Friday Facts and Fotos – 15 4 November 2022
This week we are featuring PROV’s photos of the original 1885 drawings and plans for Newport. Hopefully, you can zoom in and see the incredible amount of fine detail in these photos.
Architects Breretin & Lewis prepared a detailed set of 31 drawings, based on the best British railway workshops, for the proposed Newport Workshops. These plans were accepted, and with only minor modification, Newport was built between 1886 and 1888. The original buildings (the “1888 Group”) layout and design was based on the best British railway workshops, and the high quality of design and craftsmanship reflected the booming prosperity and confidence of Victoria at that time. The buildings are functionally and architecturally balanced with a Central Office Block and Clock Tower, central light workshops and stores. Radiating out for Centre Block was an East Block for woodworking, carriage building and painting, and a West Block for heavy engineering activities of boilermaking, blacksmithing, machining, and locomotive building and repairs. The Victorian Railways soon out grew the original 1888 buildings and Newport continued to grow and the usage of various areas changed over the years – but that’s another story.
Over the coming weeks we will be bringing facts and photos to show how East and West Blocks were used.
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