Cleveland Bay public house and proto-railway station

Summary

A public house built for Thomas Meynell, chairman of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, adjacent to Meynell’s coal depot at the end of the Yarm Branch; both branch line and public house opening on 17 October 1825. It can be seen as an early proto-railway station and is potentially the world’s first purpose-built railway pub.

Reasons for Designation

The Cleveland Bay, Eaglescliffe is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:
* as potentially the earliest public house in the world to be built specifically in association with a railway line, built for the chairman of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) for the opening of the railway’s Yarm branch line in 1825;

* as a proto-railway station, predating the S&DRs own public houses, which pioneered the early development of the concept of the railway station.

History

The Cleveland Bay public house, originally known as the New Inn, opened on 17 October 1825 on the same day that the Yarm Branch of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) also opened. The inn was sited immediately adjacent to the coal and lime depot at the end of the branch line, both the inn and depot being built privately for Thomas Meynell, then the chairman of the railway and local landowner. The inn’s first landlord, John Snowdon, publicised his new tenancy on 30 September, stressing the connection with the railway. As part of the opening celebrations for the Yarm Branch, a supper was served at the inn for around 60 ‘respectable tradesmen’ with around 50 workmen served in an adjoining room.

When the S&DR opened in September 1825 the concept of the railway station had yet to evolve. The railway expected to make most of its revenue through the sale of coal at depots along the line and had not provided any additional facilities for people using the railway. The New Inn, sited in a commanding position at the fork of the main road from Yorkshire, just north of the bridge across the River Tees, proved to be successful in serving people who had often travelled long distances to the depot. It appears to have prompted the S&DR to commission the construction of its own public houses at their coal depots at Stockton, Darlington and Heighington in 1826.

For the first few years passenger services on the railway were provided by independent coach operators with horse-drawn coaches. An 1826 advertisement for one of these coaches, The Union, operating between Stockton and Darlington, specifically mentions the New Inn as a stop, and as one of the places where passengers and parcels could be booked onto the service: the New Inn effectively taking on some of the functions that were later associated with railway stations.

When the S&DR took passenger services in-house in 1833 it used steam locomotives, which were awkward to operate on the short Yarm branch line. Instead, passenger services stopped at what is now Allens West Station on the main line (where the S&DR had built a cottage to shelter passengers in 1830), only running special services down the Yarm branch on market days. Consequently, the New Inn, unlike the S&DR’s own inn at Heighington, did not evolve into a fully functioning railway station. However, it can be seen as being a proto-railway station, in addition to being a very early railway-related public house, perhaps the first in the world to be purpose-built. Additional buildings were constructed around the inn’s yard to help service the depot, including stables and a smithy to the west (both subsequently demolished), and 704-708 Yarm Road on the east side (later much altered).

The S&DR was offered a financial stake in the public house in 1835, but declined. Sometime around 1850 it became known as the Railway Inn. The current name, the Cleveland Bay, was adopted after the Second World War, by which time the direct association with the railway had been lost: the depot having closed in 1872 and the branch line being truncated.

The Cleveland Bay’s main two-storey block is the inn that was opened in 1825. The two brick-built single-storey ranges projecting to the rear, northwards, are shown on the first edition 1:10560 map surveyed 1855, but are thought to have been added soon after the construction of the main building. Early photographs show that the render to the main building and the external window shutters are later alterations, and that the main building also had two large chimneystacks to the ridge, which have been lost. There have also been various later extensions added to the rear.

Details

Public house, 1825 for Thomas Meynell, chairman of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

MATERIALS: painted render to the front and sides, rear of exposed brickwork laid in English Garden Wall Bond. Pantile roof.

PLAN: central entrance to a corridor that extends through the building to the rear yard with a public room (each with a bar) on either side, the eastern rear addition having a further public room. Landlord’s domestic accommodation to the first floor.

EXTERIOR: front (south) elevation is of two storeys and five bays, the hipped roof only retaining a single chimney stack (rising from eaves to the west in line with the ridge). The first floor has four windows containing six-over-six pane sashes, the central bay being blind having a pub sign and flagpole. The central entrance has a twin-leaf door protected by an added timber bracketed canopy. The windows have six-pane upper sashes and undivided lower sashes with modern etched glass.

Rear (north) elevation retains a near central six-over-six pane sash window with a rubbed brick flat arch and a smaller inserted window to the side. The ground floor of the main building being covered by C19 single-storey additions that are brick built and roofed in pantiles, the brickwork being painted and windows replaced with PVC units. Attached to the north-western corner of the western rear range is a substantial stone gate pier built as a tall drum with a domed cap.

West side elevation: has two first floor windows with replaced joinery and a ground floor window fitted with undivided plate-glass sashes.

East side elevation: has a single first floor window retaining a six-over-six pane sash.

INTERIOR: the public rooms with their bars are simply detailed, the product of C20 and later refurbishment retaining what is believed to be the general C19 layout. Landlord’s domestic accommodation not inspected.

Sources

Books and journals
Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, Yarm Branch Study Group, , Stockton & Darlington Railway, The Yarm Branch (2021),

Other
Tees Archaeology Historic Environment Record references 4194 and 5103

End of official list entry