The King's Cross Story

How King’s Cross grew from tile kilns and dust heaps to a vital rail artery, and from decay and dereliction to a site of major redevelopment

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The area of King’s Cross has witnessed a dramatic transformation, with a new city rising above, alongside and within some of the country’s most compelling railway heritage. The former Railway Lands remain extraordinarily rich in historical features, yet those who now reside, work, study, dine or play in this new world will find their origins hard to decipher. The Great Northern Railway, with its stations, goods depots, locomotive sheds, coal yards and stables at King’s Cross, served the needs of the ever-growing metropolis, experiencing growth in the nineteenth century, competition for trade, weakness between the wars, and the high age of steam. After the demise of steam, the decaying industrial landscape was colonised by a variety of new enterprises, invaded by clubbers, contested by developers and the community, and captured by artists and photographers. In The King’s Cross Story Peter Darley explores and illuminates the fascinating history of the Railway Lands over the last 200 years, tracing the evolution of its historical features through time and space.