Description and History of Site:-
The first railway station to be built in Leeds.
Built as a joint passenger and goods station and the terminus of the first mainline railway in Yorkshire, the Leeds & Selby Railway.
The Leeds and Selby Railway Company was formed by an Act of Parliament on 29th May 1830, to start the rail link between Leeds and Hull and break the stranglehold of the Aire & Calder Navigation Company. By taking goods to Selby by rail they could be loaded onto boats on the Ouse thereby reaching Hull, shortening the distance by eight miles and bypassing nine locks.
The first train to run on the line was at 06.30 am on 22nd September 1834 from Marsh Lane Station. The engine used was 'Nelson' an 0-4-0 with 5 foot (1.5m) driving wheels and 11 inch by 16 inch cylinders (28cm x 40.6cm) built by nearby Fenton, Murray and Jackson of the Round Foundry (see WYK 01412). It pulled three First Class carriages, 'Juno', 'Dizina' and 'Vesta' all painted in yellow, also six Second Class carriages open to the elements. The six Guards dressed in green liveries made sure the 156 passengers were seated. Thousands of the public came to witness the spectacle and lined the route. Unfortunately the rails were wet with rain and the load too heavy for the engine causing the driving wheels to slip on the 1:218 incline. By detaching one Second Class carriage and redistributing the passengers and putting ash on the rails, slowly the train pulled out of the station to the jeers of the crowd. But after one hour and 10 minutes, the train was less than five miles from Leeds. Once the teething troubles were ironed out however, the line operated well carrying much freight and 3,500 passengers per week. Along with engines supplied by Fenton, Murray and Jackson, others were supplied by Kirtley and Co of Warrington and Bury, Curtis & Kennedy.
The station building consisted of a Booking Office on the ground floor with the superintendents and clerks offices above which were on the same level as the railway. A staircase ascended from the booking office to the railway above which was laid with four sets of rails covered over by a roof supported on cast-iron columns. There were no platforms, the passengers being expected to climb the carriage steps to gain access to their carriage.
The station also included the railways workshops on the NE of the site, and coal and lime depots on the south side.
Goods traffic was handled alongside passenger traffic until a new goods depot was built in 1839. After the acquisition of the Leeds & Selby Railway by the York & North Midland Railway (Y & NMR) in 1840, passenger trains were diverted via the Y & NMR's line to it's station in Hunslet Lane, Leeds.
In 1850 a local passenger service was started to Milford Junction.
Around 1863 the Marsh Lane site was developed into a goods station with the original combined passenger and goods station being demolished. A six storey grain warehouse was constructed on site designed by the North Eastern Railway's architect Thomas Prosser (see WYK00228)
In 1866 construction started on the extension of the railway from Marsh Lane to Leeds New Station, adjacent to Wellington station on Wellington Street. It was felt that Marsh Lane was too isolated and it would improve the passenger exchange by connecting to other railway's converging on Wellington Station. The 1,500 Yard (1372m) extension was opened on 1st April 1869 having cost an estimated £500,000 and used over 18,000,000 bricks to construct the viaduct arches. The line now allowed trains through running along the Leeds & Selby line into central Leeds and beyond.
A new station was built at the Marsh Lane site on the route into Leeds with the facilities being completed in 1894.
The station finally closed in 1958, however the railway is still in use (2019) as a mainline route from Leeds New Station to Selby, York and Hull.
The Prosser grain warehouse was destroyed by fire in the 1970's.

Further Reading and References:-
Wilshaw's Railways of Great Britain & Ireland (1842), David & Charles pp 173-184
The Early Railways of Leeds. Anthony Dawson. Amberley Publishing pp 42-46
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds_Marsh_Lane_railway_station#CITEREFFawcett2001
The Illustrated History of Leeds. Steven Burt & Kevin Grady. Breedon Books Publishing p140

Help us improve this entry

The compilers welcome corrections or additional information on all sites.
Any information provided will be verified before appearing on the web site.

Email comments

Key Words :- station railway

Viewing the Site :- Public Footpath alongside road.

Address :- Marsh Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Grid Ref :- SE 31137 33493
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.796818 , Long -1.528777
Local Authority :- Leeds Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site condition unknown
Site Dates :- 1834 - 1958
Record Date :- 4 September 2019

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Andrew Garford