The village and Waterloo Stn

[Ken H]

Hazy memory here again

Between the main trainshed at waterloo and the older windsor lines trainshed there used to be some railway offices. All swept away when they built the Eurostar shed
Were these called 'The Village'?
If not, what were they called, and was there a 'village' on a london terminus?
Any pix? Plans?

 

[Big Jumby 74]

They were referred to as 'The village' by some and stood between the old platforms 15 (Main line) and 16 (Windsor line). I believe they were built during the rebuilding of the old central section of the station and realignment of the Windsor platforms that took place during 1915. They will have replaced the old offices that once stood alongside the original main line platform 1 (roughly where todays platform 7/8 stands) which would have been demolished at the same time I think.
You may be aware there are three booklets published by 'The South Western Circle', two primarily about the signalling through the ages at Waterloo, and one about Waterloo itself as it was in the year 1900. This one is now harder to find copies of.
I don't know of any plans of the offices, although no doubt the Plan Arch/NR's archive dept might have something? There are glimpses of (mostly) the upper part of the platform 15 side of the building in various books, where photos have been taken of trains standing in the p12-15 area (as it was pre 1990). I did spend odd days working in there, in part of the Station Masters Office which was located therein, although my memory of the detail is now vague, being over forty years ago!

A few images I took myself which should give an idea as to the appearance of both sides of the building, and one which clearly shows the country end of same not long before it was demolished.

 

[D6130]

I have some vague recollections of occasional visits to offices in 'the village' when I worked in the Special Traffic Section of the South Western Divisional Manager's office at Wimbledon 1977-79. ISTR that the staff canteen was located there. Was the Lost Property office also located within that building?

 

[steamybrian]

When working at RHQ Waterloo I well remember having lunch in the staff canteen in "The village". Upon closure of "the village " a new canteen was built into the main regional HQ office block. A few years later it was moved again to build the entrance to Waterloo East
Contained within The Village were Area Manager/Station Manager offices, train crew signing on points and admin offices. New offices were built above the platforms.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Further to above on investigation it seems the original station offices along the original Main Line platform 1 (road 3) were demolished about July 1913, complete with the loco shed that was also sited just behind that platform. In my view of platform 16, the design of the office building wall (left) indicates this wall was in fact the original retaining wall of the 1885 North (Windsor side) station extension, the bulk of the 'new' 'Village' building being tacked on to that wall, on the other (plat 15) side, hence the differing design of the two sides of the offices.

 

[Ken H]

Thankyou all for your memories and pix.

 

[Roger1973]

Any pix? Plans?

Found this on Pinterest - 1950s, layout (with some trimming for 'Elizabeth House' to be built) stayed much the same until work on the International Station started.

Possibly stating the obvious, but have you seen the short film 'Terminus', 1961? on youtube here - it came round on Talking Pictures TV recently, may still be available via their on demand thing.

 

[Taunton]

Ian Allan (the man) wrote in his autobiography that his first job was with the Southern Railway PR department in these buildings in WW2, when even then they were a slum - Allan wrote that rats roamed in the night and chewed the binding glue off the timetable books.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Allan wrote that rats roamed in the night and chewed the binding glue off the timetable books.

The general offices at the rear of the main concourse were a haven for mice. Could sit there and suddenly out the corner of your eye one would scurry across the floor!

Further to the 'The Village'. Often wondered myself where the name came from, and have just found a possible explanation in a book by Robert Lordan, 'Waterloo Station - A history of London's busiest terminus' (Crowood Press/2021 - ISBN 978 1 78500 868 9).

As I touched on earlier it is likely the original offices (on the 19th century Main Line p1) were demolished about 1913, and seemingly the new 'Village' building (that which many of us remember) was not built until later (1915?). In the book I mention here there is reference to "A number of buildings were built between platforms 15 and 16 , to be used as the Station Master's office, staff rooms and for lost property. As they resembled small cottages, this area was dubbed 'the Village', a nickname that persisted with staff for many years after". It would seem likely that a number of temporary structures were put in place until the new 'Village' building was put up.

As for views of the station in general in late Victorian/early 20th century, particularly during various rebuilding phases, the books I mentioned up thread (by South Western Circle) contain probably the best variety of images in one place that I have come across. Whilst there are some views taken under the train shed(s) facing the buffer line, these are not so clear, so detail of buildings etc in those areas (in those times) can still be a bit of a mystery.

Bold: edited by me having taken a fresh look at the books (Monographs) mentioned....

