22 CONTEXT 186 : DECEMBER 2025 In London and the south east, neither Richmond nor Kingston stations are listed, despite their art-deco splendour. Both were designed by James Robb-Scott, a man who could turn his hand to many styles, from the Edwardian baroque of Waterloo’s victory arch to the sublime modernism of Surbiton, via neoGeorgian Ramsgate. There are also the modern stations of the Chessington Branch, generally rather unloved but capable of greatness with restoration. At Tunbridge Wells, the up-side Italianate station is listed, but not the magnificent Edwardian baroque down-side buildings by Blomfield. Many Victorian stations are unlisted. Jacobean-style New Milton is one of the best on the Southampton to Bournemouth line. Italianate Lowestoft has no listing, and neither do the classic Cheshire Lines Committee stations at Irlam, Delamere and Knutsford. The latter has a particularly mad Tudor-revival style with a French renaissance tower. Others are listed but would benefit from a revised entry. The joint station in my city, Bristol Temple Meads, is attributed to Matthew Digby Wyatt. But there is no evidence to substantiate this, other than a line in the first edition of The Buildings of England. Where did Pevsner dream this? Digby Wyatt was dead by the time Temple Meads was being built. Research by Bristol City Council’s conservation architect David Martyn has found evidence that the station was designed by local man Henry Lloyd, an architect who seems to have shunned the limelight. A revised list entry could correct this long-held error. Simon Hickman is heritage director at Avalon Planning and Heritage, a consultancy with offices in Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol. Tudor revival style with a French renaissance tower at Knutsford Station (Photo: Acoya windows) The art-deco Richmond Station, south-east London (Photo: Duncan McCallum)
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