Kings Cross, London
Encyclopedia
King's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden
and partly in the London Borough of Islington
. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles (4.8 km) north of Charing Cross
. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district
and run-down. However, rapid regeneration since the mid 1990s has rendered this reputation largely out-of-date. Since November 2007 the area has been the terminus of the Eurostar
rail service at St Pancras International
, with services to France and Belgium
. Regeneration continues under the auspices of King's Cross Central
which is a major redevelopment in the north of the area. Many more hotels, restaurants, and cultural venues have made the area a cultural centre in the 2000s, and there is also substantial business activity and residential accommodation.
. The original name of the bridge was Broad Ford Bridge.
The name "Battle Bridge" led to a tradition that this was the site of a major battle between the Roman
s and the Iceni
tribe led by Boudica
. The tradition is supported by the writing of Publius Cornelius Tacitus, and ancient Roman historian, who described the area as a place of action between the Romans and Boadicea. Lewis Spence
's 1937 book Boadicea - warrior queen of the Britons includes a map showing the positions of the opposing armies. The suggestion that Boudica is buried beneath platform 9 or 10 at King's Cross Station seems to have arisen as urban folklore since the end of World War II
.
The area had been settled in Roman times, and a camp here, known as The Brill was erroneously attributed to Julius Caesar
, who never visited Londinium. The name is commemorated in two streets lying behind King's Cross and St Pancras stations. St Pancras Old Church
, also set behind the stations, is said to be one of the oldest Christian sites in Britain.
Around 1835 a monument to King George IV
was built at the junction of Gray's Inn Road
, Pentonville Road and New Road, which later became Euston Road
. The monument was sixty feet high and topped by an eleven-foot-high statue of the king, and was described by Walter Thornbury
as "a ridiculous octagonal structure crowned by an absurd statue". The upper storey was used as a camera obscura
while the base in turn housed a police station and a public house. The unpopular building was demolished in 1845, though the area has kept the name of Kings Cross. A structure in the form of a lighthouse
was built on top of a building almost on the site about 30 years later. Known locally as the "Lighthouse Building", the popular theory that the structure was an advertisement for Netten's Oyster Bar on the ground floor seems not to be true. It is a grade II listed building.
King's Cross Railway Station now stands by the junction where the cross stood. The station, designed by architect Lewis Cubitt
and opened in 1852, succeeded a short-lived earlier station, erected north of the canal in time for the Great Exhibition.
St Pancras railway station
station, owned by the Midland Railway
, lies immediately to the west. They both had extensive land ("the railway lands") to house their associated facilities for handling general goods and specialist commodities such as fish, coal, potatoes and grain. The passenger stations on Euston Road
far outweighed in public attention the economically more important goods traffic to the north. King's Cross and St Pancras stations, and indeed all London railway stations, made an important contribution to the capital's economy.
After World War II 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 following the decline of the railway goods yard to the north of the station and the many other vacant premises in the area.
Relatively cheap rents and a central London location made the area attractive to artists and designers and both Antony Gormley
and Thomas Heatherwick
established studios in the area. In the 1990s the government established the King's Cross Partnership to fund regeneration projects, and the commencement of work on High Speed 1 in 2000 provided a major impetus for other projects. Within a few years much of the "socially undesirable" behaviour had moved on, and new projects such as offices and hotels had begun to open. The area has also been for many years home to a number of trades union head offices (including the NUJ, RMT, UNISON, NUT, Community and UCU).
The area has increasingly become home to cultural establishments. The London Canal Museum
opened in 1992, and in 1997 a new home for the British Library
opened next to St Pancras Station. There was a small theatre, the Courtyard. However this had to close in late 2006 as a result of the gentrification of the area caused by a number of regeneration projects here, in this case, Regent's Quarter,across the boundary in Islington. The Gagosian Gallery
moved their main London premises to the area in 2004. The London Sinfonietta
and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
are based in King's Place, on Battlebridge Basin next to the Regent's Canal
. King's Place is also the home of The Guardian
and The Observer
newspapers, and of the UK Drug Policy Commission.
The area is expected to remain a major focus of redevelopment through the first two decades of the 21st century. The London terminus of the Eurostar
international rail service moved to St Pancras station in November 2007. The station's redevelopment led to the demolition of several buildings, including the Gasworks. Following the opening of the new high speed line to the station, redevelopment of the land between the two major stations and the old Kings Cross railwaylands to the rear has commenced, with outline planning permission granted for the whole site. Detailed planning applications for each part of the site] are being made on a rolling programme basis. The site is now called King's Cross Central
and is one of the largest construction projects in Greater London in the first quarter of the 21st century.
