring country, and near it was the marketplace, which was pulled down about the year 1650, and the present small one built lower down, at the broad place in the town near the pond. The market was held on a Wednesday weekly, for cattle, provisions, &c. till within memory; it is now entirely disused, there is a fair held yearly in the town, upon the day of the assumption of our lady, being August 26, for cattle, hardware, toys, &c. This market and fair were granted in the year of king Richard II. to Joane, widow of Roger de Bedgebury, the possessors of which estate claim at this time the privilege of holding them, by a yearly rent to the manor of Marden.

At the hamlet of Stonecrouch is a post-office of very considerable account, its district extending to Goudhurst, Cranbrooke, Tenterden, Winchelsea, Rye, and Hastings, and all the intermediate and adjoining places, to which letters are directed by this Stonecrouch bag.

ALMOST adjoining to the town eastward, on the road leading to Tenterden, there is A HAMLET, called LITTLE GOUDHURST, in which there is an antient seat, called TAYWELL, which for many generations was possessed by a family of the name of Lake, who bore for their arms, Sable, a bend between six crosscroslets, fitchee, argent. In the north isle of this church, under which is a vault, in which this family lie buried, there is a marble, on which is a descent of them. The last of them, Thomas Lake, esq. barrister-at-law, resided here, but dying without issue male, his daughters and coheirs became possessed of it; one of whom married Maximilian Gott, esq. and the other Thomas Hussey, esq. whose son Edward Hussey, esq. of Scotney, now possesses the entire see of this estate, which is demised for a long term of years to Mr. Olive, who has almost rebuilt it, and resides in it.

AT A SMALL DISTANCE southward from the abovementioned seat, is another, called TRIGGS, which was for several descents the residence of the Stringers, a family of good account in the different parts of this county. John Stringer, esq. son of Edward Stringer, of Biddenden, by Phillis his wife, daughter of George Holland, gent. resided here in king Charles I.'s reign, and married Susanna, daughter of Stephen Streeter, of Goudhurst, by whom he had Stephen, of Goudhurst; John, gent. of Ashford, who left a daughter and heir Mary, married to Anthony Irby, esq. Edward and Thomas, both of Goudhurst; the latter left two sons. Thomas and Edward, and a daughter Catherine, who married William Belcher, M. D. by whom the had Stringer Belcher, and other children. The Stringers bore for their arms, Per chevron, or, and sable, in chief two eagles displayed of the second, in the base a fleur de lis of the first.

Stephen Stringer, the eldest son of John, resided at Triggs in the reign of king Charles II. and was succeeded in it by his second son Stephen Stringer, esq. who kept his shrievalty here in the 6th year of queen Anne. He died without male issue, leaving by Jane his wife, daughter of John Austen, esq. of Broadford, four daughters his coheirs, Jane, married to Thomas Weston, of Cranbrooke; Hannah to William Monk, of Buckingham. in Sussex, whose eldest daughter and coheir married Thomas Knight, esq. of Godmersham; Elizabeth married Edward Bathurst, esq. of Finchcocks, and Anne married John Kirril, esq. of Sevenoke. (fn. 1) This seat was afterwards alienated to Francis Austen, esq. of Sevenoke, whose son Francis Mottley Austen, esq. of Sevenoke, is the present owner of it.

THE MANOR OF MARDEN claims over the greatest part of this parish; part of it, being the dens beforementioned, are within the manor of East Farleigh, and the remaining part, called Wincehurst-den, is within the manor of Gillingham, near Chatham. Although that part of this parish which lies within the hundred of West Barnefield, being the most southern part of it, contains those places which are of, by far, the greatest note in it, yet, for the sake of regularity in my description, I shall begin with those in the hundred of Marden, partly already described, and having finished that, proceed next to the hundred of West Barnefield, and the matters worthy of notice in it.

