Alton Towers Railway Station

Alton Towers railway station is a disused railway station in the village of Alton, Staffordshire, England. The station was on the North Staffordshire Railway's Churnet Valley Line from Macclesfield to Uttoxeter. HistoryAt the height of the so-called "Railway Mania", when railways were being built across the whole country, the North Staffordshire Railway obtained Parliament's permission to build a number of lines, one of which was the Churnet Valley Line, on 26 June 1845. It ran from in Cheshire to in East Staffordshire. A temporary station was erected in Alton which opened on 13 July 1849, and the permanent station buildings opened the following year. The station's design followed an Italianate villa style, unique in this respect among all NSR stations, which were a Tudor or Jacobean style. The architecture is variously attributed to A. W. Pugin and Henry Arthur Hunt, the latter of whom designed most of the NSR's stations. Early passengers included many day visitors coming in large numbers from the Staffordshire Potteries to visit nearby Alton Towers, the country estate of the Earl of Shrewsbury. A luggage lift was installed to hoist the Earl's baggage up to Alton Towers. The station also comprised a three-storey tower which contained the Earl's suite of waiting rooms and its platform was made particularly long to satisfy the Earl's desire to have impressive surroundings in which to receive his guests.

Alton Towers railway station is a disused railway station in the village of Alton, Staffordshire, England. The station was on the North Staffordshire Railway's Churnet Valley Line from Macclesfield to Uttoxeter. HistoryAt the height of the so-called "Railway Mania", when railways were being built across the whole country, the North Staffordshire Railway obtained Parliament's permission to build a number of lines, one of which was the Churnet Valley Line, on 26 June 1845. It ran from in Cheshire to in East Staffordshire. A temporary station was erected in Alton which opened on 13 July 1849, and the permanent station buildings opened the following year. The station's design followed an Italianate villa style, unique in this respect among all NSR stations, which were a Tudor or Jacobean style. The architecture is variously attributed to A. W. Pugin and Henry Arthur Hunt, the latter of whom designed most of the NSR's stations. Early passengers included many day visitors coming in large numbers from the Staffordshire Potteries to visit nearby Alton Towers, the country estate of the Earl of Shrewsbury. A luggage lift was installed to hoist the Earl's baggage up to Alton Towers. The station also comprised a three-storey tower which contained the Earl's suite of waiting rooms and its platform was made particularly long to satisfy the Earl's desire to have impressive surroundings in which to receive his guests.