 

[30907]

My (Dad's) first edition of Dendy Marshall's History of the SR contains a beautifully drawn station plan from the 20s. I don't wish to scan it because the paper is fragile, but this is from my phone. I can post one of the main building if you want.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

I can post one of the main building if you want

That is excellent, thank you. If you could, as you say follow up on that, I'd certainly appreciate it, as I'm sure the OP (Ken H) would, reading his first post. Thank you. The date of this plan being circa 1920 would have been the point that marked the completion of the major rebuild, that which started about 1898 ish and continued throughout WW1 in various stages until the 19..teens, as referred to in previous posts, and how the station then largely remained until the late 1980's when work started to provide space for the International platforms. I find it a fascinating subject, having played very minor parts in the train plan to infrastructure interface in more recent times, which did involve certain changes even before the 10 car suburban railway came in to being.

As for the 1885 North station extension (that which we latterly refer to as the Windsor side), although veering slightly OT, this may still interest some who have followed this so far. The SWC booklet 'Waterloo Station circa 1900', the (now) rarer to find publication I mentioned in post #2, there are some very fine photos and detail about the 1885 part of the station. One shows an Adams 'Ironclad' 4-4-2 tank loco standing in front of the older wall that formed the platform 16 side of the 'Village' offices (or platform 7 as it originally was from 1848 I believe), and (crucially) makes the valid point that this wall, prior to 1885, was the Northern outer wall of the entire station, hence its ornate architecture. Then the new Northern outer wall from 1885 on, once the Windsor side as some of us knew it (p16-p21) was completed, contained much plainer, rectangular windows, which is evident in said book and in a picture I took.

This is how that part of the station largely remained until demolition in 1990. A couple more of my own images here. Note the row of B.R.U.T.E. trolleys seemingly still in the same place on p21 in both images, and hanging on for dear life in the derelict remains of the latter image.

 

[Ken H]

Thanks @30907 No mention of 'The Village' on your plan. Must have been an unofficial name.

 

[30907]

S ohere's the whole of the buildings and detail of the corner by the Arch. Early 20s I presume ( the track plan is pre Wimbledon Flyover but so is the book anyway!

 

[Big Jumby 74]

here's the whole of the buildings and detail of the corner by the Arch

Thank you for those. I did take a look at the NR archive website a while ago, and there are quite a few plan drawings there from years past, but most seem to be related to smaller internal office modifications etc. There are a few relating to external office building modifications, such as the new additional (1877-78) office building works that were built on a slight curve with a covered walkway, all at a fairly steep grade (as per the cab road alongside) at the Waterloo Road/Cab road exit end of the Central (Main Line) station p1 Departure road. This new building effectively joined the existing 1853 building which stretched along the rear of said platform as far as the loco shed. Takes a while to get one's head around the position of everything, in relation to how the station looks today - I believe it was these combined buildings (and the loco shed) that were demolished about 1913.

I think a walk along today's p7, 8 and 9 will put one in about the same spot as that to which I refer above.

Must have been an unofficial name

That is the case as far as I was always aware.

EDIT 1;

One final image of my own that I have just dug out. Took this in August 1986 and shows (in part) to the right, the platform 15 frontage of 'The Village' offices at the London end. Clearly shows two or three differing styles to the frontage, which may have been a result of differing construction dates, the 'whole' being knitted together eventually?


EDIT 2;Further to above, I have also now noted an image in another book, 'Waterloo Station Through Time' by John Christopher (Amberley/2013) page 41, a view taken from the old cab road, that also shows a portion of 'The Village' office block (plat 15 side) in the background.

 

[Helvellyn]

Would the Village have remained if the rebuilding of Waterloo hadn't been disrupted by World War I? The façade facing the mainline platforms seems to match the main concourse but that facing the Windsor platforms looks very different.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Would the Village have remained if the rebuilding of Waterloo hadn't been disrupted by World War I? The façade facing the mainline platforms seems to match the main concourse but that facing the Windsor platforms looks very different.

As I understand it, the original plan for rebuilding had 23 platforms and included re-construction of the Windsor Line platforms (aka North Station) dating from 1885 to give a complete run of platforms from 12, next to the cab road, to 23. There would have been no space for the new offices/Village.

It was later decided to leave the North Station platforms intact and reduce the station to 21 platforms. Possibly the benefits of electrification and reduction in engine movements were already evident. That left an empty 'wedge', which was used to build the offices.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

The façade facing the mainline platforms seems to match the main concourse but that facing the Windsor platforms looks very different

The platform 15 (Main Line) side of the Village was a new build, round about 1915 or so, part of the major rebuild of the Main line side between 1899 & 1920, where as the platform 16 (Windsor side) was the Northern outer wall of the station, as extended in 1860. The 1885 extension of the Windsor side then enclosed that outer wall, which is why that wall (p16) was more ornate in decoration than the new (1885) Northernmost wall that formed the rear of p21. Hope that explains it - it is a bit of a minefield getting to grips with all the changes made over the years!

That left an empty 'wedge'

Very remiss of me not to comment earlier today, but your description of the (spare) space on the ground where the Village block was built is very apt indeed !