, King's Cross is where the schoolboy hero boards the train for Hogwarts. The railway station has capitalised on tourist interest by putting up a sign for the fictional "Platform " described in the books, and burying a luggage trolley, apparently, half into the wall.
King's Cross and its surrounding streets were also the setting for the 1955 Ealing comedy, The Ladykillers
and Mike Leigh
's High Hopes 1988. Anthony Minghella
's 2006 film Breaking and Entering
is also set in King's Cross.
The Irish rock
group The Pogues
were founded in King's Cross.
The British pop music
duo Pet Shop Boys
recorded a song featured on their 1987 album Actually
named "King's Cross": the melancholy track discusses the hopelessness of the AIDS
epidemic
during that time and uses the Kings Cross area as the "backdrop" of the story, trading on the area's associations with drug use and prostitution. Tracey Thorn
covered
the song in 2007. Songwriter David Gedge
also wrote a song called King's Cross while recording under the name Cinerama
.
King's Cross is the setting for the Christopher Fowler
mystery, Bryant & May on the Loose (November 2009)
Comedian Ricky Gervais
lived there for a while and mentions it in his HBO special.
King's Cross was referred to several times as the drop off and arrival point for characters in the 2010 period drama Downton Abbey
.
services in the district. St Pancras is also the Eurostar
terminus for International services to Paris
and Brussels
. Euston station
is a half-mile to the west.
In the beginning of 2010 Chinese authorities announced a bold plan to link Chinese high speed national railway directly to London King's Cross international railway station. This would allow passengers to reach London from Beijing in just two days.
The nearest London Underground stations is King's Cross St. Pancras
.
London Borough of Camden
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
and partly in the London Borough of Islington
London Borough of Islington
The London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles (4.8 km) north of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
and run-down. However, rapid regeneration since the mid 1990s has rendered this reputation largely out-of-date. Since November 2007 the area has been the terminus of the Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
rail service at St Pancras International
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
, with services to France and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Regeneration continues under the auspices of King's Cross Central
King's Cross Central
King's Cross Central is a multi-billion pound mixed-use property development in central London. The site is owned and controlled by London and Continental Railways and Exel, which selected Argent St George to be the developer for King's Cross Central, after an extensive selection process...
which is a major redevelopment in the north of the area. Many more hotels, restaurants, and cultural venues have made the area a cultural centre in the 2000s, and there is also substantial business activity and residential accommodation.
History
The area was previously a village known as Battle Bridge or Battlebridge which was an ancient crossing of the River FleetRiver Fleet
The River Fleet is the largest of London's subterranean rivers. Its two headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath; each is now dammed into a series of ponds made in the 18th century, the Hampstead Ponds and the Highgate Ponds. At the south edge of Hampstead Heath these two streams flow...
. The original name of the bridge was Broad Ford Bridge.
The name "Battle Bridge" led to a tradition that this was the site of a major battle between the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
s and the Iceni
Iceni
The Iceni or Eceni were a British tribe who inhabited an area of East Anglia corresponding roughly to the modern-day county of Norfolk between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD...
tribe led by Boudica
Boudica
Boudica , also known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug" was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
. The tradition is supported by the writing of Publius Cornelius Tacitus, and ancient Roman historian, who described the area as a place of action between the Romans and Boadicea. Lewis Spence
Lewis Spence
James Lewis Thomas Chalmbers Spence was a Scottish journalist, whose efforts as a compiler of Scottish folklore have proved more durable than his efforts as a poet and occult scholar....
's 1937 book Boadicea - warrior queen of the Britons includes a map showing the positions of the opposing armies. The suggestion that Boudica is buried beneath platform 9 or 10 at King's Cross Station seems to have arisen as urban folklore since the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The area had been settled in Roman times, and a camp here, known as The Brill was erroneously attributed to Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, who never visited Londinium. The name is commemorated in two streets lying behind King's Cross and St Pancras stations. St Pancras Old Church
St Pancras Old Church
St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church in central London. It is believed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England, and is dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Pancras, although the building itself is largely Victorian...
, also set behind the stations, is said to be one of the oldest Christian sites in Britain.
Around 1835 a monument to King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
was built at the junction of Gray's Inn Road
Gray's Inn Road
Gray's Inn Road, formerly Gray's Inn Lane, is a major road in central London, in the London Borough of Camden. It is named after Gray's Inn, one of the main Inns of Court. The road starts in Holborn, near Chancery Lane tube station and the boundaries of the City of London and the London Borough...
