Kings Cross, London

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See also Kings Cross for disambiguation

Kings Cross is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Camden 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Charing Cross. However, the neighbouring London Borough of Islington also has some claim on the name—Islington, south of Barnsbury and the Regent's Canal and west of Calshot Street is generally regarded as part of Kings Cross.

History

The area was previously a village known as Battle Bridge, which referred to a bridge also known as Broad Ford Bridge, which was an ancient crossing of the River Fleet. The bridge was said to be the site of a major battle between the Romans and the Iceni tribe led by Boadicea who is buried, legend has it, under platform 9 at King's Cross station.

In 1835 a monument was built to King George IV at the junction of Gray's Inn Road, Pentonville Road, and New Road, which later became Euston Road. The monument wasn't very popular and was taken down 10 years later, though the area has kept the name of Kings Cross. King's Cross railway station now stands at the junction where the cross stood. The station opened in 1852 and designed by architect Lewis Cubitt, succeeded a short-lived earlier station, erected north of the canal in time for the Great Exhibition.

Together with St Pancras station, owned by the Midland Railway, adjacent to the west, the two stations, together with their associated facilities, for handling general goods and specialist traffics such as fish, coal, potatoes and grain were an important contribution to London's economy, the passenger stations on Euston Road far outwieghing in public attention the economically more important goods traffics to the north.

After World War II the area declined from being a poor but busy industrial and distribution services district to a partially abandoned post-industrial district. By the 1990s it was notorious for prostitution and drug abuse. This reputation impeded attempts to revive the area, utilising the large amount of land available following the decline of the railway good yard to the north of the station and the many other vacant premises in the area. Relatively cheap rents and a central London location made the area attractive to artists and designers and both Anthony Gormley and Thomas Heatherwick established studios in the area. In the 1990s the government established the King's Cross Partnership [link] to fund regeneration projects, and the commencement of work on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in 2000 provided a major impetus for other projects. Within a few years much of the socially undesirable behaviour had been eradicated or at least moved on, and new projects such as offices and hotels had begun to open. The area has increasingly become home to cultural establishments. The London Canal Museum opened in 1992. There is a small theatre, the Courtyard. The Gagosian Gallery moved their main London premises to the area in 2004. There are plans for the London Sinfonietta orchestra to move into King's Place. beside the canal, in a new building which will also be home to The Guardian newspaper.

The area is expected to remain a major focus of redevelopment through the first two decades of the 21st century. Eurostar trains are due to enter neighbouring St Pancras station in 2007 and the construction project has led to the demolishing of several buildings, including the Gasworks. (Built in the 1860s and rebuilt in the 1880s was still in use until 1999). Several gasholders that had dominated the area behind station for over a century have been taken down during the building works and placed in storage. Once the new line is up and running a development project on the land between the two major stations and the old Kings Cross goods yard is expected to commmence. This will be called King's Cross Central, and is planned as one of the largest construction projects in Greater London in the first quarter of the 21st century.

Model showing the current redevelopment of the Kings Cross area with the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link terminal behind the barrel vaulted St Pancras station on the left.

In Popular Culture

For readers of Harry Potter, platform 9 3/4 is where Potter boards the train for Hogwarts. King's Cross and its surrounding streets was also the setting for the Ealing comedy, The Ladykillers. The British pop music duo The Pet Shop Boys have a song featured on their 1987 album Actually named King's Cross: the melancholy track discusses the hoplessness of the AIDS epidemic during that time and uses the King's Cross area as the "backdrop" of the story.

Nearby places:

Nearby underground stations:

External links

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