BOKINFOLD is a manor of large extent, situated in the hundred of Marden, having formerly a large park and demesnes belonging to it, which extended into the parishes of Brenchley, Horsemonden, Yalding, Marden, and Goudhurst, the house of it being situated in that of Yalding, in the description of which parish the reader will find an ample account of the former state and possessors of it. (fn. 2) It will, therefore, be sufficient to mention here, in addition to it, that the whole of this manor coming at length into the possession of Sir Alexander Colepeper. He in the 3d year of queen Elizabeth levied a fine of it, and three years afterwards alienated that part of this manor, and all the demesnes of it which lay in Brenchley, Horsemonden, Yalding, and Marden, to Roger Revell, as has been mentioned under the parish of Yalding, and THE REMAINDER OF IT in this parish, held of the manor of Marden, to Sharpeigh, whose descendant Stephen Sharpeigh passed that part of it away in 1582, to Richard Reynolds, whose son and heir John Reynolds, about the 41st year of queen Elizabeth, conveyed it to Richard Eliot, and he, about the year 1601, alienated it to Thomas Girdler, who the next year sold it to John Reynolds, and he, in the 5th year of king James, transmitted it to John Beale, who, about 1609, passed it away to John Harleston, of Ickham, and he settled it by will on Richard Harleston, who in like manner devised it to his kinsman Richard Bishop, and he, soon after the death of king Charles I. sold it to Mr. Stephen Stringer, of Triggs, in Goudhurst, whose son, of the same name, was sheriff anno 6 queen Anne, and left five daughters his coheirs, of whom Elizabeth, the third, married Edward Bathurst, esq. of Finchcocks, and on the division of their inheritance, he, in her right, became possessed of this manor. He died in 1772, upon which this estate came to his son, the Rev. Thomas Bathurst, rector of Welwyn, in Hertfordshire, the present owner of it. A court baron is regularly held for this manor.

In 1641 the archbishop collated Richard Amhurst, clerk, to the free chapels of Bockinfold and Newsted annexed, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury, then vacant and of his patronage. (fn. 3)

COMBORNE is an estate, situated in the northernmost part of this parish, adjoining to Winchet-hill, in the hundred of Marden likewise; which place of Winchet-hill was antiently the original seat in this county, of the family of Roberts, of Glassenbury.

An ancestor of this family, William Rookherst, a gentleman of Scotland, left his native country, and came into England in the 3d year of king Henry I. and had afterwards the surname of Roberts, having purchased lands at Winchet-hill, on which he built himself a mansion, calling it Rookherst, after himself. This place came afterwards to be called Ladiesden Rokehurst, alias Curtesden, and continued the residence of this family till the reign of king Richard II. when Stephen Roberts, alias Rookherst, marrying Joane, the daughter and heir of William Tilley, of Glassenbury, removed thither, and the remains of their residence here are so totally effaced, as to be known only by the family evidences, and the report of the neighbourhood.

But their estate at Winchet-hill continued several generations afterwards in their descendants, till it was at length alienated to one of the family of Maplesden, of Marden, in whose descendants this estate, together with that of Comborne adjoining, continued down to Edward Maplesden; esq. of the Middle Temple, who died in 1755, s. p. and intestate. Upon which they descended to Alexander Courthope, esq. of Horsemonden, the son of his sister Catherine, and to Charles Booth, esq. the grandson of his sister Anne, as his coheirs in gavelkind, and on a partition of those estates between them, Winchet-hill was allotted to Charles Booth, esq. afterwards Sir Charles Booth, of Harrietsham-place, who died possessed of it, s. p. in 1795, and his devisees, for the purposes of his will, are now in the possession of it; but Comborne was allotted to Alexander Courthope, esq. since deceased, whose nephew John Cole, esq. now possesses it.