, Pentonville Road and New Road, which later became Euston Road
Euston Road
Euston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
. The monument was sixty feet high and topped by an eleven-foot-high statue of the king, and was described by Walter Thornbury
George Walter Thornbury
George Walter Thornbury was an English author. He was the son of a London solicitor, reared by his aunt and educated by her husband, Reverend Barton Bouchier. A journalist by profession, he also wrote verse, novels, art criticism and popular historical and topographical sketches...
as "a ridiculous octagonal structure crowned by an absurd statue". The upper storey was used as a camera obscura
Camera obscura
The camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side...
while the base in turn housed a police station and a public house. The unpopular building was demolished in 1845, though the area has kept the name of Kings Cross. A structure in the form of a lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
was built on top of a building almost on the site about 30 years later. Known locally as the "Lighthouse Building", the popular theory that the structure was an advertisement for Netten's Oyster Bar on the ground floor seems not to be true. It is a grade II listed building.
King's Cross Railway Station now stands by the junction where the cross stood. The station, designed by architect Lewis Cubitt
Lewis Cubitt
Lewis Cubitt was born on 29 September 1799 and died on 9 June 1883. He married Sophia Kendall on 23 January 1830.He was the younger brother of Thomas Cubitt, the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century, and he designed many of the housing developments constructed...
and opened in 1852, succeeded a short-lived earlier station, erected north of the canal in time for the Great Exhibition.
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
station, owned by the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
, lies immediately to the west. They both had extensive land ("the railway lands") to house their associated facilities for handling general goods and specialist commodities such as fish, coal, potatoes and grain. The passenger stations on Euston Road
Euston Road
Euston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
far outweighed in public attention the economically more important goods traffic to the north. King's Cross and St Pancras stations, and indeed all London railway stations, made an important contribution to the capital's economy.
After World War II 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 following the decline of the railway goods yard to the north of the station and the many other vacant premises in the area.
Relatively cheap rents and a central London location made the area attractive to artists and designers and both Antony Gormley
Antony Gormley
Antony Mark David Gormley OBE RA is a British sculptor. His best known works include the Angel of the North, a public sculpture in the North of England, commissioned in 1995 and erected in February 1998, Another Place on Crosby Beach near Liverpool, and Event Horizon, a multi-part site...
and Thomas Heatherwick
Thomas Heatherwick
Thomas Heatherwick is an English designer known for innovative use of engineering and materials in public monuments and sculptures...
established studios in the area. In the 1990s the government established the King's Cross Partnership to fund regeneration projects, and the commencement of work on High Speed 1 in 2000 provided a major impetus for other projects. Within a few years much of the "socially undesirable" behaviour had moved on, and new projects such as offices and hotels had begun to open. The area has also been for many years home to a number of trades union head offices (including the NUJ, RMT, UNISON, NUT, Community and UCU).
The area has increasingly become home to cultural establishments. The London Canal Museum
London Canal Museum
London Canal Museum in the King's Cross area of London, England, is a regional museum that displays information about the history of London's canals.- History :...
opened in 1992, and in 1997 a new home for the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
opened next to St Pancras Station. There was a small theatre, the Courtyard. However this had to close in late 2006 as a result of the gentrification of the area caused by a number of regeneration projects here, in this case, Regent's Quarter,across the boundary in Islington. The Gagosian Gallery
Gagosian Gallery
Gagosian Gallery is a contemporary art gallery owned and directed by Larry Gagosian. There are currently eleven gallery spaces: three in New York; two in London; one in each of Beverly Hills, Rome, Athens, Paris, Geneva, Hong Kong and Moscow.-1980s:...
moved their main London premises to the area in 2004. The London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and has its headquarters at Kings Place...
are based in King's Place, on Battlebridge Basin next to the Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....
. King's Place is also the home of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspapers, and of the UK Drug Policy Commission.
The area is expected to remain a major focus of redevelopment through the first two decades of the 21st century. The London terminus of the Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
international rail service moved to St Pancras station in November 2007. The station's redevelopment led to the demolition of several buildings, including the Gasworks. Following the opening of the new high speed line to the station, redevelopment of the land between the two major stations and the old Kings Cross railwaylands to the rear has commenced, with outline planning permission granted for the whole site. Detailed planning applications for each part of the site] are being made on a rolling programme basis. The site is now called King's Cross Central
King's Cross Central
King's Cross Central is a multi-billion pound mixed-use property development in central London. The site is owned and controlled by London and Continental Railways and Exel, which selected Argent St George to be the developer for King's Cross Central, after an extensive selection process...
and is one of the largest construction projects in Greater London in the first quarter of the 21st century.
