Thomas Myres
Banister subsequently moved to southern England where in 1860 he became chief engineer to the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR).
[8] The stations designed by Myres have been described as "distinctive and unnecessarily large",[8] and as "amongst the most ornate provided by the Brighton company" which "blended well with their rustic surroundings".
[8] The standard details included oriel windows, pargetting with flower designs and mock-Tudor timber on the first floors, elaborate carved porches at the entrance to the booking hall, with stained glass panels.
[16][17] The stations featured "commodious" platform canopies, clad in zinc and supported by columns, made from either cast iron or timber,[17] some with "particularly elegant" ironwork.
[17] Many of the stations were decorated with a company monogram alongside the date of the building: examples include those at Lavant, Singleton and Sheffield Park.
In 1887, Frederick McDermott praised Myres's work in his "Life of Joseph Firbank" (Firbank was the contractor who built the Lewes to East Grinstead line, among others):Leaving the cold classical style adopted by the first railway engineers and since generally followed, Mr Myres chose the warm colouring and varied form of what has, of late years, been termed the Queen Anne School, and the effects of the bright red brick, wooden beams and casemented windows is very pleasing.
[28] The line from Hailsham to Eridge was opened in 1880,[29] with Myres being responsible for the design of all five intermediate stations, which were built by James Longley & Co. of Crawley.
[23] The stations at Hellingly and Horam were both of the standard Myres design, while that at Heathfield had the platforms in a cutting with the booking office and stationmaster's house at road level, at right angles to the tracks.
[16] Singleton has been described as "the most lavish station on the line"[16] and as "most unnecessarily extravagant",[35] being built with four platforms, arranged as two islands, as well as two signal boxes, a goods shed and a turntable.
The railway company anticipated substantial business from Goodwood Racecourse and provided facilities to cater for horseboxes as well as additional trains bringing racegoers.
The tracks were at a higher level than the station buildings which were surrounded on three sides by high retaining walls, with access to the island platforms by subway.
[42] The former Singleton station was for many years occupied by Chilsdown Vineyards, operated by Ian and Andrew Paget, who started producing wine in 1974.
[46] When completed, this station had six platform faces, with four at the high level and two at right angles serving the Lewes and Oxted lines, which met at an end-on junction.
[49] Six stations were built between East Grinstead and Lewes, all of which were constructed by Firbank; other than Newick & Chailey they were all to the standard Myres design, with minor detail differences.
[51] It has been restored to its 1950s condition by "The Friends of Kingscote", a volunteer group who maintain the station[52] including a replica of the waiting shelter to replace that which had been demolished.
[57][58] Sheffield Park is the southern terminus of the Bluebell Railway and has been restored to reflect operations shortly after it was opened in the 1880s,[59] although many later buildings have been added including a locomotive shed, museum etc.
[59] The Bluebell Railway are gradually restoring the station, with a view to returning the canopies to the original form designed by Myres.
[54][60] South of Sheffield Park, the line is abandoned and the station at Newick and Chailey has been demolished with the site being incorporated into neighbouring gardens.
[61] In 1883, the LB&SCR built a line to connect Horsted Keynes with Haywards Heath with one intermediate station at Ardingly.
[62] Following closure of the line in 1963, the platforms were removed and the site is now occupied by an aggregates depot although the roadside buildings remain and are now a private residence.
The Bluebell Railway have medium to long-term plans to re-open the line from Horsted Keynes to Ardingly and on to Haywards Heath.
As well as stations, Myres designed many ancillary buildings including waiting shelters, footbridges, signal boxes, goods sheds etc.
The exterior is virtually unaltered including a surviving wooden canopy and the interior retains its original kingpost roof and an internal iron crane.
