These monuments are some of Britain’s greatest architectural landmarks, having stood in certain cases for almost two centuries. However most commuters would not stop to admire their magnificence.
A stunning collection of photos taken over several years during lockdowns in London has shown what London commuters miss if they don’t look up.
From William Barlow’s magnificent roof over St Pancras built in the 1860s to the £550million modernist King’s Cross redesign finished in 2012, ‘London’s Great Railway Stations’ covers a wide breadth of different styles.
London Bridge, which was opened as the capital’s first passenger terminal in December 1836. This occurred six months before Queen Victoria took the throne.
In 1899, Victoria opened the Great Central line to London. It was closed two years later. Crossrail is the latest development.
Blackfriars is home to Cannon Street and Charing Cross. Euston, Fenchurch Street, King’s Cross. Liverpool Street. London Bridge. Marylebone. Paddington. St Pancras. Victoria. Waterloo.
Benjamin Graham was a residential course tutor in photography, club-circuit lecturer and international photographer-tour leader. Oliver Green wrote the book on public transport history.
Sir Peter Hendy (chair Network Rail), who wrote the forward:Benjamin’s recently commissioned photos will bring back the wonder of many of these stations and remind us how important we need to treasure them.
He said, “The architecture of great railway eras has, for the most part, aged extraordinarily well. And the country, especially London, is all that richer because of our great stations.”
- Frances Lincoln (an imprint of The Quarto Group) publishes London’s Great Railway Stations. The book was released on December 7 and is available for £35 in hardback
PADDINGTON — London Paddington, West London’s glorious interior, featuring the newly launched bi-mode Intercity Express Trains from Hitachi. The triple-span, iron-and glass roof of Isambard Kingdom Brunel built at the station’s opening in 1854 is one of the finest architectural structures anywhere in the world.
ST. PATRAS — Eurostar trains are preparing to depart under William Henry Barlow’s roof at St Pancras, the tallest single-span structure in the world. It has been in place since the station opened in 1868. Cast-iron trainshades were 700ft in length and 100ft high at the top of the track. They are connected to brick piers on the sides.
WATERLOO — Former Waterloo International Terminal for Eurostar Trains, opened in 1994 and closed when High Speed 1 was opened to St Pancras in 2007. For 12 years, it remained unoccupied until platforms were reopened for domestic train in 2019, after which they could be converted again for domestic use. According to the book, it was an exemplary design that resulted in a staggering waste of money and poor planning.
VICTORIA — Train lines depart from London Victoria. They travel up to Grosvenor Bridge, then over to the River Thames. After passing the Battersea Power Station shell, they reach the end of the line. The main line is visible on the right, while the train sheds can be seen to the left. The station was built in 1860 as two separate stations next to each other, later combined into one
LIVERPOOL ST — The main concourse of London Liverpool Street station was almost empty. It was opened up, partially reconstructed and expanded in the 1980s. Decorative features like the Great Eastern Railway Company war monument (top left, above the Underground sign), were repositioned. This station is in London’s City of London and was opened in 1874.
LONDON Bridge — Wet night at London Bridge station. It is located on the spot of London’s original passenger rail terminus. This was opened December 14th 1836. Network Rail completely redeveloped the station between 2009-2017, rebuilding all 15 platforms as well as adding two new major street-level entrances.
CHARING Cross — A large portion of postmodern Charing Cross seen from the west looking over Waterloo Bridge. On the right is the rear end of the station. Charing Cross, which is located in the West End, London’s only major-line station, was opened by the South Eastern Railway, who wanted to be a competitor with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway.
ST PANCRAS This is the original entrance for St Pancras vehicles at ground level. It was fully restored in 2012 and now has been pedestrianized. Cast-iron girders supported the stations floor deck. The vaults on the ground floor below the platforms are made with cast iron pillars. The dimensions of Burton-upon-Trent brewery warehouses were used to divide them into grids.
KING’S Cross — King’s Cross Station, first opened 1852. Network Rail completed a 2012 project to redevelop the station. It restored the arched roof at the top and removed the extension from the front in 1970s. This meant the area between the station façade and Euston Road could be cleared to create an open air plaza named King’s Cross Square
PADDINGTON — This is one of Matthew Digby Wyatt’s Moorish window designs, which were created in 1854 by Matthew Digby Wyatt for the Great Western Railway offices. The design overlooks Paddington station platform one. In January 1863, GWR opened the first underground urban railway between Paddington Station and Farringdon Street. This gave GWR an onward connection to the City.
WATERLOO — Beautifully decorated window above the Waterloo station’s former cab entry. It can now be seen close-up from the balcony surrounding the concourse which opened in 2012. Waterloo, which is used daily by over 80 million people in Britain’s capital, and links the South West with large parts of London, has become the busiest British railway station.
LONDON BRIDGE — A wider pedestrian route at London Bridge station was created below the platforms through the Western Arcade to Joiner Street and the Underground station during the major £1billion redevelopment between 2009 and 2017. The change required the relocation of existing shops to renovated barrel vaults that were set back from each side of the arcade.
LIVERPOOL Street The western side of Liverpool Street station was rebuilt and restored in 1980s. Four new Victorian-inspired brick towers were built in pairs as part of six year redevelopment. They were inspired from the Great Eastern Hotel’s design and were placed at the stations entrances of Liverpool Street, Bishopsgate, and Liverpool Street.
VICTORIA — John Fowler of Metropolitan Railway designed the listed roof at London Victoria’s former London Chatham, Chatham and Dover Railway station. This section of the station was previously run independently from South Coast Railway London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. To the dismay of travelers, there was no connection.
KING’S Cross — This new departures concourse building, which is located west of King’s Cross Station, was opened in 2012 with its impressive roof support structure. Because three Underground and six surface lines intersect in this area, it is also known for being London’s most complicated transport hub.
London’s Great Railway Stations was created by Benjamin Graham and Oliver Green. This is Paddington Station’s cover image.