Ballymagorry Railway Station

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached four-bay single-storey corrugated iron clad former railway station, built c.1900. Rectangular on plan facing south on a raised platform with its rear north elevation facing Station Road. No longer in use with the train tracks removed.

Pitched corrugated iron roof with iron ridge and three tall redbrick chimneystacks with moulded brick cornice and terracotta pots. Timber framed corrugated iron clad canopy projects from eaves level spanning entire south elevation on stop-chamfered timber brackets and tongue-and-groove soffit.

Four-bay front elevation comprises corrugated iron clad walls with two square-headed window openings to the left, one to the right and a square-headed door opening to the centre. Flush timber casement windows with concrete sills. Double-leaf timber doors with stop-chamfered detail, diagonally-sheeted lower panels and glazed upper panels (now boarded up). Door opens onto concrete step to raised former platform.

West gabled side elevation built in red brick laid in English garden wall bond with redbrick chimney rising above and timber fascia to roof. Abutting this elevation is a set of urinals constructed with large sheets of slate, and a lean-to timber framed shelter with corrugated iron roof.

Three-bay north rear elevation with corrugated iron clad walls having a base constructed in red brick and plastic gutter to timber fascia. Two windows to left, as per front elevation, smaller timber casement window to the right.

East gabled side elevation built in red brick (as per west elevation), with vegetative growth.

Rubblestone retaining wall to platform with rounded non-slip double-baked black clay edging bricks. Platform is now covered in grass with gravel to the former carriageway. A stable block and utilitarian sheds occupy the south of the site, which appears to be in the ownership of No.31 Station Road to the east. Lawn area to the north elevation enclosed to the road by a low mild-steel palisade fence.

Roof: Corrugated iron
Walling: Corrugated iron / redbrick
Windows: Timber casement
Rainwater goods: Cast-iron

Historical information

The buildings first appear on the third edition OS map of 1905 captioned ‘Ballymagorry Station’. The accompanying railway is captioned ‘Donegal Railway’ and a ‘Goods Shed’ is also captioned. By the fourth edition of 1951 the railway is owned by the Ulster Transport Authority (‘U.T.A’)

The railway is written into Annual Revision records in 1899 as the property of Donegal Railway Company. The associated buildings are described as Ballymagorry Station, goods store, engine shed and offices and are entered in 1901 and valued together at £20.
Midland Railway Company (Northern Counties Committee) become the owners in 1909. A station master’s house is added in 1914. There are several changes in the value of the associated buildings in the first quarter of the twentieth century until 1922 when they are valued at £11.

By 1937 the owners were the London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company and the buildings were valued at £3. By 1957 the Ulster Transport Authority were the owners and valuers noted that all buildings were empty and the railway lines abandoned. A nominal value of 10s was given to the buildings.

McCutcheon traces some of the history of the the Donegal Railway Company and its successors. A railway was built from Stranorlar to Strabane in 1863. In 1882 this was extended to Lough Eske and in 1889 to Donegal Town. In 1894 the company converted the Stranorlar to Strabane section to narrow gauge and extensions were built to Killybegs and Glenties in 1893 and 1895 respectively. “In 1896 a…bill was lodged by the Donegal Railway Company seeking powers to construct a narrow gauge line from Strabane northwards to Londonderry and also…from Donegal to Ballyshannon…both these lines were built, the former completed in August 1900, the latter in September 1905” (p.197-8)

However, the railway began top experience financial difficulties, “In [1906]…the extensive system of light railways operated by the Donegal Railway Company passed under the joint control of the Great Northern Railway and the Midland Railway Company of England. The system was run by a body styled, ‘The County Donegal Railways Joint Committtee’ consisting of an equal number of representatives of the two major standard gauge companies. To complicate matters, the Strabane to Londonderry section became the exclusive property of the Midland Railway (Northern Counties Committee) although it was in fact worked by the CDRJC.” (p.198)

A further connection was built from Strabane to Letterkenny which was the last extension to be built. The Ulster Transport Authority was established in 1948 and by 1958 had become responsible for all public rail transport in the province. During the period of U.T.A. control of the railways there was much contraction and it appears that the Strabane to Derry section of the line closed in 1955. (p.119, 138, 198)

References:

Primary Sources

1.PRONI OS/6/6/5/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1833)
2.PRONI OS/6/6/5/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1854)
3.PRONI OS/6/6/5/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1905)
4.PRONI OS/6/6/5/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1951)
5.PRONI VAL/12/B/42/5A-G – Annual Revision Records (1860-64
6.PRONI VAL/12/D/6/5A-G – Annual Revision Maps (1860-c.1935)
7.PRONI VAL/3/D/7/10D/1 – Valuers RV Binder (1933- 1957)

Secondary Sources

1.McCutcheon, W.A. “The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland,” London: HMSO, 1980.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

This former rural train station constructed in 1901by the Donegal Railway Company to connect Strabane to Londonderry. Now disused, it expresses economy of construction while having a distinct character. Overall the building retains most of its external and internal features and together with its remaining stretch of platform, evoke an era of expansive rail network that served small communities such as Ballymagorry. It has rarity value as a railway station built in lightweight construction and clad in corrugated iron.

General comments

Formerly a listing query 10/LQ025