St Pancras Station

An iconic London landmark of Gothic dream palace and futuristic train shed - built in the 1860s for the new Midland Railway line into London, St. Pancras is soon to be reincarnated as the main international gateway from London to the Continent. In 1866, the ancient churchyard of St. Pancras was excavated for the new Midlands Railway line into London. Both the train shed and the Midland Grand hotel, the constituent parts of the new station, are outstanding structures: the train shed for its structural daring and drama, the hotel for its heroic attempt to adapt Gothic architecture for the requirements of modernity. In 2002, more of the churchyard was excavated as part of the station's transformation for the Channel Tunnel terminus. The work, to be finished in 2007, will reinvent St. Pancras as the main hub for rail travellers between the UK and Europe. In the years between, the station has flourished, but has also come close to being demolished. Simon Bradley examines this fascinating story of changes in taste and of our understanding of the past.It is a reminder of the revolutionary effects of the railway and of how the innovations of the Industrial Revolution have weathered subsequent technological change. St. Pancras demands to be understood for the continuing thrall in which great urban monuments can hold us.