Richmond Station, situated just on the outskirts of the historic town of Richmond on the banks of the river Swale, was built in 1846 and formed the terminus of the branch line to Richmond. The station closed in 1969 and was converted for use as a Garden Centre.
In 2002 the old Richmond Station building, now a Grade II* listed building, became redundant and the owner, Richmondshire District Council planned to sell it to developers.
Under the direction of a small community group, the Richmondshire Building Preservation Trust was formed in 2003 made up entirely of volunteers with no experience of projects of this scale.
Consulting the local community and with modest funding a feasibility study was undertaken.
The vision was a multi-use venue which would ideally incorporate a Cinema, Meeting Rooms, Cafe/Restaurant, Art Gallery and some form of visitor attraction. It also had to be self-sustaining financially.
The Trustees networked to locate all possible funding options. Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency had already given a commitment while European funds and the Heritage Lottery Fund were also identified as significant sources. The grant applications, and private fundraising was done almost entirely by the Trustees or by local supporters who all gave their time for nothing.
Against the odds, the funding was all put in place and work commenced in 2006.
£2.7m was spent to re-open The Station in November 2007 as a venue for Film, Food and Art.
This superb Victorian building has been brought back to life as an art gallery and exhibition space, Café | Bar, cinema, community venue for groups, meetings and classes, and home to a variety of artisan businesses, including an award-winning bakery, brewery, ice cream parlour, chocolaterie and dance school.
Making a donation to RBPT will allow us to continue our preservation work at The Station:
To find out more or plan your visit to The Station in Richmond, visit their website.