Content deleted Content added
No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
|||
(32 intermediate revisions by 17 users not shown) | |||
Line 5:
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name =
| static_image_name = Repurposed gas holders and canal locks at Kings Cross (geograph 5691899).jpg
| static_image_caption = Repurposed gas holders and canal locks at
| country = England
| map_type = Greater London
Line 15:
| london_borough = Camden
| london_borough2 = Islington
| constituency_westminster = [[Holborn and St. Pancras (UK Parliament constituency)|Holborn and St. Pancras]]
| post_town = LONDON
| postcode_area = N
| postcode_district =
| postcode_area1 = NW
| postcode_district1 = NW1
| postcode_area2 = WC
| postcode_district2 = WC1
| dial_code = 020
| os_grid_reference = TQ304827
Line 24 ⟶ 28:
| website = {{url|www.kingscross.co.uk}}
}}
'''
The area, which was historically the south-eastern part of the parish and borough of [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]], has
==History==
Line 34 ⟶ 38:
===Boudica Legend===
The [[Corruption (linguistics)|corruption]] "Battle Bridge" led to a tradition that this was the site of a major battle in AD 60 or 61 between the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] and the [[Iceni]] tribe led by [[Boudica]] (also known as Boadicea).<ref name="thornbury">{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45097 |title=Highbury, Upper Holloway and King's Cross |work=Old and New London: Volume 2 |author=Walter Thornbury |author-link=George Walter Thornbury |year=1878 |pages=273–279 |access-date=11 November 2010 |publisher=British History Online}}</ref> The tradition claims support from the writing of [[Tacitus|Publius Cornelius Tacitus]], an ancient Roman historian, who described the place of action between the Romans and Boudica (''Annals'' 14.31), but without specifying where it was; Thornbury addresses the pros and cons of the identification. [[Lewis Spence]]'s 1937 book ''Boadicea – warrior queen of the Britons'' includes a map showing the supposed 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]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Museum of London - Learning on Line |url=http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Learning/Learningonline/features/roman/roman_london_7.htm |title=Boudica and King's Cross Station |date=1 March 2009 |access-date=29 September 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301192533/http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Learning/Learningonline/features/roman/roman_london_7.htm |archive-date= 1 March 2009 }}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/crace/c/007000000000014u00048000.html Caesar's Camp at Pancras called the Brill (British Library)]. Bl.uk (30 November 2003). Retrieved on 30 July 2013.</ref> There is still a small area named "Battle Bridge Place" between King's Cross and St Pancras stations, and "Brill Place", a road leading towards Euston from St Pancras
===Development and the name
[[File:
[[File:King's Cross statue of George IV.jpg|thumb|upright|The 19th century monument to George IV, since demolished, that
The [[John Rocque's Map of London, 1746|Roque map of 1746]] shows the area as entirely undeveloped, however the opening of the new [[Euston Road]] (originally ''New Road'') in 1756, opened the area up for development. The current name has its origin in [[King's Cross (building)|a monument]] to [[George IV of the United Kingdom|King George IV]] which stood from 1830 to 1845 at "the king's crossroads" where New Road (later [[Euston Road]]), [[Gray's Inn Road]], and [[Pentonville Road]] met.<ref name="Mills">{{cite book | last = Mills | first = A. D. | title = A dictionary of London place names | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford | year = 2001 | isbn = 0192801066 }}</ref> The monument was {{Convert | 60 | ft | m |spell = in }} high and topped by an {{Convert | 11 | ft | m | spell = in | adj = mid |-high}} statue of the king; it was described by [[George Walter Thornbury|Walter Thornbury]] as "a ridiculous octagonal structure crowned by an absurd statue".<ref name="thornbury"/> The statue itself, which cost no more than £25, was constructed of bricks and mortar, and finished in a manner that gave it the appearance of stone "at least to the eyes of common spectators".<ref name=gmam>{{cite magazine|magazine=The Gentleman's Magazine|title=The Architectural Magazine, conducted by J.C. Loudon F.L.S. &c. Vol. III. Nos. XXIII. to XXX.|pages=627–8|year=1836|volume=6 (new series)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VTVOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA628}} quoting ''The Architectural Magazine''</ref> The architect was [[Stephen Geary]],<ref name=survey>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=65569 |title=Euston Road |author=Walter H. Godfrey and W. McB. Marcham (editors) |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1952 |work=Survey of London: volume 24: The parish of St Pancras part 4: King’s Cross Neighbourhood |access-date=24 May 2012 }}</ref> who exhibited a model of "the Kings Cross" at the Royal Academy in 1830.<ref>{{cite book |author=Algernon Graves |title=The Royal Academy: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors from its Foundations in 1769 to 1904 |volume=4|year= 1905 |publisher= Henry Graves|location=London |page=220}}</ref> The upper storey was used as a [[camera obscura]] while the base housed first a police station, and later a public house. The unpopular building was demolished in 1845, though the area kept the name of
