North Eastern Railway tile maps

North Eastern Railway tile maps
MaterialClay
Created1900-1910
Present locationSee list

North Eastern Railway tile maps were ceramic railway maps installed at various stations across the North Eastern Railway's (NER) operating area during the early part of the 20th century. The tile maps detail the lines owned and operated by the NER at the time of their installation, though at least one detailed line was never built. Nine of the original maps still exist in their original locations.

History

The tile maps were introduced to many stations on the North Eastern Railway between 1900 and 1910.[i] Some were even located away from the NER network, such as at London King's Cross. The maps consisted of 64 square tiles detailing the railway lines (measuring 8 inches (200 mm) x 8 inches (200 mm)), eight half tiles for the title, and 46 tiles around the border.[2][3] The maps measured 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) by 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m) and were made by Craven Dunnill whose works were in Jackfield, Shropshire.[4][5] Each tile was white, and was marked with burnt sienna for the railway lines.[6] A reversed image of the design for each tile was carved in copper and stamped on a pre-warmed tile, then the burnt sienna added, and the tile fired and glazed to complete.[7]

Over the years, people have pointed out errors on the maps, such as the layout at Malton being incorrect, spelling mistakes, and the inclusion of the North Holderness Light Railway, which was never built. The map's designer, not wishing the maps to be obsolete as soon as they were erected, included the proposed line, but the NER never went ahead with constructing the line.[8][9]

Around 25 of the maps were made and installed at various locations, but only twelve of the original maps remain, and of those, only nine are original maps in their original locations.[10] The maps also showed neighbouring railway companies lines, so the mapping stretched as far south and west as the Dee Estuary of Cheshire, up to Berwick upon Tweed, with more tiles placed where the North Sea is, showing insets of north-east Scotland.[11]

After closure of many lines in the old North Eastern Railway area of operations, some of the tile maps, such as at Darlington, were boarded over to avoid confusing passengers.[12] The map on York railway station was covered over with posters, but in 1969, it was realised that the map itself was of historical interest, and so it was uncovered again.[13]

Bridlington's map was removed when the station was renovated in 1987. The works involved removing the old platforms 1,2, and 3 and the tile map was thought destroyed in the process. However, some of the old tiles were discovered at Hull Paragon station and the renovated map was reinstalled at Bridlington in January 2022.[14] The maps at Beverley, Scarborough, Tynemouth, and York, form part of their Historic England graded listings.[15][16][17][18]

Other companies also had tiles maps, such as the LBSCR who installed one at London Victoria, and the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway who had one built into the wall at Manchester Victoria.[19][20]

A private company has been contracted to create the tile maps again. These are hand-made in the same area as the Craven Dunnill factory, in what is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.[21]

Locations

Locations in italics are one of the nine stations which retain their original maps from c. 1900.[10]

Station Details Ref
Beverley The tile map forms part of the Historic England listing (Grade II) [22][23]
Bridlington Removed in 1987, and returned to the station partially completed in 2022. [24]
Darlington The tile map was removed from Darlington railway station (known as Bank Top) in early 1973. It was donated to the Darlington Museum, later renamed to Hopetown Darlington. [25][26][27]
Driffield [28]
Filey [28]
Hartlepool [10]
Hunmanby A new map was created and installed in 2021 [29]
London King's Cross Now at the NRM in Shildon [3]
Middlesbrough [30]
Morpeth The tile map was whitewashed in the Second World War to prevent enemy troops using it to navigate their way around. [31][32]
Newcastle Was removed to the York Railway Museum, precursor of the National Railway Museum [33]
Saltburn [34]
Scarborough [35]
South Shields Installed in 1905, moved to the South Shields Museum in 1998 after the station was demolished and moved. [36][37][38]
Tynemouth [17][39]
Whitby [40]
York York station was the first one that was installed. [5][41]

Notes

  1. ^ Most sources agree that they were introduced in 1900, but in his book, Railway Stations of the North East, Ken Hoole states they were introduced in 1902. However, Hoole also wrote a letter to the editor of Railway Magazine in 1975, where he states they were introduced in 1900.[1]

