Ayr Station Hotel
Location type
Name and dates
Ayr Station Hotel (1886-)Description
Ayr Station Hotel dominates Ayr station with its three storeys of red sandstone topped with a Mansard roof. It opened in 1885/6 and is 'B' listed. Its construction coincided with the rebuilding and enlargement of Ayr Townhead station to become the main station in Ayr. The coat of arms of the GSWR is cut into the sandstone of the building. A serious fire of 25-26/09/2023 damaged a considerable portion of the building.
The hotel runs down the west side of the station, bordering the platforms with which it formerly had direct access, and at the north end it steps to the west to accommodate the bay platforms and circulating area. The building has three floors and an attic floor in French Renaissance style with a Mansard roof. At the front is a four storey tower with attic Mansard roof. The station offices are at the north end of the building. The station canopy, partly cut back, is braced from the rear side of the hotel and the single storey building on the east side of the station. The rear rooms in the upper three floors have a view over the station.
The architect was Andrew Galloway. The building was built during the reconstruction, by the Glasgow and South Western Railway, of Ayr Townhead station to become the main station in Ayr.
The railway owned British Transport Commission hotel was sold in 1951. The hotel building received attention in 1980, with scaffolding covering the northern portion.
The hotel partly closed in 2010, completely in 2012.
The building was in sufficiently poor condition in 2012 that it was added to the Buildings at Risk Register (BARR ). Structures were added to protect the station and its canopies from falling debris and the hotel's car park closed.
On the 28 of August 2018 South Ayrshire Council extended the 'exclusion zone' around the hotel to the extent that it closed the railway through the station and reduced the length of the bay platforms. This resulted in a complete cessation of trains through the station south to Maybole, Girvan, Barrhill and Stranraer and has trapped EMUs which were being serviced at the Townhead EMU Sidings.
Historic Scotland - Ayr Station and Hotel
The company had other hotels notably Glasgow St Enoch (1876-1974) and Turnberry Hotel (1906-Present).
Tags
Hotel station hotelExternal links
Canmore site recordNLS Collection OS map of 1892-1914
NLS Collection OS map of 1944-67
Facilities
Listing: B
| Nearby stations Ayr Ayr [2nd] Ayr [1st] Newton-on-Ayr Alloway Auchincruive Prestwick Town Maybole Junction [Station] Heads of Ayr [2nd] Prestwick International Airport Dalrymple Auchincruive Colliery Platform Monkton Heads of Ayr [1st) Annbank | Townhead Works Townhead EMU Sidings Ayr Cattle Market Sidings Ayr Viaduct Hawkhill Junction Ayr Harbour South Belmont Siding Vulcan Foundry [Ayr] Ayr Shipyard [North] Hawkhill LC Ayr Shipyard Ayr MPD Newton Level Crossing Tourist/other St John^s Tower Seafield House |
| Location names in dark blue are on the same original line. | |
