KING’S CROSS CENTRAL. And on, to ST.PANCRAS OLD CHURCH and ST.PANCRAS HOSPITAL
KING’S CROSS?. ST.PANCRAS?
The area known as King’s Cross got its name from a statue of King George IV erected at the crossroads outside the station. The monument itself was short lived, being completed in 1836 and demolished in 1845, but the area retained the name.
Welcome to KING’S CROSS CENTRAL
The site is owned and controlled by the King's Cross Central Limited Partnership. It consists of approximately 67 acres (27 ha) of former railway lands to the north of King's Cross and St Pancras mainline railway stations. The site is largely determined by three boundaries: the existing East Coast Main Line railway leading out of King's Cross; York Way, a road marking the division between Camden and Islington boroughs; and the new railway line, High Speed 1 (HS1), formerly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, which curves around the site to the north and west.
Farmland. A battleground (Romans vs. Iceni)?
REGENT’S CANAL (1820s): terraced housing, industries, gasworks
RAILWAYS. Goods stations/Passenger termini
MARKETS and COAL. reuse of the former temporary GNR station as a potato goods shed, part of the larger local wholesale potato market. The company also added the Eastern coal drops (1851), and the later Western coal drops (1860), allowing coal shipments from the Northeast and the Midlands to be distributed around London by the canal network, and later by road.
DECLINE. the area declined from being a poor but busy industrial and distribution services district to a partially abandoned post-industrial district. By the 1980s it was notorious for prostitution and drug abuse. This reputation impeded attempts to revive the area utilising the large amount of land available
A high density development, in a a brownfield site (i.e. had past industrial use). Buildings at KXC range from one storey to 19 storeys. Protected views of St Paul's from Parliament Hill and Kenwood House have not been affected.
At least a third of the site (25 acres/10 hectares) has been dedicated to new public routes (20) and privately owned open spaces (10] . Five of these are major new squares - Granary Square, Station Square, Pancras Square, Cubitt Square, and North Square - which together total 8 acres (3.2 ha).
In addition, the proposals include 6.5 acres (2.6 ha) of new public realm along the Regent's Canal, the Gas Holders Zone and Coal Drops Yard and within a new "Cubitt Park”.
allocations found that "people with a history of mental health problems are being excluded from the social housing built there while the developers and local council have also set quotas for the number of homeless and unemployed people"
Argent's planning permission agreement with Camden Borough council included a commitment to provide 750 affordable units in the 1,946 constructed.
2019 Madhumita Murgia reported in the Financial Times that Argent was using facial recognition software in the King's Cross Central area of London.
Handyside St.
Handyside Street at King's Cross is named after John Handyside, a Victorian engineer who played a key role in solving problems related to running trains on gradients. He was instrumental in developing the systems for efficient railway operations.The area surrounding Handyside Street, including Handyside Gardens, is a testament to his contributions to railway engineering.
To the left East Handyskde Canopy, Midlands Googs Shed, West Handyside Canopy, Eastern Transit Shed, The Granary and Western Transit Shed>>>see later
22 HANDYSIDE ST.
THE AGA KHAN CENTRE. Ismailite culture and religion: Events, exhibitions, gardens, library
To the North, in case you want to explore the àrea
LEWIS CUBITT PARK
RESIDENTIAL
STUDENT HOUSING
Stable Street
COAL DROPS YARD. Shopping centre>>>see later
Former GOODS YARD COMPLEX. Eateries
Designed by LEWIS CUBITT, completed in 1852. GRANARY, TRAIN ASSEMBLY SHED, E and W TRANSIT SHEDS. All buildings aligned with to the axis of the COPENHAGUEN TUNNEL, through which the trains arrived.
GRANARY SQUARE
GRANARY BUILDING
CENTRAL ST.MARTINS, UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON.