FINCHCOCKS is a feat in this parish, situated within the hundred of Marden, in that angle of it which extends south-westward below Hope mill, and is likewise within that manor. It was formerly of note for being the mansion of a family of the same surname, who were possessed of it as early as the 40th year of Henry III. They were succeeded in it by the family of Horden, of Horden, who became proprietors of it by purchase in the beginning of king Henry VI.'s reign, one of whom was Edward Horden, esq. clerk of the green cloth to king Edward VI. queen Mary, and queen Elizabeth, who had, for some considerable service to the crown, the augmentation of a regal diadem, added to his paternal coat by queen Elizabeth. He left two daughters his coheirs, Elizabeth, married to Mr. Paul Bathurst, of Bathurst-street, in Nordiam, and Mary to Mr. Delves, of Fletchings, who had Horden for his share of the inheritance, as the other had this of Finchcocks. He was descended from Laurence Bathurst, of Canterbury, who held lands there and in Cranbrooke, whose son of the same name, left three sons, of whom Edward, the eldest, was of Staplehurst, and was ancestor of the Bathursts, of Franks, in this county, now extinct, (fn. 4) of the earls Bathurst, and those of Clarenden-park, in Wiltshire, and Lydney, in Gloucestershire; Robert Bathurst, the second, was of Horsemonden; and John, the third son, was ancestor of the Bathursts, of Ockham, in Hampshire. Robert Bathurst, of Horsemonden above-mentioned, by his first wife had John, from whom came the Bathursts, of Lechlade, in Gloucestershire, and baronets; and Paul, who was of Nordiam, and afterwards possessor of Finchcocks, from whose great-grandson William, who was a merchant in London, descended the Bathursts, of Edmonton, in Middlesex. By his second wife he had John, who was of Goudhurst, ancestor of the Bathursts, of Richmond, in Yorkshire. In the descendants of Paul Bathurst before-mentioned, this seat continued down to Thomas Bathurst, esq. who by his will devised this seat and estate to his nephew Edward, only son of his younger brother William, of Wilmington, who leaving his residence there on having this seat devised to him, removed hither, and rebuilt this seat, at a great expence, in a most stately manner. He resided here till his death in 1772, having been twice married, and leaving several children by each of his wives. By his first wife Elizabeth, third daughter and coheir of Stephen Stringer, esq. of Triggs, he had three sons, Edward, who left a daughter Dorothy, now unmarried, and John and Thomas, both fellows of All Souls college, in Oxford, the latter of whom is now rector of Welwyn, in Hertfordshire. Before his death he conveyed this seat and estate by sale to his son by his second wife, Mr. Charles Bathurst, who on his decease in 1767, s. p. devised it by will to his brother, the Rev. Mr. Richard Bathurst, now of Rochester, the present possessor of it. This branch of the family of Bathurst. bore for their arms the same coat as those of Franks, in this county, and those of Cirencester, Lydney, and Clarendon, viz. Sable, two bars, ermine, in chief three crosses pattee, or, with a crescent for difference; but with a different crest, viz. Party per fess, and pale, a demi wolf argent, and sable, holding a regal crown, or; which I take to be that borne by Edward Horden, whose heir Paul Bathurst, their ancestor, married, and whose coat of arms they likewise quartered with their own.

¶AT NO GREAT DISTANCE from Finchcocks, in the same hundred, lies a capital messuage, called RISEDEN, alias GATEHOUSE, which formerly belonged to a family named Sabbe, one of whom, Simon Sabbe, sold it, before the middle of the last century, to Mr. Robert Bathurst, from whom it descended down, with an adjoining estate, called TRILLINGHERST, to another Robert Bathurst, who died in 1731, and lies buried in this church, whose daughter Mary sold them both to Sir Horace Mann, bart. the present possessor of them.

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp64-73

ITM3579694 Reco OF ROMA STREET YARD CONSTRUCTION OF COLLEGE ROAD OVERBRIDGE Dept No.QSA0236 X2345 no 1433 by Queensland State Archives

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This image has been digitised from Queensland State Archives, Series ID S2149: Railway Glass Plate Negatives - Queensland Rail Heritage Collection. It is one of the images depicting the many stations, bridges and tracks that people and goods travelled from, on and through all over the Queensland Rail network.