===Railway stations===
Line 51 ⟶ 55:
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 late 1980s, a group of musicians, mechanics, and squatters from Hammersmith called [[Mutoid Waste Company]] moved into Battlebridge Road warehouse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mutatebritain.com/history/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220418093452/http://www.mutatebritain.com/history/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=18 April 2022 |title=History « Mutate Britain |website=Mutatebritain.com |date=4 August 2010 |access-date=29 September 2016}}</ref> They built huge industrial sculptures out of scrap metal and held raves. In 1989 they were evicted by police.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mutoid Must Remain |url=http://meetingbenches.com/bench/2014/02/mutoid-must-remain/ |title=Mutoid Must Remain |publisher=Meeting Benches |date=21 February 2014 |access-date=29 September 2016}}</ref>
In 1992, the Community Creation Trust took over the disused coach repair depot and built it into the largest Ecology Centre in Europe with ecohousing for homeless youngsters, The Last Platform Cafe, London Ecology Centre (after its demise in Covent Garden), offices and workshops, gardens and ponds. It was destroyed to make a car park for the Channel Tunnel Regeneration.
===Regeneration===
{{Further|King's Cross Central}}
[[File:Kings Cross Post Office.jpg|thumb|left |
In the 1990s, the government established the King's Cross Partnership<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.901 |title=Home-King's Cross Partnership: London Development Agency |date=5 June 2009 |access-date=29 September 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605013936/http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.901 |archive-date= 5 June 2009 }}</ref> to fund regeneration projects, and the commencement of work on [[High Speed 1]] in 2000 provided a major impetus for other projects. In 2001, Argent was selected as the development partner. The London terminus of the [[Eurostar]] international rail services to Paris and Brussels moved to St Pancras station in November 2007.
Line 69 ⟶ 73:
{{anchor|Lewis Cubitt Square}}
[[File:King's Cross Central 2019.jpg|thumb|Canalside regeneration at King's Cross has seen many modern buildings erected, together with the preservation of most heritage assets.]]
The area has increasingly become home to cultural establishments. The [[London Canal Museum]] opened in 1992,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canalmuseum.org.uk/history/regents.htm|title=The Regents Canal History|website=Canalmuseum.org.uk|access-date=29 September 2016}}</ref> and in 1997 a new home for the [[British Library]] opened next to St Pancras
In September 2011 the [[University of the Arts London]] moved to the Granary Complex. A whole series of new public squares and gardens have opened, among them Granary Square with its spectacular fountains, Lewis Cubitt Park and Square and the new Gasholder Park.
The station's redevelopment led to the demolition of several buildings, including the Gasworks.<ref>Built in the 1860s and rebuilt in the 1880s, the [[gasholders]] (of unique linked triplet design) were still in use until 1999. Several gasholders (the site was originally a [[gasworks]]) that had dominated the area behind station for over a century
==Location==
[[File:Camden UK ward map highlighting King's Cross.svg|thumb|The
The eastern boundary of the parish and borough of St Pancras has become the boundary of the larger modern borough and is locally formed, in part, by the course of the [[River Fleet]]. The southern boundary of the parish and borough ran along [[Guilford Street]] and in places slightly further south where, on the north side of Long Yard and along Roger Street it followed the course of a now culverted tributary of the Fleet, a tributary which was historically dammed to form [[Lamb's Conduit Street#Lamb's Conduit|Lamb's Conduit]].<ref>The History of the River Fleet, UCL Fleet Restoration Team, 2009</ref>
The London Borough of Camden has an [[
==In popular culture==
[[File:Harry Potter-platform.JPG|thumb|upright|The Platform {{frac|9|3|4}} sign at [[London Kings Cross railway station|King's Cross station]]]]