The University of the Arts Londonis a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts.[5]The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, the London College of Communication, the London College of Fashion and the Wimbledon College of Arts
The Granary building was mainly used to store Lincolnshire wheat for London’s bakers
REGENERATION HOUSE
1850. LEWIS CUBITT. Principal goods yard offices, nerve centre for freight operations
QUEER BRITAIN Museum
WEST HANDYSIDE CANOPY
1888. Built to unload fish and other perishables into lorries.Fish sold here on Sundays when on SUNDAYS, when BILLINGSGATE was closed. From the 1970s used for deliveries and parking when the railway traffic ceased.
CANOPY MARKET
MIDDLANDS GOODS SHED
Built as a carriage shed by GNR, 1850, it became a temporary passenger terminal during the building of KC STATION . The MGS kept the name even if the GNR used it subsequently as warehousing. Offices were b. In 1870 to the South.
EAST HANDYSIDE CANOPY
Following the gentle course of the previous building to the W. it was constructed In 1888 and used for the potato traffic
The route heads Westwards towards the GASHOLDERS
Alternatively, SOUTHWARDS, towards the West End, and crossing the REGENT’S CANAL
GOOGLE HQ.
Former GERMAN GYMNASIUM, now a restaurant
The first purpose built Gym in London, an initiative of the GERMAN GYMNASTICS SOCIETY, established in 1861, by ERNST RAVENSTEIN. And very influential in the development of British athletics. The NATIONAL OLYMPIAN ASSOCIATION held its games from 1866 and continued to do so until the OLYMPIC GAMES held in WHITE CITY, in 1908.
The Gymnasium was also a pioneer in women’s fitness, offering classes for women long before it was culturally accepted in London.
As you sit in the first-floor restaurant or sip cocktails at the Meister Bar, you’re in the same spot where spectators once watched athletes perform these unusual sports. Look up and you’ll see the original hooks used for rope climbing and other aerial feats.
Part of the building had to be rebuilt after the impact of a bomb in 1917 (ZEPPELIN RAID)
The building was originally larger, with the grand entrance on PANCRAS ROAD. And it contained reading room and club room.
The building ceased to be a gym sometimes before the WW1, and became storage space and offices, then arts and exhibition space
STANLEY BUILDINGS. Victorian Social Housing
B. 1864-65 by the IMPROVED INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS COMPANY for KC workers. Originally 4, finally 2 self contained flats for floor. Roofs for clothes drying and children playing. Originally 5 blocks, housing 104 families. An early example of use of concrete, reducing the risk of fire. Now used for offices and meeting rooms.
GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL, restored
Opened in 1854 for the use of the GNR patrons. The curved SW façade reflects the original alignment of OLD ST.PANCRAS ROAD,
The grand entrance faced the station, and was enclosed within a gated area that also incorporated ornamental gardens. In the 80s an hydraulic lift was added.
KING’S CROSS Station
ST.PANCRAS Station
Poet, Sir John Betjeman led a campaign to save St. Pancras Station and the Chambers from demolition in the 1960's. In tribute to the famous poet and railway enthusiast an 8.5ft sculpture by Martin Jenningshas been designed to celebrate the man and his poetry.
Did you know that Sir John's coat-tail was designed to emulate the shape of the station's Barlow train shed roof?
Attractions close to KING’S CROSS CENTRAL
CAMLEY STREET NATURE RESERVE
PEOPLE’S MUSEUM
FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE
BRITISH LIBRARY
WELCOME COLECTION
PANGOLIN GALLERY
CANAL MUSEUM
KING’S PLACE
Kings Place is an adventurous music and arts venue with an ambition to inspire local community and promote the power of the arts in our society. Its venues enable learning, discovery, debate and experiences that are powerfully intimate, enabling human connection between artists and audiences.
Now, the regular route Westawards
FISH AND COAL OFFICES, now HERZOG and De MEURON architecture practice in the UK
The clerks monitored from here the flow of freight through the goods yards. 1851 and additional buildings, early 1860s. Gutted by a fire in the 80s, it has been internally rebuilt.
SOMERSTOWN Bridge to Camley St.
