John Dobson (architect) - Central Station

Central Station

In 1849 the High Level Bridge was built over the River Tyne, bringing the railway to Newcastle and north to Scotland. A suitably impressive station was required for a thriving town such as Newcastle, and Dobson provided it in his plans. His original plan of 1848 showed a magnificent façade with a huge portico having double colonnades and an Italianate tower at the east end. Behind this was an enormous train shed made up of three arched glass roofs built in a curve on an 800-foot (240 m) radius. This design won an award at the Paris Exhibition of 1858. Unfortunately, Dobson was forced to alter his plans to produce a much less substantial portico and remove the Italianate tower. The station was completed in 1850 without the planned portico and this was only added in 1863.

John Dobson argued for the role of the architect in building railway stations, and his Newcastle Central is regarded by many as the finest in England. According to Gordon Biddle and O. S. Nock in The Railway Heritage of Britain: ‘Undoubtedly it would have been one of the finest 19th century classical buildings in Europe had it been completed... Even so, Newcastle Central today is magnificent inside for its spectacular combination of curves and outside for its sheer size and length.’ The train shed at Newcastle, the authors state, was the first of the great arched roofs and represented a bold step forward which was copied by others.’ It was the first use of malleable rolled iron ribs - indeed the first large glass and iron vault in England.