In the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books, King's Cross station is where the protagonist boards the train for [[Hogwarts]]. However, author JK Rowling later admitted she had confused it with nearby [[Euston railway station|Euston station]].<ref>Mason, M. (2013). ''Walk the Lines: The London Underground, Overground''. London: Arrow Books. p.33 {{ISBN|978-0-099-55793-7}}</ref> The railway station has put up a sign for the fictional "[[Platform 9 3/4|Platform {{frac|9|3|4}}]]" described in the books, and embedded part of a luggage trolley halfway into the wall. Film adaptations have used platforms 4 and 5,
Iin 1972 it was the setting for ''Kings Cross Lunch Hour'', one of four plays set in different parts of London, written by [[John Mortimer]] for the BBC drama series ''[[Thirty-Minute Theatre]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lawson |first1=Mark |title=John Mortimer's Britain through the years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/may/04/john-mortimer-britain-tv-drama |website=The Guardian |access-date=18 March 2024}}</ref>
"Vale Royal", an epic poem in 700 triads by Aidan Andrew Dun probes into this zone of London; "Vale Royal" was launched at the Albert Hall in 1995. A triad of Dun's, excerpted from another poem, "The Brill", has been installed at the western end of Granary Square in a small grove of trees beside the new Central Saint Martins. It reads: "Kings Cross, dense with angels and histories, there are cities beneath your pavements, cities behind your skies. Let me see!"<ref>{{cite web |title=The triad in granary square |url=https://aidanandrewdun.com/the-triad-in-granary-square/ |publisher=Voice of Kings Cross |access-date=1 February 2020 |date=20 July 2019}}</ref>
The [[Irish rock]] group [[
The British [[Popular music|pop music]] duo [[Pet Shop Boys]] recorded a song featured on their 1987 album ''[[Actually (album)|Actually]]'' named "[[King's Cross (song)|
==Rail==
Line 100 ⟶ 106:
King's Cross is a famous railway interchange, and [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross station]] is a focal point in the district.
Commuter services from King's Cross are operated by [[
In fiction, the station is the London terminus of the [[Hogwarts Express]], which carries [[Harry Potter]] to Hogwarts. In the ''Harry Potter'' films, however, the exterior shots of the station are those of neighbouring St Pancras station. Some interior shots were filmed at [[York railway station]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://britmovietours.com/harry-potter/where-was-harry-potter-filmed/|title=Where was Harry Potter filmed?|website=BritMovieTours|date=3 August 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112222134/https://britmovietours.com/harry-potter/where-was-harry-potter-filmed/|archive-date=November 12, 2017}}</ref>
The Goods Yard complex, part of the [[King's Cross Central]] development, was a rail freight terminal. The Yard was designed by [[Lewis Cubitt]] in 1852. The nearby [[Granary Square]] is named after the [[Central Saint Martins|Granary building
=== St Pancras International ===
Line 143 ⟶ 149:
With three railway stations in the immediate area, and two tube stations, much of the area is used as a transport interchange.
[[London Buses]] [[London Buses route 17|17]], [[London Buses route 30|30]], [[London Buses route 46|46]], [[London Buses route 63|63]], [[London Buses route 73|73]], [[London Buses route 91|91]], [[London Buses route 205|205]], [[London Buses route 214|214]], [[London Buses route 259|259]], [[London Buses route 390|390]]
[[National Express Coaches|National Express]] coach A8 connects the district to [[
=== Cycling ===
[[File:Regent's Canal, Camden Town - geograph.org.uk - 864035.jpg|left|thumb|265x265px|The [[Regent's Canal]] between King's Cross and [[Camden Town]]
Several cycle routes pass through King's Cross. [[Cycling infrastructure]] is maintained by the [[London Borough of Camden]] and [[Transport for London]] (TfL).
[[List of cycle routes in London|Cycleway]] 6 runs north–south along Midland Road (between St Pancras station and the British Library) and Judd Street. Northbound, Cycleway 6 passes east of Camden Town ''en route'' to Kentish Town. Southbound, the route links King's Cross to Farringdon, the City, and Elephant & Castle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tfl.gov.uk/maps/cycle|title=Cycle - Transport for London|access-date=February 24, 2020}}</ref>
The [[Regent's Canal]] [[Towpath]] runs westbound from King's Cross to [[Camden Lock
Cycling infrastructure is also provided along Mabledon Place (towards [[Bloomsbury]]), York Way (towards [[Barnsbury]] and [[Kentish Town]]), Pentonville Road (towards [[Farringdon, London|Farringdon]]), Goods Way (between St Pancras International and York Way), and Argyle Street (between Gray's Inn Road and Euston Road).
Line 173 ⟶ 179:
===Camden Highline===
{{main|Camden Highline}}
A new park utilising the former railway alignment between Camden Town and Kings Cross was given planning
==Nearby attractions==
|