THE COAL DROPS
1850s-60s. Built to transfer coal from railway wagons into storage hoppers, and from here loaded into road carts. Originally 4 high level railway tracks were carried by the brick and cast iron structure.
During the 20th c.used for storage. Then in the 90s, studios, workshops and night clubs.
Formerly known as the Midland Railway Basin , now ST.PANCRAS BASIN
St Pancras Basin, just above the lock, was opened in 1870 as a coal wharf. Where boaters used to load and unload cargoes of heavy coal is now the site of St Pancras Cruising Club. Below the lock, you can still see the entrance to a disused basin and the former lock keeper's cottage.
On 8 December 1952, London was brought to a standstill for almost five whole days. Public transport effectively ceased, and in most areas of London visibility was only a few yards. There were over 4,500 deaths that week. The reason for this chaos was smog. The city had previously experienced bad fogs but the Guardian newspaper at the time called it ‘the worst fog for many years’. The actual number of deaths is likely to have been higher because the smog exacerbated the illnesses of those who had existing respiratory diseases. The events of that week in December 1952 finally forced the government to act against smoke pollution in the United Kingdom. The result was the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1956. While the “Great Smog” of 1952 must be seen as a tipping point it was actually the last in a long series of events and changing attitudes towards smoke pollution in which the public and the government alike came to see it as a problem with which the nation had to deal.
In Victorian homes, coal was the primary fuel source for heating and cooking. Coal was often delivered in sacks and stored in a cellar or basement,
In older English homes, a coal cellar, also sometimes called a coal hole, was a designated space, usually underground, for storing coal. These spaces were common during the period when coal was a primary fuel for domestic heating, from the early 19th to mid-20th centuries. Coal cellars were often located under the stairs or in a dedicated area of the basement
Former WATER TOWER
originally used to refill steam locomotives at St Pancras station with water. The Victorian Gothic brick structure, designed by the office of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who was also responsible for the Midland Grand Hotel at Pancras station, around 1868.[1] The design included a chimney which was simply a design element and not functional. The building is approximately 9m by 6m and is three stories high with the top containing a cast iron tank capable of holding 68 cubic metres of water.[3]
With the enlargement of St Pancras to accommodate International Eurostar services the WaterPoint needed to be moved to make space. In November 2001,[1] following 3 years of planning, it was relocated a few hundred metres from its original location to its present locations
“SIAMESE TRIPLET’ GASHOLDERS GUIDE FRAMES
The Park
Housing
Energy centre
OLD ST.PANCRAS and other vanished villages: AGAR TOWN, COPENHAGEN, BELLE ISLE
Rural, ancient, mythical… VALE ROYAL?: the royal palace of Brutus (the Troyans who founded London!) and Lear, a descendant, The site of NEW TROY?.
THE BRILL, a hill o mound with underground burial chambers? .
BATTLE BRIDGE…BOADICEA, defeated here?
Here, in the 13th c, a village. In the 16th c. the church was in bad state.
TOTTENHAM COURT or manor had pastures and meadows around. SWIFT and GOLDSMITH mentions.
Then, the ADAM AND EVE TEA GARDENS.
Beside the church, SPRINGS, even recommended by physicians (long rooms, dinners, ales, milk and cream, theatre). SYLLABUBS, curdled milk, cream?.
In the 19th c, the railways and industrialisation ate through everything, creating: railway lines, slums, wharves, coal depots.
WILLIAM AGAR bought the manor in 1810. His manor was linked to the workhouse by a line of Poplar trees. He received a handsome compensation for the construction of the REGENT’S CANAL, after legal and forceful opposition. And then, he sold the rest to IMPERIAL GAS.
TERMINI:. 1837, EUSTON. KING’S CROSS. 1868, ST.PANCRAS
While the BLOOMSBURY ESTATE (DUKE OF BEDFORD) was protected from the railways, the EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON (THOMAS WRIOTHESLEY) leased his.
