A St Pancras Walk

Route & what to see

london-footprints.co.uk

A 4 mile circular walk from St Pancras Station. There is the opportunity to explore the station at the beginning or end of the walk and the option of visiting the British Library and Camley Street Nature Park.

Exit the station at the SE corner of the new extension into Pancras Road.
Opposite is the German Gymnasium, designed by Edward Gruning and constructed in 1864-65 for the German Gymnastics Society, a sporting association established in London in 1861. It is due to become a bar and restaurant.

Left along Pancras Road
The Stanley Buildings were erected by the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company in 1864-5 to provide acommodation for 104 families. Only one of the original five blocks remains and will be used as offices with a cafe on the ground floor. The site of the gasworks just beyond this is being redeveloped.

Cross Goods Way and continue along Camley Street
Further along on the right is the entrance to the canalside nature park run by London Wildlife Trust. [
website]

Continue under the railway then cross into St Pancras Gardens.
This is the former church burial ground, enlarged in 1800. A separate area for St Giles was added in 1803. To the right is the coroners court of 1886 and Hospital for Tropical Diseases. The latter was formerly the St Pancras Workhouse of 1890-3 [
pix]. To the left is a tomb designed by Sir John Soane for his wife. An area of the graveyard was cleared for the construction of the Midland Railway in the 1860s/1870s. A number a headstones were grouped around an ash tree known as 'Hardy's Tree' (the author Thomas Hardy worked on the project whilst engaged as an architect). Ahead is a fountain and the Burdett-Coutts memorial sundial (1877) for those whose graves were displaced by the railway. The burial grounds became a public park at this time. St Pancras is one of the earliest churches in London. It was rebuilt in the 12th century, remodelled by Roumieu & Gough in 1848 and restored by A Blomfield in 1888.

Cross Pancras Road into Goldington Crescent, go left into Goldington Street then right at Medburn Street.
This area was developed by the Brewers Company in the mid 19th century.

At the end go right along Charrington Street then right at Chalton Street
There is a St Pancras Housing Association building on the site of the Unity Theatre (plaque).

Left at Goldington Crescent
Opposite is Goldington Buildings of 1902-3.

Cross Crowndale Road and go along College Street.
The Royal Veterinary College is on the right; Pathology Department 1924, College Block 1936 & Animal Hospital 1932. Further along is a Royal Mail Depot and on the corner the Golden Lion pub.

Left at Pratt Street then right at Camden Street
The former All Saints, designed in 1822-4 by Inwood, has been a Greek Orthodox Cathedral since 1948.

Right at Georgiana Street then left along Lyme Street
There is a former piano factory (1852-5) on the left between houses of c1849. Opposite is a canalside wharf

Left at Camden Road then left along Camden Street. Enter St Martin's Gardens on the right
This is the former burial ground of St Martin's-in-the-Fields Church, opened in 1805 and acquired by the vestry of St Pancras in 1884. They became gardens in 1889 and have recently been improved.

Walk through diagonally
The rear of St Martin's Almshouses and its chapel can be seen on the right.

Exit into Pratt Street and go right then right at Bayham Street
The almshouses were built in 1818 and extended in 1881.

Left at Greenland Street.
The Camden United Theatre occupies a building built as a hall for St Michael's Church

Cross Camden High Street and continue along Underhill Passage and Underhill Street. Left at Arlington Road
On the left is a former tramways electrical substation of 1908.

Right at Delancey Street then left along Albert Street.
Most houses were built 1844-8. A distinctive house at the end has a blue plaque to George MacDonald, storyteller.

At the end left into Mornington Place then right at Mornington Crescent
Houses were constructed 1821-32. Opposite are premises built in 1926 for Carreas Cigarette Company on the site of gardens.

Left at Hampstead Road
This gives a view of the frontage of this Art Deco building, restored in 1998. Mornington Crescent Station was designed by Leslie Green in 1907.

Cross via the island with the statue of Cobden
The Royal Camden Theatre (now KOKO) was designed by WGR Sprague in 1900-1.

Detour into Eversholt Street
The Crowndale Centre is a former post office building (converted 1987-9) which now houses a health centre and library.

Return to the junction and go along Crowndale Road
The Hope & Anchor is an attractive pub. Further along on the right the wall is a remnant of St Matthew's Church. Opposite is the Working Men's College, founded in Great Ormond Street in 1854. The present building was erected in 1904-6 and extended in the 1930s.

Go right into Oakley Square and walk through the gardens.
This was part of Bedford New Town, developed from 1834. On the right is the former vicarage of St Matthews (1861).

Cross Eversholt Street into Lidlington Place. Continue through Harrington Square then left along Hampstead Road.
On the left is the closed National Temperence Hospital. The main part was built in 1873, the west wing in 1885 and the outpatients department in 1903. The Insull Memorial Wing was opened in 1932.

Beyond this take the signposted path into St James's Gardens
This burial ground for St James's Piccadilly was opened in 1791. A church, designed by Hardwick, was demolished and it became a garden in 1887. There is an interesting memorial to the Christie family.

Walk through the gardens into Cardington Street and go right.
There is a disused tube station on the right.

Go left along the frontage of Euston Station
This was built in 1833-7 as the terminus of the London & Birmingham Railway by Robert Stephenson, who has a statue on the forecourt. Buildings by Philip Hardwick, including the Euston Arch were demolished in 1960.

Left at Eversholt Street then right into Doric Way.
These properties were built by the St Pancras Home Improvement Association in the 1930s on a site acquired in 1926.

At the end go through Churchway opposite into Chalton Street and go right.
The Somers Town Coffee House was built in 1927-37 as part of the Ossulston Estate for the LCC. The premises of the RMT are on the right. At the end of the road the Rising Sun pub has been renamed 'The Rocket'.

Left along Euston Road.
The British Library was built in 1978-97 on the site of Somers Town Goods Station and designed by Sir Colin St John Wilson. Most parts are open to the public and there is a model of the building inside. The former Midland Grand Hotel was designed by Gilbert Scott in the 1860s. It was Grade I listed in 1967 and cleaned in 1991-5. It has been refitted as a hotel with some loft apartments. Barlow's train shed has been refurbished in conjunction with the construction of St Pancras International for Eurostar. Basement areas, formerly used for the storage of beer, have been incorporated into the design. [
website]


Resources

Buildings of England - London 4: North by Cherry & Pevsner

 

london-footprints.co.uk 2012

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