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Kings Cross Silhouettes by Ian Scott Massie
Original Watercolour
28" x 36" Mounted size - 22" x 30" Image size
Available: framed @ £1995, unframed @ £1895
To shop, please click here
28" x 36" Mounted size - 22" x 30" Image size
Available: framed @ £1995, unframed @ £1895
To shop, please click here
KINGS CROSS: BEGINNINGS
Our journey begins at Kings Cross - a place with deep roots. The station was built in 1851 on the bank of a vanished river. About 12,000 years ago a glacier melted leaving behind a shallow valley. The valley became the bed of the The River Fleet, now channelled underground, but its course is reflected in the buildings around Kings Cross.
Running down from Hampstead, the Fleet passed St Pancras Old Church, named for a 14 year-old boy who converted to Christianity in the 4th century, and was beheaded in Rome for refusing to renounce his faith. His bones were brought to Britain by Augustine of Canterbury in the 6th century and a handful of churches, including this one were named in his honour.
The Fleet passed the site of the splendid German Gymnasium, which stands between St Pancras and Kings Cross stations, dictating the odd angle at which it was built. The river next curved past the site of the Great Northern Hotel and the hotel was built on this curve. Much later the internal curve of the hotel formed the curve of the vaulted roof of the modern concourse, built in 2012. So the river’s course continues to influence the station’s design.
Where a traveller now crosses the road from Kings Cross station to neighbouring St Pancras is Battle Bridge Place. This was the site of a village, a ford and later a bridge. There is a legend which tells that Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, destroyer of Colchester and London, was defeated here in AD 60 by the Roman army. Her grave has long been rumoured to be beneath Platforms 9 and 10 from where the Hogwart’s Express departs in J K Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.
Running down from Hampstead, the Fleet passed St Pancras Old Church, named for a 14 year-old boy who converted to Christianity in the 4th century, and was beheaded in Rome for refusing to renounce his faith. His bones were brought to Britain by Augustine of Canterbury in the 6th century and a handful of churches, including this one were named in his honour.
The Fleet passed the site of the splendid German Gymnasium, which stands between St Pancras and Kings Cross stations, dictating the odd angle at which it was built. The river next curved past the site of the Great Northern Hotel and the hotel was built on this curve. Much later the internal curve of the hotel formed the curve of the vaulted roof of the modern concourse, built in 2012. So the river’s course continues to influence the station’s design.
Where a traveller now crosses the road from Kings Cross station to neighbouring St Pancras is Battle Bridge Place. This was the site of a village, a ford and later a bridge. There is a legend which tells that Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, destroyer of Colchester and London, was defeated here in AD 60 by the Roman army. Her grave has long been rumoured to be beneath Platforms 9 and 10 from where the Hogwart’s Express departs in J K Rowling’s Harry Potter novels.
How it would look on your wall
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