Roma Street Railway Station occupies a 0.55ha site within the extensive Roma Street Station transit complex, located on the western side of the Brisbane central business district. The substantial masonry station building (1875) is set back from and faces Roma Street (although partially obscured by later development), and has a prominent centred entrance to the front (south) and a platform along the rear (north). A later platform and awning to the south is associated with the former Country Station development (1939/40).

Features of Roma Street Railway Station of state-level cultural heritage significance are:

Station building (1875)

Platform (1875)

Country Station platform and awning (1939)

Views

The state-level periods of significance of the place are layered and relate to its origins and use as a passenger station (1875-1940) and railway design, traffic and management offices (1875-1974), and the establishment of the former Country Station (1939/40).

A large iron-roofed shelter (c1980) to the east of the station, small buildings to the west, and a lift, stairs and escalators accessing the modern subway below, are not of state-level cultural heritage significance.

The Roma Street Railway Station was opened in 1875 as the first Brisbane Terminal Station for use on the Brisbane end of the Southern and Western Railway Line from Ipswich. The two-storey station building was designed by Francis Drummond Greville (FDG) Stanley, the Colonial Architect and Superintendent of Public Buildings, in 1873 and built over the next two years by Brisbane builder, John Petrie. The station operated as the Brisbane terminal station until 1889, as a major passenger and administration station until 1940, and Brisbane’s primary railway goods facility until 1991. It served as offices for the Queensland Railway Department (later Queensland Railways, later Queensland Rail) staff for over 100 years, and is the one of the oldest surviving railway buildings in Queensland.

In the Australian colonies, governments fostered the development of railways as a means of developing the country and encouraging settlement. It was argued that rail would reduce freight costs and save travel time for passengers.[1] Queensland’s first railway survey was undertaken by the New South Wales Government in 1856, and following separation, Queensland Parliament passed the Railway Act in 1863, enabling railways to be constructed in the colony. The railway network developed along decentralised lines extending from ports to pastoral and mining centres. The first line, between Ipswich and Bigge's Camp, 34km west of Ipswich (later Grandchester, QHR600729), was opened in 1865. This was the first stage of the four-stage Southern and Western Railway project which linked Ipswich to Toowoomba in 1867, Warwick in 1871, and Dalby in 1878. New railways opened west from Rockhampton in 1867 (the Northern Line, later renamed the Central Railway), west from Townsville in 1880 (the Great Northern Line), Cairns in 1887, and south from Normanton in 1891.

The Southern and Western Railway served the pastoralists and industrialists of Ipswich and the Darling Downs, and was primarily for goods, rather than passengers. With the railhead at Ipswich, a railway to Brisbane was not initially considered essential, as goods could be shipped from Ipswich to Brisbane’s port for export. However, the Bremer and upper Brisbane rivers could not cope with large shipping, and lobbying began for an extension to Brisbane. A preliminary survey of possible lines was completed in 1865,[4] but concerns over the extension’s financial viability put work on hold. A Royal Commission on Railway Construction was called in the 1870s, and recommended the extension: the business generated by it was likely to be profitable, and the colony’s economy, which had collapsed in the mid-1860s, had been bolstered by the Gympie gold rush and was better able to afford new infrastructure.

The extension between Ipswich and Oxley was approved in August 1872,[6] and, the first sod on the extension was turned at Goodna in January 1873. From Oxley, two lines had been surveyed, terminating either at North or South Brisbane. After extensive debate, the route to North Brisbane, via a bridge at Oxley Point (Indooroopilly), was chosen as more cost-effective. The terminus of this route, selected by Railway Department Chief Engineer HC Stanley, was located within the Grammar School reserve at the base of the ‘Green Hills’ (Petrie Terrace). The site was unused by the school and was large enough for a major passenger station and goods yard.