SOMERSTOWN. Goods depot. Potato market
AGAR TOWN.Sold by AGAR’s widow. Piecemeal developments. Jerrybuilding. By the CHURCH COMMISSIONERS. No paving, drainage, light or gas whatsoever. Unmitigated property, wretched, stench. Cottages for the lowest order of labourers. Families living in vans, self built houses (on Sunday, Saran!). Vice and overcrowding, but in almost rural setting… Knacker yards, manure heaps, soap manufacturers, refuse burnt, cinder heaps, barley husks from breweries…
Navvies, refuse ollectors, casual workers… hardworking people. To the N. CAMDEN and KENTISH TOWNS were more respectable (DAN LENO, TOM SAWYERS)
Shanty town, rookeries, dens, colonies…were words used by “slum explorers”, fascinated by the dark side of London, and followed by thrill seeking readers. A SUBURBAN CONNEMARA according to HOUSEHOLD WORDS (DKS’s journal). DKS had grown up in BAYNHAM and JOHNSONS streets.
However, larger houses in DURHAM TERRACE, ordinary sized in WINCHESTER ST., cottages by the canal, in SALISBURY CRESCENT.
Demolitions took place with the grow of the railways, coal depots, gasworks
Peter Baume’s Experimental Gardens or the Frenchman’s Island
An “infidel”, eccentric Frenchman!. He owned a printing and bookshop, and set up the SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING ANTICHRISTIAN AND GENERAL INSTRUCTION, and formed a COMMUNE run according to to ROBERT OWEN principles. Small plots of land were sold to poor people (radical tradesmen were attracted) , who built their own cottages, and shared the farming land (Co-operative, against alienation and exploitation). Christian missionaries fought against the philosophical principles, sanitary inspectors found filthy conditions…
The experiment was wound up with the advent of GNR and NLL. Then, horse slaughtering.
COPENHAGUEN
Fields, covering parts of BARNSBURY. The manor b.c.1620 (a visit by the KING OF DENMARK?). Afterwards, in the 1750s, TEA GARDENS (skittles, fives) and centre of (questionable) entertainment: bear-baiting, dog fighting, pigeon shooting, races, boing, wresting, cricket…
Place where the GORDIN RIOTERS assembled, on their way to LORD MANSFIELD’s mansion, a lady called the troops, 1780. Place of demonstrations and assemblies: LONDON CORRESPONDING SOCIETY against the war ag. France, 1795. TOLPUDDLE PROTEST, March to KENNINGTON COMMON, 1834.
Finally the house was demolished in the 1850s. THE OLD COPENHAGUEN: Racing tracks set up (JOHN GARRATT, championship betting).
Finally,when SMITHFIELD closed, the CATTLE MARKET4 was transferred here: 4 pubs, 2 hotels, 12 banks, telegraph office.
PEDDLARS MARKET. Bric a brac market. Fannies. (quick fire salemen). Quakers and fortune tellers.
In 1932 a string of “farmed out “ beads were sold for 7s. In fact, it was found out that they were black pearls, worth £20.000. A national sensation!.
1939.Requisitioned by the government as a ROYAL MAIL DEPOT.
1953. Cattle herded for slaughter.
1963. The market closed, and the MARKET ESTATE b. The CLOCK TOWER survives. Now CALEDONIAN PARK. Corner pubs
Building started to encroach. PENTONVILLE PRISON.
VALE ROYAL
ANDREW AIDAN, DUN, STUKELEY. Spiritual centre of occult England, with the church at its heart of WILLIAM BLAKE’s NEW JERUSALEM
ST.PANCRAS Old Church and churchyard
By some traditions, the church has been a site of Christian worship since AD 314, but as with most parish churches, especially the older ones, there is little documentary or archaeological evidence to allow the first use of the site to be dated.[2]Remnants of medieval features in the building and references in the Domesday Book suggest the site was in use during the Anglo-Saxon period.
