Jump to content

Monkwearmouth railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monkwearmouth Station Museum
Monkwearmouth Station Museum
Monkwearmouth railway station is located in Tyne and Wear
Monkwearmouth railway station
 Monkwearmouth Station Museum shown within Tyne and Wear
grid reference NZ39605768
LocationSunderland, County Durham, England
Coordinates54°54′44″N 1°23′02″W / 54.9122°N 1.3839°W / 54.9122; -1.3839
Websiteseeitdoitsunderland.co.uk/monkwearmouth-station-museum

Monkwearmouth is a former railway station that served Monkwearmouth in the English city of Sunderland, from 1848 to 1967. It was built in 1848 to a design by Thomas Moore.[1] and was once the main railway station in the city.[2] The railway station closed in March 1967 and featured a restored booking office dating from the Edwardian period. The station was opened as a museum in 1973.[3]

The Tyne and Wear Metro and mainline trains still pass through the station without stopping, but the Metro calls at St. Peter's station a few hundred yards south of the old station, due to the platforms at Monkwearmouth being too narrow to serve as a Metro station.[citation needed]

The former station is a Grade II* listed building.[4] As well as the ticket office, visitors could explore the Wagon Shed, Journeys Gallery and Children's Gallery.[5]

The museum was temporarily closed from August 2005 until 2007 to allow repairs and refurbishment to take place.[6]

The museum was closed on 23 May 2017 because the roof, footbridge and platforms were claimed to be in a very poor condition, despite a major two-year refurbishment programme in 2005–07. The station has since reopened as the Fans Museum, which houses a collection of football memorabilia from Sunderland and around the world.[7] The museum was closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic but reopened in August 2021.[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Historic English railways: 200 years of history". The Telegraph. 21 July 2015.
  2. ^ "MySunderland - the Official Guide to Sunderland".
  3. ^ "Monkwearmouth Station Museum closes its doors - the Railway Magazine". 10 May 2017.
  4. ^ Historic England. "Monkwearmouth museum of land transport with walls, footbridge, waiting room (1209029)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Sunderland City Council: What Monkwearmouth Station Museum is all about". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Monkwearmouth Station Museum Railway Wagon Restoration Project – The Story of the Sidings | Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Blog".
  7. ^ "Sunderland Fans Museum exhibition gets keys to new home at former city train station".
  8. ^ "The Fans Museum in Sunderland set to reopen this week". 3 August 2021.
[edit]
The museum viewed from the front window of a Tyne and Wear Metro train passing through the station