The section between Oxley and Brisbane was approved in October 1873,[9] and the Government called for tenders for the construction of the railway terminus station in Brisbane. FDG Stanley, the recently-appointed Colonial Architect and Superintendent of Buildings within the Public Works Department, was the designer of the building. Stanley had commenced with the Public Works Department in 1863, serving as Superintendent of Buildings after Charles Tiffin vacated the Colonial Architect’s position. He was the official Colonial Architect from 1873-1883, when the colony, recovering from the economic collapse of the 1860s, began to invest in public buildings. Stanley’s designs, balancing classical styles and stylistic features with climate-appropriate adaptations and economic restraint, helped define public architecture in Queensland. Extant examples of major works, designed while he was Colonial Architect, include the original State Library (1876-9, QHR600177); Toowoomba Court House (1876-8, QHR600848); Townsville Magistrates Court (1876-7, QHR600929); Townsville Gaol (now part of Townsville Central State School, 1877, QHR601162); Brisbane’s Port Office (1880, QHR600088); Toowoomba Hospital (surviving kitchen wing 1880, QHR601296); post offices at Gympie (1878-80, QHR600534), South Brisbane (1881, QHR600302) and Toowoomba (1880, QHR600847); as well as the Brisbane Supreme Court (no longer extant). As Superintendent of Buildings he designed the Toowoomba Railway Station (1874, QHR600872), Government Printing Office (1873, QHR600114) and Lady Elliott Island Lighthouse (1872-3).

The Brisbane Courier provided a detailed description of the proposed Terminus Passenger Station in October 1873:

The general style of the building will be that known as the Italian Gothic order of architecture. The material used...will be pressed brick with cut stone facings, this being chosen on account of its durability and as also affording the greatest consonant with economy. The station will consist of a main building, two storeys high, flanked at each end by a single storey wing.

The building was designed to house both a passenger station and railway administrative offices. Passengers would access the station from Roma Street via a carriageway, disembarking at the station’s central carriage porch. The porch fronted a 10ft (3m) wide arcade running the length of the main building. From the arcade, passengers would enter either the first-class booking office on the east or the second-class booking office on the west, both served by a semi-circular ticket office on the rear (northern) wall. Female passengers travelling on second-class tickets could wait in a small room located along a western passage, while separate waiting rooms for first-class male and female passengers were east of the first-class booking office. Doorways in the rear wall of the booking offices and waiting rooms led directly onto the 190-foot (58m) long departure platform. Arriving passengers exited the station via a second platform across the rail line. Luggage was loaded onto trains via the luggage passage, on the eastern end of the building. The guards and porters room, staff facilities, a lamp room and stairs to the upper floor were situated in the eastern wing. The western side of the building held public services, including the telegraph office, station master’s office, and parcel and book office, accessible via a public lobby at the end of the arcade. A private staircase to the traffic managers’ office, a staircase to the traffic department, and toilet facilities were located in the western wing. An office or book stall space, in the northwestern side of the building, was accessible from the platform.

Upstairs, the offices of the traffic department, clerks, accountant, draughtsmen, Railways Engineer, Resident Engineer and contractors were accessed from a central passageway which ran almost the length of the building; with a small S-bend in the western end. An arch in the centre of the corridor marked the separation of the traffic department from the Chief Engineer’s office. Both wings hosted staircases.

The building included adaptations for the climate. The arcade sheltered the ground floor rooms from the sun, while skylights in the ceiling and a ventilated lantern provided light and ventilation to the upper floor. All public rooms and most of the offices were fitted with fireplaces. A platform shade, installed on the northern wall of the building over the platform, sheltered passengers from the weather, and was composed of material from an iron station building imported from England for use at Toowoomba. It was supported by brick buttresses at both ends of the building (extant) and on the arrivals platform (no longer extant).

Commensurate with Stanley’s design approach, materials used for the station reflected elegance but economy. Apart from the recycled iron roof trusses and columns, the building was constructed of machine-pressed bricks made from locally-sourced clay, more affordable than stone, and praised as ‘cleaner, sharper [and] finer’ than Brisbane bricks used in earlier buildings. Freestone for the building dressings and columns was sourced from Murphy’s Creek.

