View source for Nottingham Victoria railway station

{{Short description|Former railway station in Nottingham, England}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox station
| name                = Nottingham Victoria
| status              = Disused
| image               = Nottingham Victoria Station 2.jpg
| caption             = The station in 1903
| borough             = [[Nottingham]], [[City of Nottingham]]
| country             = England
| grid_name           = [[Ordnance Survey National Grid|Grid reference]]
| grid_position       = {{gbmapscaled|SK573403|25|SK573403}}
| platforms           = 12
| original            = [[Great Central Railway]] and [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]]
| pregroup            = Great Central Railway and Great Northern Railway
| postgroup           = [[London and North Eastern Railway]] <br /> [[London Midland Region (British Railways)|British Railways (London Midland Region)]]
| years               = 24 May 1900
| events              = Opened
| years2              = 4 September 1967
| events2             = Closed
}}

'''Nottingham Victoria railway station''' was a [[Great Central Railway]] and [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]] railway station in [[Nottingham]], England. It was designed by the architect [[Albert Edward Lambert]], who also designed the rebuild of the Nottingham Midland station (now known simply as [[Nottingham station]]).

It was opened by the [[Nottingham Joint Station Committee]] on 24 May 1900 and closed on 4 September 1967 by the [[London Midland Region|London Midland Region of British Railways]]. The station building was entirely demolished (except the clock tower), and the [[Victoria Centre, Nottingham|Victoria Centre]] shopping centre was built on the site, incorporating the old station clock tower into the main entrance on Milton Street (the continuation of Mansfield Road).

==Background==

In 1893 the [[Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway]] obtained authorisation to extend its North Midlands railway network into London. This new line was opened on 15 March 1899 (by which time the railway company was known as the Great Central Railway) and became known as the [[Great Central Main Line|London Extension]], stretching from Annesley to a new station at [[Marylebone station|Marylebone]] in London. The line passed through Nottingham, where a new station was to be built.

==Construction and opening==
[[Image:Nottingham Victoria Station 1.jpg|thumb|right|Station interior in the years after opening.]]
The station's construction was on a grand scale: a {{convert|13|acre|m2|adj=on}} site was acquired at a cost of £473,000 (£{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|473000|1898|r=-4}}}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} in the heart of Nottingham's city centre; negotiations for the land acquisition had taken three years. The construction called for the demolition of whole streets of some 1,300 houses, 24 [[public houses]], and [[St. Stephen's Church, Bunker's Hill]], following which about {{convert|600000|cuyd|m3}} of [[sandstone]] was excavated from the site. The site measured about {{convert|650|yd|m}} in length from north to south and had an average width of {{convert|110|yd|m}}, with a tunnel at each end for access.<ref name="Dow12">{{Cite book | last=Dow |first=George | author-link=George Dow | title=Great Central, Volume Three: Fay Sets the Pace, 1900–1922 | date=1965 | publisher=[[Ian Allan Publishing|Ian Allan]] | location=London | isbn=0-7110-0263-0 | page=12 }}</ref>

The [[Great Central Railway]] and [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]] shared the station (they split into two lines at [[Weekday Cross]] junction). The two owners failed to reach agreement on the station's name; the Great Central naturally wanted it called "Central", a proposition the Great Northern, still smarting from the incursion into its territory made by the London Extension, would not accept. The two railway companies operated separate booking offices, the Great Central issuing tickets reading "Nottingham Central", whilst the Great Northern's window bore the name "Nottingham Joint St'n". In the 1898 Royal Atlas of England, the station was recorded as the "Grt Central & Grt Northern Joint Central Station".<ref>John Bartholomew, [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genmaps/genfiles/COU_files/ENG/NTT/bartholomew_nottingham_1898.html The Royal Atlas of England], 1898</ref> The [[Town Clerk|town clerk]] resolved the situation by suggesting the name "Nottingham Victoria" to reflect the fact that the planned opening date coincided with [[Queen Victoria]]'s birthday; this was readily accepted at a meeting of the Nottingham Joint Station Committee on 12 June.<ref name="Dow16">{{harvnb|Dow|1965|p=16}}</ref>

