Euston Road
Euston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It originally formed the central section of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, opened in 1756. The New Road was London's first bypass, through the fields to the north of London, but it is now generally regarded as being in central London.
The road runs from west to east from Marylebone Road to Pentonville Road. It meets the northern end of Tottenham Court Road at a large junction where there is an underpass.
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History [edit]
The New Road was enabled by an act of Parliament passed in 1756. Construction began in May of the same year, and it was open to traffic by September.[1] It was intended to provide a route for sheep and cattle to be driven to Smithfield Market and for this reason the road terminated at Islington where it joined the existing St John's Street.
It also provided a quicker route for army units to reach the Essex. coast when there was a threat of invasion, without passing through the Cities of London and Westminster.[1] Building of the New Road was opposed by the Duke of Bedford as it cut off his estate in what is now Bloomsbury from the countryside.
A clause in the act of 1756 stipulated that no buildings should be constructed within 50 feet (15 m) of the road, with the result that most of the houses along it lay behind substantial gardens. As the nineteenth century wore on, this regulation was increasingly ignored.[1] In 1837 Euston Station opened on the north side. The Fitzroy family had become the main property owner in the area and in 1852 the central section of the New Road, between Osnaburgh Street and Kings Cross, was renamed Euston Road after Euston Hall, their country house.[citation needed] The eastern section of the New Road became Pentonville Road and the western section Marylebone Road.[1]
The entire length of the New Road was dug up to allow for the construction beneath it of the Metropolitan Railway.[2]
The area around the junction with Tottenham Court Road suffered significant bomb damage during the Second World War. Under the Greater London Plan of Patrick Abercrombie, Euston Road was widened. In 1960-1 a major set of transport modifications resulted in the destruction of the entrance to Euston Station and the construction of the underpass at the junction with Tottenham Court Road. During the 1960s, office developments grew up around this junction; including the Euston Tower skyscraper that now forms part of Regent's Place, attracting a number of significant tenants, most notably the former ITV broadcaster Thames Television, which had its corporate headquarters and a number of studios there from 1970 to 1993, and Capital Radio.
The road is on the edge of the London congestion charge zone, which means that road users are not charged for using the road itself, but are charged if they turn south into the zone. The road also approximately marks the northern boundary of Travelcard Zone 1 of Transport for London.
Euston Road appears on the London edition of the board game Monopoly.
Notable architecture [edit]
King's Cross and St Pancras railway stations are at the eastern end of the road, the British Library is nearby, and Euston railway station is a little further to the west. Euston Tower is also on the road. Both the old and new headquarters of the Wellcome Trust are on the south side of the road.
About halfway along, at the junction with Upper Woburn Place, is St Pancras New Church. Almost opposite is the Euston Road fire station, built 1901–2, in an "Arts and Crafts" style. It was designed by Percy Nobbs (1875–1964). At 100–110 is the Shaw Theatre. It was built in honour of George Bernard Shaw in 1971, and completely rebuilt in 1998. The new University College Hospital building is also on the south of the road.
Future proposals [edit]
In 2002 the Greater London Authority commissioned a plan for the improvement of Euston Road from the prominent architectural firm Terry Farrell and Partners. The study is ongoing, with some minor changes to the streetscape already applied. The work was supplemented in 2007 with a parallel investigation by the postgraduate Architecture Design Studio 15 at the University of Westminster.
Major redevelopment works are ongoing at the east end of the road linking King's Cross and St Pancras railway stations with a new passenger concourse and access to Continental Europe via High Speed 1.
West to East [edit]
| South | North | |
|---|---|---|
| ← towards the centre | ↑ | away from the centre → |
| West: Marylebone Road | ||
| Great Portland Street | Albany Road | |
|
||
| Tottenham Court Road | Hampstead Road | |
| Gower Street | ||
| Upper Woburn Place | Eversholt Street | |
|
||
| Gray's Inn Road | York Way | |
| East: Pentonville Road | ||
| ← towards the centre | ↓ | away from the centre → |
| South | North | |
Tube stations on Euston Road [edit]
Ordered from West to East:
- Regent's Park tube station
- Great Portland Street tube station
- Warren Street tube station
- Euston Square tube station
- Euston station
- King's Cross St. Pancras tube station
References [edit]
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Euston Road |
