The fifth and final station to be built in the centre of Sheffield
When George Stephenson built a railway from Leeds to Derby for the North Midland Railway, he took the line to the east of the centre of Sheffield in order to avoid steep gradients. So Sheffield's first station was Wicker Railway Station (later Wicker Goods Railway Station) at the end of a branch from Rotherham, at the northern end of the Wicker (see Wicker Arch) and opened on 31 October 1838.
The next station was at Bridgehouses on an east-west line, later the Manchester, Sheffield & Linconshire Railway, which became the Great Central in 1900. Its main station in Sheffield, Victoria, opened in 1851 as a through station. Both the line and the station line were closed in 1970. East of the site of Victoria, the railway was carried on a viaduct including a large 22 m (72 ft) span semi-eliptical arch over The Wicker. Designed by Sir John Fowler, it is a Grade II* listed structure but considered to be 'at risk'.
In 1870 the Midland opened a new through station on a north/south line constructed through the centre of the city, incorporating the old terminus. The 'new line' ran between Grimesthorpe Junction, on the former Sheffield and Rotherham Railway, and Tapton Junction, just north of Chesterfield. It replaced Midland Railways's previous route, the 'old road' to London, which ran from Sheffield Wicker station via Rotherham.
The station was replaced in 1904 by Sheffield Midland with the building that stands today. Charles Trubshaw, the Midland's architect, designed a distinctive structure with a long arcaded porte cochere in rough red stone, leading to a double-domed glazed concourse.
The station is Listed Grade II.
By road: Off A61, Sheaf Street
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University of Sheffield - History of the Midland Station