In 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine of Canterbury at the head of a group of 40 monks intending to promote the re-establishment of Christianity in England. Pope Gregory sent Augustine with relics of St Pancras, and the first church Augustine established, was dedicated to St Pancras and located in Canterbury, the capital of the Kingdom of Kent. Some traditions also ascribe the establishment of the St Pancras Old Church, or its dedication to St Pancras, with Augustine's mission and the relics he brought.
When the church was rebuilt in 1847, builders found some evidence of Anglo-Saxon period church activity and some re-used Roman tiles in the walls. They were able to identify that the church building they were replacing was mainly late Tudor with elements of earlier structures incorporated.
The church has a chaplaincy to the nearby St Pancras Hospital
On 11 December 2007 it marked the opening of the nearby St Pancras Internationalstation with a bilingual service and a twinning with the Church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Paris, near the Gare du Nord, Paris.
As a traditional Anglo-Catholic church that rejects the ordination of women as priests and bishops, it receives alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Fulham (currently Jonathan Baker)
CHURCHYARD
the former nefarious activities of the bodysnatchers pale in comparison to the gargantuan appetite of the Midland Grand Railway when the iron fingers of its all consuming tracks began clawing their way across the turf of this isolated corner of North West London in the mid 1860's, and the mighty bulk of King's Cross Station began to rise, Kraken-like, over the southern boundary of the burial ground.
the Bishop of London, in whose diocese the burial ground was located, began the search for a worthy soul who could retrieve what was left of those bygone citizens whose remains were, inconveniently, standing - or in this case lying - in the path of progress.
The unenviable task was given to Covent Garden architect Arthur Blomfield (1829-1899) who, in addition to being an exponent of the Gothic Revival style of architecture, was also a master at delegation. He assigned the job to his assistant, the young Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928) - whose literary masterpieces, such as Under The Greenwood Tree, Far From The Madding Crowd, The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Tess Of The d'Urbervilles, and Jude The Obscure were yet to seal his reputation as one of the titans of English literature - and thus, in 1865, Thomas Hardy went to work overseeing the dismantling of many of the churchyard's tombs and the disinterment,
A number of the tombstones were piled together and an ash tree was planted at their centre to create an ever evolving monument, or even art installation, that is now known as "The Hardy Tree", and which is one of the true delights and curiosities of, what is now, a built up district which has long been, very much, an integral part of the ever expanding Metropolis.
Whether Hardy was responsible for the tree that bears his name is unclear
Burials in the churchyard
After the Reformation the isolation and decay of the church made it a tempting resort for Catholics: indeed, it was said that the last bell which tolled for the Mass in England was at St Pancras.[19] St Pancras (and to a lesser degree Paddington Church) were the only places in London where Roman Catholics were permitted to be buried.[20] Among the several Catholics buried in the churchyard was Johann Christian Bach, youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach.[19] His name was misspelled in the burial register as John Cristian Back.[21]
St Pancras Old Churchyard in London holds the remains of several notable figures, including Mary Wollstonecraft, the author of "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" and mother of Mary Shelley. Other prominent individuals buried there include the sculptor John Flaxman, the architect Sir John Soane, and the composer Johann Christian Bach. The churchyard also contains the graves of the vampire writer John William Polidori, the novelist Kingsley Amis, and the playwright and poet Francis Towneley
JOHN SOANE
Former ST.PANCRAS WORKHOUSE, now HOSPITAL
1848. Originally established as the INFIRMARY of ST.PANCRAS UNION WORKHOUSE. When the HIGHGATE INFIRMARY opened, in 1869, this one became known as the “South” one. In 1920 renamed HOSPITALS. In 1848 joined the NHS. CAMDEN and ISLINGTON NHS FOUND. TRUST.
The HOSPITAL FOR TROPICAL DISEASES occupied the maternity wards between 1951 and 1998.
New developments around St.Pancras
Tribeca Brick
WW2. OPERATION MINCEMEAT
The body of Glyndwr came to the attention of the coroner of St. Pancras District, who’d been asked by British intelligence to keep an eye out for the body of a suitable male with no next of kin.
I hope you are enjoying this guide
