One of the most tragic things about 20th Century architecture in London is that there were a whole host of beautiful old buildings that were demolished, not by WW2 bombs, but by 60s planners. St. Pancras was fortunately saved from this fate thanks to the likes of John Betjeman. Euston Station, just down the road, wasn’t so fortunate.

In 1961 the grand Great Hall of Euston Station was swept away, along with the famous Euston Arch, to make way for the modern terminus that still stands today. This is what was lost:

According to the Euston Arch trust, “the station was the first mainline terminus station opened in a capital city anywhere in the world. It was opened on July 20, 1837, as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway constructed by Robert Stephenson and architect, Philip Hardwick . The station first had only two platforms, one for departures and one for arrivals.

It was also Hardwick who designed the Euston Arch, a 70 feet 6 inches high Doric propylaeum, the largest ever built and which formed the entrance to the station. The grit stone structure complemented the Ionic entrance to the Curzon Street Station in Birmingham (which still exists) which was the other end of the  railway’s mainline.”

 

   In the above photo, Euston Road runs along the very bottom and Euston Square can clearly be distinguished on the North side. The arch and station frontage can be seen towards the centre of the image, much further back than today’s concourse from Euston Road; in fact, the entrance was on Drummond Street which was cut off with the building of the modern station (left). 

 

The demolition of the arch and buildings were actually considered much earlier than the 60s. “In the late 1930s the London Midland and Scottish Railway company proposed a compete rebuilding of the complex according to an American-inspired design by Percy Thomas. Returning from a tour of modern stations in the United States, he proposed a large stripped-Classical block with wings which incorporated the station, a hotel and offices. There were considerations to move the arch to another site. Ultimately the plans for re-construction were never realised, the Second World War commencing shortly afterwards.

More recently, plans have been floated to try and rebuild the Euston Arch with the construction of a new concourse in preparation for the future High Speed 2 line. Whilst this is excellent news, as the CGI below shows, more work needs to go into the proposed buildings to even come close to recreating the awe and intrigue of the lost Great Hall.

Click here to see the few objects that remain from the old Euston Station.

The United Kingdom has some of the most historical and awe-inspiring Crown Jewels in the world. Treasures that would never, ever, come together in today’s politically fair and correct culture, but fortunately they have done over centuries past, and thus remain for us to cast the greatest dignity and majesty upon our heads of state. Despite the fact the post is hereditary, I believe they do a fantastic job and the fact that they are not elected is perhaps a huge benefit. Taking the messy politics away from the Head of State role allows the country’s representative to keep decorum through political embarrassments that rest with the Prime Minister, and it also grants a careful and considered role to ceremony, charity and cultural work.
Did you know that the Monarchy is one of the UK’s biggest promoters of British business abroad? Many of the junior princes in particular travel often to business conferences around the world, and the price ‘mark’ actually gives tremendous weight to their arguments.

Anyway back to the topic of this blog post… The earliest surviving Crown Jewels date back to the 11th Century, with various elements having been added throughout the centuries, in particular the coronation crown (St. Edward's Crown) and many of the sceptres were added in the 17th Century after the restoration of the Monarchy following melt down of the previous jewels by Oliver Cromwell. (Don’t get me started on him!). In the 19th Century the jewels were added to with elements more suited to the modern age, for example Queen Victoria ordered a lighter crown be made for her coronation due to St. Edward's Crown weighing at over 2kg! This is the crown that has been worn in coronation processions since, however St. Edward's Crown is still used for the seated coronation itself.
Did you know that on the day of a coronation the new Monarch is allowed to wear the crown for several hours during the morning to get used to the weight. It has been said that one palace waiter walked in to see the new Queen Elizabeth II in her dressing gown, having breakfast with the crown on, on her coronation day in 1953.

