Monopoly Property 3- King's Cross Station

 

Okay, so you remember I set myself some rules for the challenge? One of them is that I have allowed myself to use pictures from my back catalogue. 6 years ago I made this sketch of one of the platforms at Kings Cross ad a steam locomotive. I have sketched Kings Cross before -

but somehow I have not yet made a good, detailed sketch of the exterior. That's a project for the future. King's Cross is not the oldest Mainline railway terminus in London - Euston just ow the road is several years older. It's not the most visually striking - the Grand Midland Hotel which is part of the St. Pancras building right next door steals the attention away from its neighbour. But Kings Cross is a remarkable building. In some ways it's hard to believe that it dates back to 1852. The relative simplicity of the facade, the lack of ornamentation seem to belong to the 1920s or 30s. Having said that the Italianate clocktower between the two huge arched windows does humanise the building a little, and reminds me of a similar feature on Queen Victoria's Osborne House.

Of course, Kings Cross has a permanent place in popular culture, being the station from which the Hogwarts Express departs in the Harry Potter novels from platform 9 3/4 - although in the films you see the exterior of Kings Cross, but the interiors were actually filmed in Marylebone!