Railways

Congestion on London Bridge by Gustav Dore

In 1859 a Private Bill was presented to Parliament by the Charing Cross Railway Company to construct a line, about 1.6 miles long, from London Bridge to Trafalgar Square. The line would run on a viaduct along the north of Southwark and a part of North Lambeth before crossing the river and ending at the new terminus, Charing Cross, which was to built on the site of Hungerford Market. A line would also be built from London Bridge to another new station, Cannon Street, to serve the City, and another line from Charing Cross which would form a triangle of track just west of the approach road to London (road) Bridge.

The new line that changed the area forever had to swing south to avoid St Saviours Church (now Southwark Cathedral), then proceed over the approach road, then called Wellington Street, then on through Borough Market and other property. The turn south from London Bridge Station necessitated building across the garden of St Thomas Hospital. Only a small part of hospital land was required but the Governors of St Thomas insisted that should the railway require this piece of land they would have to buy the whole site. This was on the grounds that a railway so close to the hospital would impede light and fresh air to the patients, hindering their health and recovery, and could even be dangerous. Initially the Governors of the Hospital asked for 750,000 but, on arbitration, received 296,000.

The Act of Parliament of 1756 that had createdBorough Marketprohibited any of the land being sold or used for any other purpose than a market but the lawyers managed to solve this problem by Borough Market granting the railway company flying leases whereby they could build an iron viaduct through the market. The railway had to pay for reconstruction of the market around these works and for additional areas added to the market. A little further west, the company had to purchase all the land belong to Cures College where almshouses were located and pay for new ones to be erected in Norwood.

After Borough Market, the viaduct veered south, crossing over Southwark Street which was being built simultaneously, and then running behind the north of Union Street cutting through many courts and alleys in the process. The freehold of a large amount of this land was owned by the Bishop of Winchester and much of this land was leased to the Pott family, who in turn sub-let. In a statement to Parliament that accompanied the Bill, the Charing Cross Railway Company considered that, in the Parish of St Saviours 182 houses affecting 1159 people would be taken and in Christchurch Parish 80 houses that would affect 644 people. Clearly the railway company wanted to minimise to Parliament the numbers being displaced and these figures should be treated with caution as they are very likely to be an under-estimation of the numbers of inhabitants involved. The figures represent a very low occupancy per house when compared with what was common for the area at that time. The company described the houses themselves as chiefly brick built consisting of an average of six rooms and situated generally in narrow and ill ventilated streets, courts and places. The company even presented themselves as acting in the tenants best interests in evicting them for, when explaining how the problem of the displaced would be remedied, they stated no provision is made in the Bill since the removal of those that will actually be disturbed would materially benefit them, at present [they are living in] too crowded neighbourhoods, and there is ample and improved accommodation in the vicinity for those disturbed in consequence of the gradual migration of the middle classes to more suburban residences. Thus the railway company side-stepped any responsibility they may have for those they made homeless. (See Living Conditions)

The Vestry of St Saviours Church, among others, petitioned Parliament to oppose the construction of the railway. The Bishop of Winchester did not even reply to the letter advising him of the proposed scheme and compulsory purchase. Its been put forward that he raised no objections to the scheme because he was unhappy about the condition of many of the properties that had been built on his land, but perhaps it was because the Winchester Estate was in the process of being transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commission.

The line opened in 1864 and in June that year a station opened on the Eastern side of Blackfriars Road where the railway bridge crossed, next to where Palestra House is today. This was called Blackfriars but not to be confused with todays Blackfriars Station or Blackfriars Bridge Station (see below), and the entrance, flanked by lettering carved into the stone spelling out 'Charing Cross Railway' and 'Blackfriars Station' can still be seen today. The station was only open for four years and closed when Waterloo Junction (now Waterloo East) opened in 1868. Cannon Street Station opened in 1866 and a good view of the Cannon Street triangle, built around Borough Market, can be seen from the Shards website that shows the panorama from their viewing gallery. The bridge recently installed as part of the Thameslink programme now obscures the original railway bridge which came in for criticism from a London Illustrated News reporter: its strength and fitness are its sole recommendations. Nothing uglier, nothing more objectionable in an artistic point of view, could possibly have been designed we must learn to avert our gaze.

Blackfriars Bridge Station on the south side of the Thames was made of yellow brick with red brick dressings with an arched iron and glass roof. Passengers descended to the street by a slope, and the space underneath the platforms was used for freight. The railway bridge across the Thames from Blackfriars Bridge Station was completed by the end of 1864 and trains running through to Farringdon by 1866 and a spur line connecting Ludgate Hill station on the north side to London Bridge was completed in 1878. A new station called St Pauls was built on the north side in 1885, at the end of a second rail bridge crossing the Thames, and Blackfriars Bridge station closed to passengers though remaining as a goods depot until 1964. St Pauls station was renamed Blackfriars in 1937 and is still going strong, currently undergoing major rebuilding works with platforms now situated on the bridge and solar panels being installed on the roof. There is now an exit from the station on Bankside, not far from the original Blackfriars Bridge Station. Apparently it would have cost too much money to rename the station Blackfriars and Bankside.