Our tour of architecture in and around Dulwich jumps forward 50 years or so to the construction of Denmark Hill rail station in 1865.
The story of this building goes hand in hand with the story of the expansion of the railways in the middle of the 1800s. Indeed, this building is only a few years older than the stations built in West Dulwich (1863) and Herne Hill (1862).
It’s an extremely decorative building for a humble, suburban train station. But that detail and ornamentation is part of what makes it so interesting, in many ways.
From the street it might appear to just be a domestic dwelling as its immediacy to the railway line (below) isn’t always obvious. And there’s another interesting feature of this station building – the fact that most of the building isn’t station at all. It’s a pub.
After a major fire the 1980s the station was gutted and a majority of the space turned into a pub – aptly named The Phoenix, which rose from the flames.
It’s also worth mentioning the windows on this building –this is series of articles all about windows, after all. To the front the windows and doors open out onto a terrace – a real suntrap for the evening sunshine at this time of year. There are windows between the pub and station itself, which act as an enticement into the bar area. Many a commuter has been snared in on their way home from work for a quick pint with the sunset before wobbling home. And it’s worth taking a moment to make the trip up the spiral staircase to see out of the mezzanine floor windows.
But the building is constantly being updated and remodelled.
It looks as if work is set to commence on installing some major new staircases and walkways to make the station fully accessible. Southeastern are working on the building during summer 2011.
And perhaps one day this station will indeed be linked up to the London Overground network. It’s a building which keeps reinventing itself.
Sat in the pub the other day, looking out of these windows made me think back over the various lives this building has had over the years – the people and passengers that have passed through its doors and the journeys they have taken. How many trains have passed through here in the last 150 years? And it makes me wonder, what’s next for this building?
What will it look like in another 150 years. Will we still travel by train?
Even if the train line is demolished and turned into something else, I hope the building is here at least. And that in years to come other people can look out of these windows and marvel at the history of this charming building.
