The 1960’s was a miserable period for British architecture. In the name of progress and modernisation many wonderful structures were demolished to be replaced by “blots on the landscape”.
To my mind one of the worst buildings in central London is the concrete and glass monstrosity called Euston Railway Station.
As part of the redevelopment of Euston Station the Doric Arch which had stood at the entrance to the station since 1837 was demolished in 1961.
This piece of vandalism was essentially decided by finances – the cost of relocating the arch being greatly in excess of the demolition cost.
In spite of a considerable public outcry at the time the arch was demolished and thought to be lost for ever.
However the story didn’t end there – in 1994 historian & TV personality Dan Cruickshank discovered that many of the arches granite stones had been used to infill a hole in the Prescott Channel in the River Lea. Some stones were raised and found to be in remarkably good condition.
In 1996 the Euston Arch Trust was founded with the aim of reconstructing the arch.
It now seems this project may succeed – British Waterways have recovered more stones from the Lea (about 60% of the original structure is thought to be there) as a result of dredging operations linked to the Olympic Park construction.
Wouldn’t it be great to see the Euston Arch restored in all of its glory?
The cost has been estimated at £10 million, which in these difficult times is a lot of money, but I would argue that it is a small price to pay for undoing a mistake of the past.