Nottingham Victoria station was officially opened without ceremony in the early hours of 24 May 1900, over a year after the commencement of services on the new railway line.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Nottingham Joint Station | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000176/19000526/056/0010 |newspaper=Nottinghamshire Guardian |location=England  |date=26 May 1900 |access-date=1 January 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref>   The first service to call at the station was a Great Central express from [[Manchester Piccadilly railway station|Manchester]] to [[London Marylebone|Marylebone]], which pulled in at 1:12&nbsp;a.m.; it was followed fifteen minutes later by a Great Central express travelling in the opposite direction.<ref name="Dow16"/>

==Station building==
[[Image:Nottingham Victoria Station.jpg|left|thumb|Nottingham Victoria Station in the early 1900s. On the right of the picture is the Victoria Hotel, now a [[Hilton Hotels|Hilton]] hotel.]]
The main station building was in true [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] splendour. It was constructed in a [[Renaissance style]] using the best-quality red-faced bricks and [[Darley Dale]] stone, with space at the front for [[Hackney carriages]], which was covered by a canopy. It faced onto the confluence of Mansfield Road and Milton Street for some {{convert|250|ft|m}}.<ref name="Dow12" />

The three-storey building was dominated by a {{convert|100|ft|m|adj=on}} [[clock tower]] topped with a [[cupola]] and [[weather vane]]. At the north end of the building, access could be gained to the parcels office via two large metal gates. Once inside the building on the ground floor level, one reached the large and lofty booking hall. It was over {{convert|100|ft|m}} long and {{convert|66|ft|m}} wide, and contained the best-quality pine and a hard-wearing oak floor, along with a gallery on each side to gain access to spacious offices on the first floor. The booking hall contained seven ticket-issuing windows, three each for the Great Central and Great Northern and one for excursion traffic; a clock-type train indicator served all platforms. An iron overbridge led from the booking hall and spanned the platforms, to which it was connected by four broad staircases. A small footbridge at the end provided access to the [[island platform]]s at the south end, themselves connected to a side exit leading onto Parliament Street.<ref name="Dow12"/>
[[File:Nottingham Victoria railway station 2058984 d4d6fe34.jpg|thumb|right|The station in 1959]]

The station itself comprised two large island platforms, each between {{convert|1250|ft|m}} and {{convert|1270|ft|m}} long, with two bays at each end for local traffic, giving a total of 12 platform faces. On each island platform were dining and tea rooms together with kitchens, sleeping facilities for staff, waiting rooms, and lavatories. All these buildings were, like the rest of the station, lined with glazed tiles, which were generally buff in colour and embellished with a chocolate [[Dado (architecture)|dado]].  Large {{convert|42|ft|6|in|m}} steel pillars held up an enormous three-part glazed canopy measuring {{convert|450|ft|m}} in length, with a centre span of {{convert|83|ft|3|in|m}} and a pair of flanking spans each of {{convert|63|ft|9|in|m}}. There were additional glass roofs over the double-bay platforms, each carried on central pillars. An electrically lit subway system, below track level and covering the breadth of the station, could be used for transporting luggage, thereby avoiding the need to carry it over the footbridges. The subway was linked to the main station by four lifts serving respectively the booking hall, cloakroom, and two island platforms. The refreshment rooms had their own underground subway and lifts.<ref name="Dow15">{{harvnb|Dow|1965|p=15}}</ref>

[[File:Nottingham Victoria railway station 2098289 c7d9889d.jpg|thumb|right|LMS 'Jubilee' 6P 4-6-0 No. 45638 'Zanzibar' in 1962]]
The station had [[passing loop]]s round all platforms (for freight), two [[signal box]]es, and two [[Turntable (rail)|turntable]]s. The two signal boxes were positioned at the north and south ends of the station and controlled entry and exit to the tunnels that allowed entry to the complex.<ref name="Dow15"/>

