Birmingham New Street Station: lnwrbns_str1873

An engraved illustration of the entrance to New Street station and the frontage of the Queen's Hotel shortly after the station was opened. The entrance to the station was via the arches in the centre of the four-storey section of the hotel whilst the entrance to the hotel itself was to the left. Richard Foster notes in the first volume of his books on New Street station that the station was initially described as the new 'Grand Central Station at Birmingham' very much reflecting the aspirations of Birmingham which was still a town and not to be given the status of a City for another thirty years. In the view above the two wings on either side of the four-storey main building are fairly short in length and three stories in height with the wing on the left having a single storey extension at right angles to the main frontage.

Richard states in the second volume Expansion and Improvement of his four-volume series on Birmingham New Street that 'the original plans for New Street station did not include the provision of a hotel'. Apparently the original intention was to provide a single-storey building housing a booking office and other offices together with a central hall leading to the passenger footbridge. However by 1852 thoughts had moved towards providing a hotel because the existing hotel at Curzon Street was too remote to be used by passengers arriving at New Street and because of the success of the hotel at Euston. With the station being considered as being a focal point in the centre of Birmingham it was decided to build what became known as the Queen's and North Western Hotel.

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