References

  1. ^ Hoole, K (February 1975). "Hornsea branch unrealised". Railway Magazine. Vol. 121, no. 886. London: IPC Transport Press. p. 88. OCLC 220828852.
  2. ^ "History". www.northeasterntilecompany.co.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b Hoole, K. (1985). Railway stations of the North East. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 20. ISBN 0-7153-8527-5.
  4. ^ Spaven, David; Holland, Julian (2012). The Times mapping the railways: the journey of Britain's railways through maps from 1819 to the present day. London: Times Books. p. 147. ISBN 9780007435999.
  5. ^ a b "Railway map on tiles". The North Star. No. 5, 995. 25 April 1900. p. 2. OCLC 751720286.
  6. ^ "A novel railway map". Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. No. 8202. 25 April 1900. p. 4. OCLC 751666712.
  7. ^ "The manufacture of tile maps". The Ashbourne News and Dove Valley Record. Vol. 10, no. 507. 21 September 1900. p. 7. OCLC 751647600.
  8. ^ "Applause for rail station work". Scarborough Evening News. 23 July 1997. p. 15. ISSN 0250-5150.
  9. ^ Plumb, Geoff M. (2017). British Railways in the 1960s. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. p. 108. ISBN 9781473823938.
  10. ^ a b c Jenkins, Simon (2021). Britain's 100 best railway stations. London: Penguin Books. pp. 335–336. ISBN 978-0-2419790-0-6.
  11. ^ Black, Jeremy (2024). A history of the railroad in 100 maps. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-226-83789-5.
  12. ^ "Old Darlington tile map uncovered". Darlington and Stockton Times, Ripon and Richmond Chronicle. 17 February 1973. p. 10. ISSN 0966-1328.
  13. ^ Hoole, K. (1983). Rail centres, York. London: Ian Allan. p. 103. ISBN 0-7110-1320-9.
  14. ^ Jones, Robin, ed. (February 2022). "Once smashed to pieces, a classic NER tile map is home again". Heritage Railway. No. 290. Horncastle: Mortons Media. p. 59. ISSN 1466-3562.
  15. ^ Historic England. "The Railway Station (Grade II) (1164550)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  16. ^ Historic England. "Scarborough Railway Station (Grade II) (1243452)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  17. ^ a b Historic England. "Tynemouth Station (Grade II*) (1185168)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  18. ^ Historic England. "York Railway Station (Grade II*) (1256554)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  19. ^ Martin, Andrew (2015). Belles & whistles: journeys through time on Britain's trains. London: Profile Books. p. 39. ISBN 9781781252130.
  20. ^ Welbourn, Nigel (1994). Lost lines: LMR. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 5. ISBN 0-7110-2277-1.
  21. ^ "Heritage Open Days: This is how you can explore the history of Yorkshire Coast on your doorstep - ProQuest". Scarborough News. 9 September 2021. ProQuest 2571315757. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  22. ^ Bairstow, Martin (1998) [1989]. Railways around Whitby volume one. Farsley: Bairstow. p. 3. ISBN 9781871944174.
  23. ^ Morris, Alan (29 June 1992). "Historian blasts station wall plan". Hull Daily Mail. p. 12. ISSN 1741-3419.
  24. ^ Comfort, Andy (11 June 2025). "A railway with "people at its heart"". Rail Magazine. No. 1, 037. Peterborough: Bauer Media. p. 56. ISSN 0953-4563.
  25. ^ "Northern notes". Middlesbrough Daily Gazette. 6 August 1900. p. 2. OCLC 749266985.
  26. ^ North, John (2 November 1973). "Chipping away at a fine piece of rail history". The Northern Echo. No. 32, 245. p. 10. ISSN 2043-0442.
  27. ^ "Giant railway map jigsaw". Evening Despatch. No. 18, 628. 12 February 1973. p. 21. OCLC 751646866.
  28. ^ a b Comfort, Andy (11 June 2025). "A railway with "people at its heart"". Rail Magazine. No. 1, 037. Peterborough: Bauer Media. p. 57. ISSN 0953-4563.
  29. ^ Bickerdyke, Paul, ed. (October 2021). "Tile map installed at Hunmanby". Railway Magazine. 167 (1, 447). Horncastle: Mortons Media: 88. ISSN 0033-8923.
  30. ^ Whitworth, Alan (1998). Esk Valley Railway : a travellers' guide ; a description of the history and topography of the line between Whitby and Middlesbrough. Barnsley: Wharncliffe. p. 69. ISBN 1871647495.
  31. ^ Young, Alan (2003). Railways in Northumberland. Leeds: Bairstow. p. 11. ISBN 1-8719-4426-0.
  32. ^ Hudson, Chris (31 October 2017). "Tracking the history of town's railway". Morpeth Herald. Gale A535459821.
  33. ^ "Map shows the way - 1900 style". The Northern Echo. No. 30, 924. 31 July 1969. p. 3. OCLC 6685296.
  34. ^ Thomas, David St John (1994). The trains we loved. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 132. ISBN 0-7153-0292-2.
  35. ^ Holland, Julian (2010). The lost lines of Britain: a nostalgic trip along Britain's lost railways featuring railway walks and cycle paths. Basingstoke: AA. p. 190. ISBN 9780749566302.
  36. ^ Biddle, Gordon; Nock, O. S. (1983). The railway heritage of Britain: 150 years of railway architecture and engineering. London: M. Joseph. p. 50. ISBN 0-7181-2355-7.
  37. ^ "Railway history's on the wall". The Northern Echo. 3 August 1998. p. 3. ISSN 2043-0442.
  38. ^ "Tiled map shows off the old rail network". Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. 11 August 1998. p. 4. OCLC 751642892.
  39. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Richmond, Ian (2002) [1992]. The buildings of England; Northumberland. London: Yale University Press. p. 594. ISBN 0-300-09638-0.
  40. ^ Hoole, K. (1973). North-East England. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. p. 60. ISBN 0-7153-5894-4.
  41. ^ Carstairs, Ian (2004). A portrait of York: city of york. Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 13. ISBN 1-8411-4382-0.
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