==Station masters==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*William Thompson 1900<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The G.N. and G.C. Stationmaster for Nottingham |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000176/19000428/010/0003 |newspaper=Nottinghamshire Guardian |location=England |date=28 April 1900 |access-date=2 September 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> - 1903 (formerly [[station master]] at Malton)
*Arthur Blanden 1903 - 1911 (afterwards station superintendent at Marylebone)
*Charles James Fox 1911 - 1926<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Funeral of Mr. C.J. Fox |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/19260701/021/0005 |newspaper=Nottingham Evening Post |location=England |date=1 July 1926 |access-date=3 September 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref>
*Herbert Montagu Budds 1926<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=New Stationmaster |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001898/19260727/093/0005 |newspaper=Nottingham Journal |location=England |date=27 July 1926 |access-date=3 September 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> - 1936
*Walter Wainwright Capon 1936<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=New Stationmaster for Victoria |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000321/19361013/053/0008 |newspaper=Nottingham Evening Post |location=England |date=13 October 1936 |access-date=3 September 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> - 1941 (formerly station master at Basford and Bulwell, afterwards station master at Sheffield Victoria)
*Robert Barlow Stoakley 1941 - 1952 (formerly station master at Cleethorpes)
*C.E. Jolly until 1956<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=In Town and Around | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003302/19590731/001/0001 |newspaper=Newark Advertiser |location=England  |date=4 January 1956 |access-date=20 December 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> 
*Eric H. Handley from 1959<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Promoted to Nottingham | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003302/19590731/001/0001 |newspaper=Peterborough Standard |location=England  |date=31 July 1959 |access-date=20 December 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref>  (formerly station master at Peterborough East)
{{div col end}}
{{Incomplete list|date=September 2017}}

==Services==
[[File:Great Central Railway timetable July 1919.jpg|thumb|Timetable of mainline services to and from London Marylebone for July 1919 as published in the Loughborough Echo on 18 July 1919]]
The traffic that passed through was varied. It included London–[[Manchester]] expresses, local services, cross-country services (e.g. from [[York]] to [[Bristol]] via [[Oxford]]) as well as freight workings. As the station was shared with the Great Northern Railway (already well established when Victoria opened), a large network of lines serving many destinations was available from the one station.{{citation needed|date=December 2011}} The new services offered unbeatable competition to the [[Midland Railway]] services from [[Nottingham Midland station|Nottingham railway station]]. The Midland offered more trains per day to Leicester, but the journey time of 40 minutes was outclassed by the Great Central's journey time of 27 minutes non-stop.<ref name="Leleux"/>{{rp|133}} The journey time to Sheffield was similarly impressive at 50 minutes.

In 1905, there were nine goods trains to London each day, the fastest taking only 2 hours 15 minutes.<ref name="Leleux">{{cite book |last=Leleux |first=Robin |date=1976 |title=A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume 9 The East Midlands |publisher=David & Charles. Newton Abbot |isbn=0715371657}}</ref>{{rp|133}}

==Decline==
[[File:Nottingham Victoria Station, with Down freight and Up express - geograph.org.uk - 2126956.jpg|thumb|right|Down freight and Up express in 1962]]
During the 1960s, the whole Great Central route was run down by diverting services away from it, cutting others, and slowing down expresses to very slack timetables.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Locomotives and rolling stock were old and unreliable, and the line did not benefit from British Rail's new diesel locomotives. As passenger numbers fell, going either by car or by other lines, closure seemed inevitable. The last through service from Nottingham Victoria to London ran on 3 September 1966. All that was left was a [[Diesel multiple unit|DMU]] service between Nottingham and [[Rugby Central railway station|Rugby]], the Nottingham Victoria to Grantham services having been re-routed to Nottingham Midland on 3 July 1967.

Victoria station was finally closed on 4 September 1967 and demolished (amidst much opposition),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nottsheritagegateway.org.uk/themes/railways.htm|title=Railways|author = Andrew Nicholson|website=www.nottsheritagegateway.org.uk|access-date=2 February 2020}}</ref> leaving only the clocktower to survive amongst the new Victoria Shopping Centre and flats. The station site was bought by Capital and Counties Property Company Limited from British Rail with a plan to spend £7.5m on the first stage of development. This was reportedly the largest commercial development in Britain ever carried out by a private developer outside of the London area.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Firm spending £7.5m on station site | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002135/19670927/047/0003 |newspaper=Birmingham Daily Post |location=England  |date=27 September 1967|access-date=1 January 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref>  Goods trains continued to pass through the site of Victoria until May 1968, with two running lines left in place amidst the demolition of the main station.<ref>{{cite web|website=www.rcts.org.uk|url=http://www.rcts.org.uk/features/mysteryphotos/show.htm?location=Nottingham%20Victoria&page=3&serial=60&img=B-77-33A|title=Nottingham Victoria|access-date=2 February 2020}}</ref>