In popular culture
For readers of Harry PotterHarry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
, King's Cross is where the schoolboy hero boards the train for Hogwarts. The railway station has capitalised on tourist interest by putting up a sign for the fictional "Platform " described in the books, and burying a luggage trolley, apparently, half into the wall.
King's Cross and its surrounding streets were also the setting for the 1955 Ealing comedy, The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers
The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy film made by Ealing Studios. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, it stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner and Katie Johnson...
and Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
's High Hopes 1988. Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
's 2006 film Breaking and Entering
Breaking and Entering (film)
Gabriel Yared and Underworld collaborated on the film's original music score.-External links:* at TIFF, by Andrea Miller /CANOE Live...
is also set in King's Cross.
The Irish rock
Irish rock
Rock and roll has been a part of the music of Ireland since the 1960s, when the British Invasion brought British blues, psychedelic rock and other styles to the island...
group The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
were founded in King's Cross.
The British pop music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
duo Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
recorded a song featured on their 1987 album Actually
Actually (album)
In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #22 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".-Track listing:# "One More Chance" – 5:30...
named "King's Cross": the melancholy track discusses the hopelessness of the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
during that time and uses the Kings Cross area as the "backdrop" of the story, trading on the area's associations with drug use and prostitution. Tracey Thorn
Tracey Thorn
Tracey Anne Thorn is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl, which is currently on extended hiatus.-Personal life:...
covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
the song in 2007. Songwriter David Gedge
David Gedge
David Gedge is an English musician and songwriter. He is the main songwriter and vocalist in the bands The Wedding Present and Cinerama...
also wrote a song called King's Cross while recording under the name Cinerama
Cinerama (band)
Cinerama were a UK indie pop band, headed up by David Gedge, the frontman for The Wedding Present.-Career:Originally formed in 1998 while on a break from The Wedding Present, Cinerama started as a duo of Gedge and his then-girlfriend Sally Murrell...
.
King's Cross is the setting for the Christopher Fowler
Christopher Fowler
Christopher Fowler is an English thriller writer. In addition to his numerous horror, satire and crime novels, he has also written a Sherlock Holmes audio drama for BBC 7 entitled The Lady Downstairs...
mystery, Bryant & May on the Loose (November 2009)
Comedian Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
lived there for a while and mentions it in his HBO special.
King's Cross was referred to several times as the drop off and arrival point for characters in the 2010 period drama Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an...
.
Transport
London King's Cross and London St Pancras are the principal National RailNational Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
services in the district. St Pancras is also the Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
terminus for International services to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Euston station
Euston railway station
Euston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
is a half-mile to the west.
In the beginning of 2010 Chinese authorities announced a bold plan to link Chinese high speed national railway directly to London King's Cross international railway station. This would allow passengers to reach London from Beijing in just two days.
The nearest London Underground stations is King's Cross St. Pancras
King's Cross St. Pancras tube station
King's Cross St. Pancras is a tube station in the London Borough of Camden, on the London Underground network, serving both King's Cross and main line stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It is the fourth busiest station on the system and serves more lines than any other...
.
Nearby attractions
- Camden Town HallCamden Town HallCamden Town Hall is the town hall for Camden London Borough Council. It is located along Euston Road, opposite the main front of St Pancras railway station and with Judd Street to its rear. It was built for St Pancras Borough Council on the site of Georgian terrace housing in the 1930s in the...
- The British LibraryBritish LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
- Camley Street Natural ParkCamley Street Natural ParkCamley Street Natural Park is an urban nature reserve in King's Cross in central London and within the London Borough of Camden. It is a Local Nature Reserve.-Description:...
- London Canal MuseumLondon Canal MuseumLondon Canal Museum in the King's Cross area of London, England, is a regional museum that displays information about the history of London's canals.- History :...
- St Pancras Old ChurchSt Pancras Old ChurchSt Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church in central London. It is believed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England, and is dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Pancras, although the building itself is largely Victorian...
External links
- King's Cross Online
- Visit King's Cross - Tourist Attractions website
- The original King's Cross monument (Victorian London)
- Camden Council: recent developments
- Islington Council: King's Cross Team
- King's Cross Development Brief
- Argent (Kings Cross) Ltd. Developers for King's Cross Central
- King's Cross community website
- Website of experimental documentary centred around King's Cross