Derby’s Great Northern Railway Warehouse Derby on 2017 Top 10 Endangered Buildings list

National architecture charity the Victorian Society has included The Great Northern Railway Warehouse in Derby on its 2017 Top 10 Endangered Buildings list. The Top 10 campaign, now in its tenth year, recognises the plight of endangered Victorian and Edwardian buildings in England and Wales in the hope that increased publicity will help save them.

This large railway warehouse bordering a roundabout on the outskirts of Derby has been left derelict for an unbelievable 50 years. It was built in 1877 by Kirk and Randall as part of the Great Northern Railway at Friargate Station and was listed as Grade II in 1986. The sheer size of the building as well as its unusual shape make it stand out: it is twenty one bays long and three storeys high (though most of floors which separate them have since collapsed), and is a rectangle plan with a triangle office block with a mezzanine floor to the east.

Planning permission was granted for the site to be redeveloped into a large-scale shopping and accommodation complex in 2011, with the warehouse functioning as a new supermarket, but due to economic downturn these plans have stalled. This grand building is the frequent target of arson attacks and is at the tipping point of salvation, with emergency action needed to secure it for the future.

Christopher Costelloe, Victorian Society Director, said: "This large and distinctive Victorian warehouse could be repurposed into a focal point of Derby; instead it has steadily become a giant eyesore, with its architectural and historical interest eroding away. We hope that its inclusion in this year's Top 10 list will re-inspire the owners to realise its obvious potential and revive it into a community space Derby can be proud of."