Penrith Railway Station group

Item details


Name of item:	Penrith Railway Station group
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Transport - Rail
Category:	Railway Platform/ Station
Primary address:	Railway land, Jane Street, Penrith, NSW 2750
Local govt. area:	Penrith

Boundary:

Opposite Station Street, Penrith

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Railway land, Jane Street	Penrith	Penrith			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	Completed in 1863 and subsequently upgraded, the railway station demonstrates phases in the development of Penrith associated with the coming of the railway and the need to improve facilities to satisfy increasing demand and/or regional development. The historic buildings and structures are excellent examples of Victorian railway architecture that excemplify Victorian attitudes to railway construction. The complex is unique in the LGA and western Sydney in consideration of its scale and diversity. It continues to provide the traditional rail based gateway to the town. The station group is important in the historic townscape of Penrith and is attractively set against the backdrop of the Blue Mountains and open paddock lands to the north which offer distant views to historic places such as Combewood.
	Date significance updated: 02 Mar 05
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Construction years:	1863-
Physical description:	The item is the railway station complex in Jane Street. The station complex comprises a group of buildings and associated infrastructure developed over the century following the opening of the station in 1863. All of the station buildings are constructed in brick and have hipped roofs. The earliest building was completed in 1863 and the later building was completed in 1890. The platforms and station buildings are complemented by associated infrastructure of historic and technological significance of later dates. This includes the brick elevated signal box (c.1950s), the elevated water tank and cast-iron column (1910s), the steel catenary gantries (c.1950s), turntable (c.1910s), and floodlight towers in the old marshalling yard (1950s). STRUCTURES column - up end platform 1/2, 1956 water tank - up end platform 1/2, 1956
	Date condition updated:20 Dec 91


Current use:	Railway Station
Former use:	Railway Station

History

Historical notes:

Plans for the new station building were drawn up by Whitton and tenders were let to M. Jamison, A. Jamison, and D. Forest. Construction began to the station building, however they were not complete for the opening of the station on 19 January 1863. Penrith station included station building, crossing loop, goods sliding passing through a large goods shed (142’ x 43’) constructed of galvanised iron and timber framing, and a horse and carriage dock at each end of the platform. There were also two sidings with pits and a 40 foot turntable, locomotive office and various small sheds. The station building consisted of nine rooms: a booking office (with counter) located at the centre of the building flaked on either side by a refreshment room and a small ticket office/alcove, a station masters room, gents and ladies lavatories and ladies waiting room.

The building exterior was face brick and appears to have been tuck-pointed and had sandstone detailing to sills, thresholds and chimneys. It had a slate roof with lead capping and detail, a posted verandah with iron panel roofing and a painted decorative valance on square posts with a stop chamfer. The platform, constructed of timber, was short and had a cross form rail at the rear.

By 1875 a number of changes had been made to the complex including an extension of the goods siding, a three road engine shed, engine loop, weight bridge, water tank, coal and sand facilities, and a station master residence built adjacent to the station. In 1890 a new station building was erected to provide facilities on both platforms. The building comprised a central waiting room flanked on either side by gents and ladies waiting rooms with associated lavatories. The waiting area was open fronted and the awning extended only over the main pavilion. Extensions and alterations to both the 1863 and 1890 buildings were made in 1895. The 1890s building included the construction of a refreshment room in the former waiting and gents waiting rooms with the dividing wall being removed and the entry infilled with doors and windows. The 1863 building underwent further alteration with the refreshment room being extended to create a large single space at the Sydney end with a new kitchen wing at rear and a detached wing housing servants and managers rooms.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Push westward-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The station demonstrates a phase in the development of Penrith associated with the coming of the railway and subsequent upgrades to satisfy increasing demand and/or regional development. The station buildings are significant for their representation of two major phases of railway growth in NSW still seen in the station buildings. The structures demonstrate the evolution of railway buildings with their constantly changing needs for accommodation, illustrating the expansion of the railway service as seen in the growth of the refreshment room in 1881, 1895 and again in 1916.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	The buildings are associated with major figures in the development and construction of railways, particularly John Whitton.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The station buildings have high aesthetic value as excellent and rare examples of Victorian railway architecture that exemplify Victorian attitudes to railway construction. The buildings demonstrates fine quality detailing and are imposing structures indicating their importance of the railway to the district. They were designed to bring confidence in railways to the public in their strong architectural form.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	The station has social significance for its function in both serving the local Penrith community and for providing a stopping point for trains moving between Sydney and the country as seen in the importance of the refreshment rooms to the station. The railway complex has had a major social role in Penrith, particularly up to World War I when the railway workshops and yards would have been major employers and sustainers of the town.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The 1863 building clearly demonstrates construction techniques from that period that are seen in the fabric and are supported by good documentation of the building. The group allows an understanding of the growth of the place, changing patterns of development and changes in approach over time to buildings on the railway system. The place has archaeological value.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The complex is unique in the LGA in consideration of its scale and diversity.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The complex includes a number of structures associated with the government railway erected over the nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth century which demonstrate an important rail centre.
Integrity/Intactness:	Fair
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Penrith Local Environmental Plan 2010	188	22 Sep 10
Heritage study			01 Apr 87

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
	0	P-17			No
Penrith Heritage Study Review	2005	P-17	Paul Davies Pty. Ltd.	Paul Davies Pty Ltd	Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	Paul Davies Pty Ltd	1998	Penrith Station Conservation Study

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	2260188

Every effort has been made to ensure that information contained in the State Heritage Inventory is correct. If you find any errors or omissions please send your comments to the Database Manager.

All information and pictures on this page are the copyright of Heritage NSW or respective copyright owners.