Euston Arch
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The "Euston Arch", built in 1837, was the original entrance to Euston station in Central London.
Designed by architect Philip Hardwick, it was inspired by Greek architecture following Hardwick's trip to Italy in 1818-19. Strictly speaking it was not an arch, but propylaeum in the Doric order. The 70 foot high sandstone structure was designed for the London and Birmingham Railway, mirroring Curzon Street Station at the other end of the L&BR.
The Arch was demolished in 1962 to make way for construction of the current Euston Station building. Its imminent demolition sparked a preservation protest, led by John Betjeman, and a wider debate about the modernisation of central London. It is said that the contractor employed to actually carry out the demolition was so upset at what he was being asked to do that he offered to re-erect the Arch at his own expense out on the Marylebone Road. The rubble was used to strengthen a bank of the River Lea at the Prescott Channel and the Channelsea River in the East End of London. The ornamental iron gates from the Arch were saved and are now kept at the National Railway Museum in York.
The 1962 campaign to preserve the arch was a significant factor in the development of Industrial Archaeology as a separate discipline. There is now a campaign to recover the surviving parts and rebuild the Arch, possibly in a London park, or close to Euston station.
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