The Midland Grand Hotel, St Pancras Railway Station (Now St Pancras International), The British Library, The British Museum
and a Historical Walk in London

At "www.England-Central.co.uk" we continue to encourage you to walk in London and find the detail of how the city has developed. This is an interesting walk in the northern part of the city but still within the inner tourist and visitor section. You are unlikely to have any trouble and can feel safe to walk. Hotels are smaller but pleasing to visit. You can if you wish, start at the bottom of this article and work your way north to finish at St. Pancras Station .

THE WALK :
The Northern part of the city of London has a string of Victorian rail termini, King's Cross, St. Pancras, Paddington and the rebuilt Euston Stations. On arrival at St. Pancras, the people spill out of the trains, and if they choose to look up find a vast steel span and a grand Victorian edifice. A huge steel span between Neo-Gothic arches of red and cream brick and stone defines this Victorian style, now blended with the modern (2007) refurbishment.

Late in 1865 a competition was held to design the station hotel with around 150 beds. Of eleven architects, Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) submitted a grand plan considerably larger than the original specification, with more than 300 bedrooms.

Financial problems caused delays in building the hotel and the eastern wing of the building was not opened until 5 May 1873, with the rest opening in Spring 1876. The hotel fabric had cost £304,335, decoration and fittings £49,000 furnishings £84,000 - a total of £437,335. Gillow (later Waring and Gillow) were closely involved in providing furniture and furnishings. The completed building had used 60 million bricks and 9,000 tons of ironwork. The polished columns of fourteen different British granites and limestone’s are frequently mistaken for marble.

In its heyday, the Midland Grand Hotel was one of the most opulent in London. with over 300 bedrooms. However the hotel closed in 1935; its facilities were outdated and it was too expensive to run and refurbish. It was then used as railway offices and renamed St Pancras Chambers. In the 1960s the building was saved from demolition and given Grade 1 listed status in recognition of its importance as a great example of high Victorian Gothic architecture. In the 1980s the building failed its fire certificate, it was closed down and has remained empty.

In the 1990s the exterior of the building was restored to its original condition, and made structurally sound and weatherproof. The work was finished in March 1995 and cost around £10 million.

Whilst the interior of the building was in a poor state of repair, much of the original decoration, including stencilling, mosaics and ornamental ceiling, survive behind more recent decoration and alterations. This is all now much improved with the 2007 refurbishment.

The British Library defies the Victorian structure across the road. Red and black and steel overhangs, peering at its Victorian Gothic predecessor - transport clothed by the old idiom sits next to the new idiom encasing the old treasures.
Walk through the British Library grills and enter the modern "castle". The brick and stone and forecourt provides shelter from the traffic. The library itself has a brash modern exterior which climbs up to the slate roof. Inside, the marble and brick tiles at the open entrance lead beyond to 1000 years of British and world history in print and calligraphy and map.
On a practical level, it is a good place for a cultured bite - eat and see the history before your eyes - the cafe is hidden beyond the great tower of books.
COMMENT:
It is a place to meet, a place to be, but does it really take the mind to the book : does it really promote scholarship and study and an entering of the world of the past.
A place with too much empty space , it perhaps feels more like entering the foyer of a railway station, or perhaps it is the architects joke on us.........visit it and see.

Turning right at the bottom of "Bedford Place" skirt "Bloomsbury Square" and enter "Great Russell Street". The most notable building to the right after a few metres is THE BRITISH MUSEUM, with its Neo-Classical spendour. Pass through the ornate cast iron railings and not the detail and the pairs of columns which face the museum.
Of great interest now is the new piazza (The Great Court) and refurbishment of the Library used by many famous figures including Marx and Lenin.
Within the Library a new collection of books is being build up supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. These new modifications were opened in Dec 2000 for the new millennium.
On the floor of The Great Court is the quotation : "and let thy feet, millennia hence, be set in the midst of knowledge" : Tennyson : a fitting quotation for the refurbishments for the start of the new millennium.

 The piazza is covered by triangular ceiling panels providing amazing light be reflection from the white stone walls and floor. Again it is possible to eat and get refreshment and do not miss entering the old part of the museum via the "bird hole"..climb up the spiral staircase.