==Present day==
[[File:Nottingham - NG1 (Victoria Centre) - geograph.org.uk - 2997781.jpg|thumb|right|The station site in 2012. The clock tower is all that remains of Nottingham Victoria station, surrounded by the 1967 [[Victoria shopping centre]].]]
The site is now occupied by the [[Victoria Centre|Victoria Shopping Centre]] and housing in the form of Victoria Flats, Nottingham's tallest building (256 feet / 72m tall).<ref name = Victoria>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/sense_of_place/facts/famous_buildings.shtml|title=Nottingham's tallest building}}</ref> The new structure incorporates the original station's clock tower. From the bottom level of the shopping centre's car park, in the former station's deep cutting, the entrance of [[Nottingham's Tunnels#Great Central Railway|Mansfield Road railway tunnel]] remains visible.

Upon the closure of the [[Great Central Railway|Great Central railway]] and the [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern]]/[[London and North Western Railway|London and North Western]] Joint line to [[Melton Mowbray North railway station|Melton Mowbray]] (via {{stnlnk|Barnstone}}), Nottingham also lost other important stations: [[Nottingham London Road High Level railway station|Nottingham London Road High Level]] and [[Nottingham Great Northern railway station|Nottingham London Road Low Level]].

Nottingham's other mainline station, [[Nottingham railway station|Nottingham Midland]], remains in service.

Redevelopment plans for the Victoria Shopping Centre will see an extension built northwards, filling in the last section of the former station's deep cutting and concealing the entrance to the Mansfield Road Tunnel.

==Former services==
{{Disused Rail Start}}
{{rail line|previous=[[Arkwright Street railway station|Arkwright Street]]<br /><small>Line and station closed</small> |next=[[Carrington railway station|Carrington]]<br /><small>Line and station closed</small> |route=[[Great Central Railway]]<br /><small>[[Great Central Main Line|London Extension]]</small> |col={{GCR colour}} }}
{{rail line |next=[[Carrington railway station|Carrington]]<br /><small>Line and station closed</small> |route=[[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]]<br /><small>Nottingham to Stafford<br />Nottingham to Pinxton</small> |col={{GNR colour}} }}
{{rail line|previous=[[Nottingham London Road High Level railway station|Nottingham London Road<br />High Level]]<br /><small>Line and station closed</small> |route=[[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]]<br /><small>Nottingham to Grantham<br />Nottingham to Newark<br />Nottingham to Shirebrook<br />Nottingham to Basford & Bulwell<br />Nottingham Suburban</small> |col={{GNR colour}} }}
{{s-end}}

==See also==
*[[Nottingham railway station]] (1848–Present)
*[[Nottingham Carrington Street railway station]] (1840 to 1948)
*[[Carrington railway station]] (1899 to 1928)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Clarke |first1=John |date=November 1966 |title=Nottingham Victoria – A memory of 1966 |journal=[[The Railway Magazine|Railway Magazine]] |volume=112 |issue=787  |pages=621–624 |editor1-last=Cooke |editor1-first=B.W.C. |publisher=Tothill Press Ltd |location=London |issn=0033-8923 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Clarke |first1=John |date=December 1969 |title=Nottingham Victorian Bars|journal=[[The Railway Magazine|Railway Magazine]] |volume=115 |issue=824  |pages=669|editor1-last=Cooke |editor1-first=B.W.C. |publisher=Tothill Press Ltd |location=London |issn=0033-8923 }}

==External links==
*{{cite web|url=http://railway-images.fotopic.net/c1198504.html|title=The Gone Completely Railway}}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{cite web|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nick.willis/|title=Nottingham Victoria Station Information|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615164405/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nick.willis/|archive-date=15 June 2007|df=dmy-all}}

{{Closed stations Nottinghamshire}}
{{Nottingham Places of Interest |state=autocollapse}}
{{Coord|52.9572|-1.1477|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=title}}

[[Category:Disused railway stations in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:Former Great Central Railway stations]]
[[Category:Former Great Northern Railway stations]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1967]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Nottingham]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1900]]
[[Category:Beeching closures in England]]
[[Category:Albert Edward Lambert railway stations]]