Monkwearmouth Station Museum

Monkwearmouth Station Museum
Monkwearmouth Station Museum
 Monkwearmouth Station Museum shown within Tyne and Wear
grid reference NZ395577
Location Sunderland, County Durham, England
Coordinates 54°54′47″N 1°23′06″W / 54.913°N 1.385°W / 54.913; -1.385
Website seeitdoitsunderland.co.uk/monkwearmouth-station-museum

Monkwearmouth Railway Station served Monkwearmouth, Sunderland, England. It was built in 1848 to a design by Thomas Moore.[1] and was once the main railway station in the city.[2] The railway station closed in March 1967 and featured a restored booking office dating from the Edwardian period. The station was opened as a museum in 1973.[3]

The Tyne and Wear Metro and mainline trains still pass through the station without stopping, but the Metro calls at St. Peter's station a few hundred yards south of the old station, due to the platforms at Monkwearmouth being too narrow to serve as a Metro station.

The museum is a Grade II* listed building.[4] As well as the ticket office visitors can explore the Wagon Shed, Journeys Gallery and Children's Gallery.[5]

The museum was temporarily closed from August 2005 until 2007 to allow repairs and refurbishment to take place.[6]

The museum was closed on May 23, 2017, due to the roof, footbridge and platforms in a very poor condition. The local council has agreed to get the station back open by 2019, if funding is secured for a £3.4 million refurbishment by 12 June 2018. However, this is unlikely to happen, as Network Rail and Sunderland City Council are wanting to demolish the building to make way for a new petrol station on the eastern side, and new facilities for St. Peter's station including a new ground level waiting room, a glass room containing the history of the area (including about the old station) and a restaurant, which, if the plans do go ahead, will belong to the Moore family.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/historic-english-railways-200-years-of-history/monkwearmouth-station/
  2. ↑ http://seeitdoitsunderland.co.uk/monkwearmouth-station-museum
  3. ↑ https://www.railwaymagazine.co.uk/monkwearmouth-station-museum-closes-its-doors/
  4. ↑ Historic England. "Monkwearmouth museum of land transport with walls, footbridge, waiting room (1209029)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  5. ↑ http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8231
  6. ↑ http://blog.twmuseums.org.uk/monkwearmouth-station-museum-railway-wagon-restoration-project-%E2%80%93-the-story-of-the-sidings/
The museum viewed from the front window of a Tyne and Wear Metro train passing through the station


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