Old Prestatyn rail station

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Link to French translationOld Prestatyn rail station

This was the original station building for Prestatyn. It opened on 1 May 1848, when the line from Chester to Bangor was opened by the Chester & Holyhead Railway company. Initially there were four trains in each direction per day. It was close to a level crossing, which took High Street across the railway.

Goods trains began a month later. Immediately east of the station building is the goods shed, where freight to or from the Prestatyn area was transferred between railway wagons and local road transport.

In 1897 the London & North Western Railway (which had acquired the Chester & Holyhead Railway) added two more railway tracks because the line had become so busy. At Prestatyn it built a new station with four platforms, two of which remain in use today. The old station building lost its original function but escaped demolition.

Since then the building has been put to various uses, including residential in the 1970s and 1980s. It was derelict for many years until 2013, when it and the goods shed reopened as the showroom of upholstery and furniture cphoto_of_goods_shed_interiorompany David J Jones.

Take a look inside the goods shed, if it’s open, to see how the original door over the railway track slid open for wagons to enter or leave. A hoist was attached to the thick horizontal beams above, for heavy objects to be lifted. Around the interior walls, a little above door level, are interlocking rods which reinforced the walls against the change in forces when heavy items were suspended from the hoist. According to Mr Jones, the rods were part of the original design, not later additions. The photo on the right shows parts of the roof, beams and rods, and the top of a sliding door.

Postcode: LL19 9BJ    View Location Map

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