A SPECIAL plaque has been unveiled at Worcester Shrub Hill Station praising the restoration of the Victorian style waiting room.
Re-opened in September last year after a £461,000 refurbishment by National Rail and Railway Heritage Fund, the Grade II listed waiting room on Platform 2B was awarded the Great Western Railway Skills Award for the complex refurbishment.
The plaque was unveiled by Lord Faulkner of Worcester in the presence of the city’s Mayor, Coun Roger Knight on Friday (April 8) after the waiting room was announced as the winner at the National Railway Heritage Awards last December.
Dating back to 1860, the historic waiting room was long regarded as a ‘building at risk’ before work started on the restoration in February 2014 with a commissioned archaeologist.
John Ellis, Chair of the National Railway Heritage Awards Committee, said: “We make ten awards each year, this one is to celebrate craftwork.
“The extremely intricate majolica tiles and the overall building have been restored and been brought back to a useful purpose.
“Our committee is about seeing the conservation of heritage buildings throughout railway stations brought back to use in the modern world.
“It has been a long time bringing the restoration into fruition. There’s nothing like it anywhere else,” he added.
As well as the plaque, a Roll of Honour commemorating the men who served and died in the war, was also presented to the Mayor by Andy Savage, Executive Director of the Railway Heritage Trust and Trustee of National Rail.
The original Roll of Honour suffered water damage and has been stored at the National Railway Museum.
Caring members of the Railway Heritage Trust photographed and restored it, creating two prints, one for the station and one for the Guildhall.
Speaking of the importance of keeping Worcester’s history alive, Coun Knight, said: “We are creating a tourist trail in the city.
“These events are very important and this is Worcester’s latest addition to being a heritage city.”
“Awards like this let people around the city remember important locations for generations to come which otherwise would have been lost in the mist of time, which would have been a shame,” he added.
