Cambridge station wins heritage award

Back to the golden age for station

Painstaking work to restore 32 decorative college roundels on Cambridge railway station has won a national heritage award.

Greater Anglia received the MTR Crossrail Award for Urban Heritage at the National Railway Heritage Awards for its work to restore the station façade to its former glory, meticulously repairing and repainting its ornate roundels, cleaning and repairing damaged brickwork and tidying up cabling and pipes.

The station’s 32 roundels represent the coats of arms of Cambridge University’s colleges, and local dignitaries from when the station opened in 1845. The work took a year, cost £250,000 and included the application of a 23½ carat gold leaf.

Simone Bailey, Greater Anglia’s director of asset management, said: “The work to restore the station’s exterior marks the completion of a £4million transformation for the station with more space in the ticket hall, an extended gateline enabling easier access to and from the platforms, more ticket windows and machines.”

The work was carried out by CIS Services Ltd, Stonewest Heritage consultants and Alfred Bagnall & Sons. It was funded by a grant from the Railway Heritage Trust.