Construction work took place over two years, after contractor John Petrie’s tender of £11,845 was accepted in December 1873. Progress was slow, with the stonework foundations underway in June 1874, and the building only ten foot above the ground by September. The line from Ipswich to Brisbane was opened without ceremony on 14 June 1875. The platform at Brisbane Terminus Passenger Station was half-paved, the rooms and corridors incomplete, the roofing over the platform in progress and there was no permanent lighting. Nonetheless, an interested crowd gathered to watch the first outbound services leave the station. The building was sufficiently complete by August 1875 for the Brisbane Courier to describe it as ‘in all respects convenient, handsome, and well-designed’. The station’s arcade was later highlighted as one of Brisbane’s valued architectural features.

The Brisbane to Ipswich route quickly became the busiest section of line in Queensland. Merchandise and imported goods from the ports were despatched along the line, while produce from the Darling Downs and surrounds – including coal, flour, wool, hay, maize, livestock, vegetable and dairy produce – was brought to Brisbane. A central goods handling facility was opened at the Terminal Station, including a large (64m long) goods shed and two sidings, erected in 1875-6 (no longer extant), while railway produce markets opened outside the station, along George and Roma streets. A maintenance yard also operated at Roma Street, including locomotive and carriage sheds. By 1882 the Terminal Station platforms had been extended to cope with the traffic and trade. Traffic reduced slightly after some export goods were diverted to South Brisbane in 1884,[32] but expanded again.[33] Cattle yards, produce sheds, carriage sheds, gas works, goods sheds, coal stages, cold stores, additional locomotive sheds and siding extensions were all added to Roma Street’s goods yard. None of these structures survive in 2020.

Passengers also used the line. Residential occupation of Toowong and Indooroopilly boomed as middle-class city workers took advantage of the four daily train services. In 1882 rail lines were opened from the Terminal Station to Sandgate and the Racecourse, taking day-trippers to the seaside and races, and bringing northern suburbs passengers into Brisbane. In January 1888, the first through-service to Sydney departed from the Terminal Station. However, travellers criticised the lack of direct access from the Terminal Station to the central business district, and in 1889, the Brisbane Central Railway Station was opened. Central Railway Station (QHR 600073) – located closer to the General Post Office and city office buildings – became Brisbane’s main passenger station, and the original Terminal Station was renamed Roma Street Railway Station.

Despite its diminished status, Roma Street remained a major centre for passengers and travellers. Through the 19th and early 20th centuries, guards of honour lined Roma Street to greet and farewell significant visitors and figures, including premiers Morehead and Griffith, governors Norman and Lamington; Governor-General Munro-Ferguson; the late politician JM Macrossan, who had died in Sydney; singer Nellie Melba; Lord Kitchener; and Salvation Army General Booth. Roma Street continued to operate as the Sydney Mail terminus until 1931, when the service shifted to South Brisbane. Crowds thronged to Roma Street Station as soldiers departed for the South African War and World War I. Travelling circuses performed in the Roma Street yards, and an historic parade in 1936 included a ‘Puffing Billy’ locomotive, which was displayed at the yards until 1959. Roma Street also continued as the city’s primary goods terminus.

The station building played an important role as office accommodation for Queensland railway staff. Internal rearrangements were made to the building to accommodate growing staff numbers, and improve their working conditions. It was one of the first buildings in Queensland to feature electric light, installed in 1884.[50] The Chief Engineer vacated the building in 1901 and was replaced by the general traffic manager’s department, with a telephonic system of communication installed the same year. Bunker, lumber and message rooms were added to the wings by 1907; a traffic collector’s office and new strongroom were installed in 1911; and parcels, printing offices and machine rooms replaced the first-class waiting rooms, guards’ room and lamp room by 1920. In 1915, an additional storey was constructed atop the central carriage porch, providing more accommodation for the Traffic Branch on the first floor. A traffic control system, coordinating trains between Brisbane and Gympie, was installed and operated from the additional storey in 1927.