Also did you know that the Crown Jewels were stolen from Westminster Abbey in 1303 (most items were  recovered but not everything!), and there was another attempt in 1671 when the Irishman Thomas Blood carried out a successful raid of the Jewel House at the Tower of London. Having knocked the jewel keeper on the head with a mallet, he squashed the arches of Charles II’s state crown so as to hide it under his cloak whilst his son started to saw the Sceptre in half! Their friend Robert Perot stuck the Orb down his breeches. Just as they were about to escape, the keeper’s son returned unexpectedly and raised the alarm. Blood was arrested, but no-one’s sure quite why, but ‘the merry monarch’, Charles II, pardoned Blood and in fact gave him a pension! After Blood’s escapade, security was tightened, iron bars replaced the wooden ones around the Regalia, and, from then on, visitors were not allowed to touch the Crown Jewels.

An amazing history, but even that can’t describe their inherent beauty. I am yet to see them for myself; the Tower is next on my list of places to visit in London, having already done many others. I’ve included some images to give a taste.

There are many other interesting facts surrounding the Monarchy which I’ll bring up over time. The diamonds in the crowns themselves are a whole topic. The coronation church and chair in particular.

Webpages of Interest:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/stories/crownjewels.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Jewels_of_the_United_Kingdom

Right along-side the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Bridge sits the unusual yet inconspicuous building of Portcullis House. Few people realise what goes on inside or what it’s there for. It is virtually an extension to the Houses of Parliament linked by underground tunnels, and to neighbouring buildings by elevated foot bridges. (Portcullis House is the black building on the left in the image below).

The building has many offices for MPs of all parties on the upper floors, with committee rooms on the first floor which you will have probably seen on TV without realising. These are used for select committee meetings and similar – most recently seen in the background of the infamous apology from 4 bankers as a result of the Credit Crunch. On the ground level there is a very impressive atrium complete with real trees and water features and surrounded by cafés, restaurants and the Parliamentary bookshop. Beneath this there is a very thick slab of concrete to protect the building from the potential of tube bombs from the Circle and District lines of the new Westminster Station which sits directly below. Far below that lies the new Jubilee Line station. Thus if this building started at ground level it would actually come to the height of Big Ben’s clock face!

Did you know that this building was specifically designed to last more than 200 years, using dear materials such as aluminium bronze in the roof and walls, thus making this one of the most expensive office buildings in the world! It works out at about £1million per MP.

If you have a keen eye, next time you’re at Westminster tube station look for the direct tunnel link to the Houses of Parliament. The entrance is located inside the ticket barriers on the Circle Line level.

Just stumbled across this totally awesome video. You should enjoy it if you haven't seen it already.

Today, as part of my architecture course, I visited Leadenhall Market in the City of London. I had come here before but it was obviously chosen as a place to visit on my course for its almost unique Victorian character. It truly is a wonderful place to stand in, especially during the working week where the City bankers still get their shoes 'shined' by hand under the market's cover.

The layout of the current market has actually been here since the 14th Century - very impressive - but did you know that it also stands directly on top of the original Roman Forum? Thus trading here has been going on for 2 millennia and so I can see no place more fitting than for this area to host the modern trading floors of 21st Century markets. The market recently posed as the backdrop to the Diagon Alley area for the first of the Harry Potter films.

It's a beautiful day and I'm currently having a wonderful walk around the Broadgate Centre, adjacent to Liverpool Street station in central London. The current development is a 1980’s construction of mainly Post-Modern style office blocks arranged around a pedestrian circus. For its era I think that it is actually quite successful, a pleasure to walk around today and its lack of focus on the car is very refreshing indeed.

The site does have an interesting past however. Did you know that it was once the site of a big train terminus named Broad Street?

Opened in 1865 it had swiftly become the 3rd busiest station in London and served as the terminus for the North London Railway, now the London Overground. According to Wikipedia, “at the start of the 20th century, more than one train a minute arrived or left the

station during the morning rush hour, with over 27 million passengers in 1902.” Over the 20th Century though, the station suffered a gradual decline with more passengers converting to the new tube lines and bus routes, and thus by the 1980’s it was decided the few remaining services be transferred to Liverpool Street and the station closed.

Sadly no parts of the station survive today but there are a few images: