Euston Arch

Euston Arch (Image Public Domain)

Robert Stephenson planned the terminus for the London to Birmingham Railway to be constructed at Euston, replacing the old terminus at Chalk Farm. 

When the station opened, in July 1837, it had two platforms with each being 420 ft (128 m) long. A double train shed, designed by Charles Fox, that was 200 ft (60 m) long, with 40 ft (12 m) spans. Six trains ran each day from Euston to Watford and Boxmoor. 

On September 17, 1838, the final 112 miles (180 km) to Birmingham were completed. However, steam trains did not have the power to make the steep incline up to Camden Town and so required help. This took the form of the trains out of Euston being attached to a 3 inch, 1430 ft (4370 m) long rope, affixed to two 60 horsepower stationary steam engines. Euston-bound trains had their engines detached at Camden Town, with the carriages continuing the journey under the charge of the brakemen.

In celebration of the completed line Philip Hardwick designed a 72 ft (115 m) tall portico, to stand in front of the station. The arch had four Doric columns, built of Yorkshire Bramley Stone, a very durable and hard-wearing stone. On its completion, in 1838, the columns were higher than any other columns in London.

The arch cost £35,000, with the shareholders being told that, "The entrance to the London passenger station, opening immediately upon what will necessarily become the Grand Avenue for travelling between the Midland and Northern parts of the Kingdom, the directors thought that it should receive some embellishment. They adopted accordingly a design of Mr. Hardwick's for a grand but simple portico, which they considered well adapted to the national character of the undertaking."

 Philip Hardwick also added two hotels, opened in 1839, that stood either side of the arch.

This Britannia sculpture stood over the door to a meeting room in Euston's Great Hall.

On May 27 1849, the station's Great Hall opened, replacing the train sheds. The Great Hall was designed by Philip Hardwick's son, Philip Charles Hardwick. in a classical style. This Great Hall was 125 ft (38 m) long, 61 ft (18.6 m) wide, and 62 ft (18.9 m) high.

In 1881 a new block containing a hotel with 141 bedrooms opened, partly obscuring the arch and screen. The hotel stood until 1963, when British Rail required the space for their operations and to build a new station. Against much public objection and opposition from such people as the MP Woodrow Wyatt, John Betjeman and Nikolaus Pevsner, the hotel, screen and portico were demolished. Because of the size of the portico it took several weeks to demolish, as it had to be taken down by hand. The new station opened in 1968.

So, what happened to the 'Euston Arch'?

The Euston Arch gates at the National Railway Museum, York.

The ornamental bronze gates that once hung within the arch were the only part of the Euston Arch to survive, as they removed at the time of the demolition and are now on display at the National Railway Museum, York.

The stones were removed from the site and dumped. 

As it turns out, in 1962, the materials from the arch were acquired by a British Waterways engineer, who used the stones to fill a chasm in the Prescott Channel, near the River Lea.

For many years after its destruction people had been searching for the remnants of the arch, in the hopes of someday restoring it.

Euston Arch decals.

In 1994, it was discovered that some 60% of the stones were buried in the bed of the Prescott Channel and the River Lea, when Dan Cruickshank, a historian, was contacted by the British Waterways engineer, Bob Cotton, who had originally acquired the stones.

It was also discovered that some of the stones were in the private gardens of some of those who worked on the demolition of the arch.

In 2009, some of the stones were raised from the Prescott Channel, as part of the clearing and repairing of the waterways in preparation for the area to become the Olympic Park.

'The Doric Arch' pub has a stone from the Euston Arch, or the screens from either side of it, behind the bar.