Queensland’s railway network extended dramatically in the 20th century. The North Coast line connected Brisbane to Gladstone in 1898, Rockhampton in 1904, and Cairns in 1924, providing a direct rail link between Brisbane and Mackay, Townsville, Winton, Forsayth, Cloncurry and Blackall. Southern and western trains reached Dirranbandi, Surat, Cunnamulla and Quilpie. Central Station initially hosted ‘country’ services, but it lacked room for expansion, and Roma Street’s larger site was earmarked for a new country station. Roma Street’s locomotive, carriage and marshalling yard facilities were transferred to the Mayne Rail Yards between 1911 and 1927, and work began on the new station. A 350ft (106m) reinforced concrete, tiled passenger subway was constructed from Roma Street to the platforms in 1936-7, replacing an overhead walkway. A new steel awning was installed above the southern platform (Platform 3 in 2020), in approximately 1939. It was used in conjunction with two platforms at the new country station (no longer extant) for country and other passenger services.

On 30 November 1940 the Country Station was opened at Roma Street Station. This low-lying face brick building and its additional platform sat directly between the 1873-5 building and Roma Street. The new passenger station relieved congestion at Brisbane Central Station and made Roma Street the chief station for long distance travel north. The original station was refurbished, its roof re-clad with corrugated fibrous sheeting; and its brick walls painted red and lined in cream to match the new station building. The southwest pediment was removed and replaced by a new storey on the western end of the building. A covered area was added east of the building where the subway stairs emerged. The original station building was turned over to the General Manager, with offices for clerks, traffic-, livestock-, coach- and wagon staff, maintenance and locomotive staff, telephone and telegraph exchanges, and the train control section.

Further plans to upgrade and alter the building were postponed by World War II, during which time troop trains departed from Roma Street, and the pedestrian subway served as an air-raid shelter.[66] In 1945, plans were drawn to alter doors, windows and stairs in the wings, and partitions on the first floor. A second storey was added over the west wing in 1953 (later removed), and the General Manager’s staircase was repositioned in 1961. Externally, the iron carriage shed platform shade over the northern platform was removed in 1959.

Extensive change was undertaken at Roma Street around the original station building in the late 20th century. The southern and northern Brisbane railway systems were directly connected in the 1970s, with the opening of the Merivale Bridge in 1978. In 1985, the country railway station (1940 building) was demolished and replaced by a multi-storey centre incorporating new railway and bus facilities, a hotel, offices and function centre. The original station building was left intact, and two new interstate platforms with standard gauge rails were built on its southern side. The pedestrian subway was refurbished in 1986, with a broom finish concrete and expansion joints, and grated drains were laid on the floor, and a ceramic tile finish on the wall faces to match the subway tiles at Central Station. Roma Street’s rail freight facility was moved to Acacia Ridge in 1991. During the mid-1990s the platforms north and south of the early station building were re-arranged and extended. A bricked waiting area and new roof were added east of the station. Underground, a new concourse was constructed to replace the pedestrian subway, and a 19m section of the original subway converted to a storage room.

The station building remained the General Manager’s Office until 1974. The station master, staff workers and archive storage occupied the building in the 1990s. By 1993, Roma Street was acknowledged as the oldest surviving railway station building in an Australian capital city, and one of the oldest surviving railway buildings in Queensland. A new office fitout was installed on the ground floor for Queensland Rail and the Queensland Police Rail Squad in 1999. Stabilisation, waterproofing and reconstruction works commenced in 2012, including restoration of the brick, plaster, lead flashings, window joinery and stone works. Replacement bricks were custom made in England; Welsh slate was imported from the UK; replacement stone came from Helidon; and rolled lead from England was installed. In 2015, a new steel beams and suspension system was installed between the two storeys, to lift a 65mm bow in the timber floor beams fit amongst the existing timber structures. The second storey of the west wing was removed and the roofline reconstructed to its original configuration. The restoration received an Australian Institute of Architects Queensland award in 2015.

In 2020 the building is vacant, pending further repairs.

apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=601208