1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



403 



THE NEW TERMINUS OF THE BRIGHTON, CROYDON, 



DOVER, AND GREENWICH RAILWAYS AT LONDON 



BRIDGE. 



(With an Engraving, Plate XV.) 



We have at length the pleasure of presenting to our readers some 

 particulars of the New Joint Railway Terminus at London Bridge, 

 the extensive works of which have been in progress during the last 

 18 months, and are now all but completed, so far as respects the por- 

 tion to be executed by the Brighton, Croydon, and Dover Companies ; 

 and our remarks are accompanied by a view of the entire facade, as 

 it will appear when the Greenwich Company's portion of the building 

 shall have been completed, together with a ground plan. 



From the time of the passing of the Acts of Parliament for the 

 construction of the Brighton and Dover lines of railway, it became 

 evident to the Directors and Engineers of those undertakings, that the 

 Croydon terminus at London Bridge would be found not only totally 

 inadequate to the carrying on of the united traffic of these lines of 

 railwav, but that its position to the north of the Greenwich station 

 was inadmissible, involving as it did the inconvenience and danger of 

 crossing the Greenwich line of railway at the departure and arrival of 

 every train; and in due time arrangements were accordingly entered 

 into with the Greenwich Company, by which the original Croydon 

 station was made over to them in exchange for the original Greenwich 

 station, together with an extent of new works on the south side 

 thereof of equal area; by this arrangement, combined with the 

 widening out of the Greenwich viaduct from the Croydon junction 

 to the terminus, from which point four lines of rails are now pro- 

 vided, the Greenwich traffic is kept entirely distinct, and to the 

 northward of that of the Brighton, Croydon, and Dover lines: while 

 by a happy agreement between the four different companies, assented 

 to on the part of the Greenwich company, by the advice of their 

 talented architect George Smith, Esq., a complete unity of design 

 has been preserved in the entire facade, as seen from the approach 

 from Duke Street. 



The whole extent of surface now occupied by the joint station, is 

 130,000 square feet, or about three acres. And when it is consi- 

 dered that tlie whole of this extensive surface has of necessity been 

 raised by massive piers and arches to an average height of about 

 23 feet above the natural surface of the ground, some idea may be 

 formed of the magnitude and cost of these works, in which, exclusive 

 of the old Croydon and Greenwich terminus, above 8,000,000 of bricks 

 have been consumed. 



On entering the station the spacious and elegant iron roofs attract 

 notice; the surface covered in by this means includes an area of 

 48,000 square feet, or upwards of an acre, affording ample scope for 

 housing and cleaning the numerous carriages of the different compa- 

 nies, and securing from the weather the spacious arrival and depar- 

 ture platforms, and the space to the south appropriated to carriages 

 waiting the arrival of trains. 



These roofs are supported by three rows of cast iron fluted columns, 

 of elegant design, connected together above their capitals by orna- 

 mented arched ribs, which carry the trusses of the roof; the rain- 

 water is received into cast iron gutters communicating with the 

 columns, which being cast hollow, convey away the water to the pipes 

 and drains of the substructure. In the construction of these roofs, 

 Mr. Rastrick has observed the same peculiarity of form in the struts 

 as he employed at the roofs of the terminus at Brighton, but in this 

 case, instead of being of wrought iron tubing, they are of cast iron, 

 hollow, and fluted to harmonise with the fluting of the columns, and 

 the nuts at the end of the king and queen rods are concealed by or- 

 namental foliated pendants. The whole area is well lighted by sky- 

 lights on either side of the ridge, running nearly the whole length 

 of the roofs, and numerous others in appropriate situations. 



The arrival and departure platforms, each "21 feet in width, are fine 

 specimens of Bangor slate paving, in slabs, averaging (> feet 6 inches 

 No. 75.— Vol. VI.— December, 1843. 



by 4 feet each. On the arrival platform is a travelling luggage en- 

 closure, deserving of notice, as being well adapted to its purpose, and 

 less unsightly than such contrivances usually are. 



To avoid confusion, a back entrance to the station has been pro- 

 vided by means of an inclined plane, commencing at the south end of 

 Joiner's Street, by which cabs and omnibusses are allowed to enter 

 and wait the arrival of trains, by which means the inconvenience of 

 the confined space in front of the principal entrance is very much 

 lessened. 



The goods warehouse stands on the east side of Dean Street, com- 

 municating by a bridge with the spare carriage house on the west. 

 The cranes for hoisting and lowering are worked on the pneumatic 

 principle, by a small steam engine placed under the tank, which sup- 

 lilies the station with water. 



On referring to our engraving, it will be seen that the advanced 

 portion of the facade consists of a centre, in which are three door- 

 ways, and two wings with a doorway in each ; that in the right wing 

 is the first class passengers' entrance to the booking offices; the right 

 hand door of the centre is the second class entrance, and the centre 

 doorway is the way for luggage; and the remaining doorways are the 

 first and second class entrances to the Greenwich company's offices. 

 Receding from the principal front on the right is the campanile rising 

 to a height of 97 feet from the level of Tooley Street to the summit 

 of the vane, and exhibiting an illuminated clock for regulating the 

 times of the arrival and departure of trains. 



Still further removed from the line of the principal front are the 

 offices for the arrival and departure of parcels, (forming the extreme 

 wings of the facade,) united by a lofty archway, which serves as an 

 entrance for gentlemen's carriages departing by the trains. The in- 

 terior of the building contains on the ground-floor the general booking 

 office 53 feet by 21 feet, with separate entrances, passages, and 

 waiting rooms, for first and second class passengers, so arranged, that 

 the two classes are kept distinct, until they arrive at the platform, to 

 effect which objects, the arrangements seem well adapted. On the 

 one-pair floor, to which we ascend by a stone staircase in the tower, 

 there is a large room for the public meetings of the companies, and 

 three others for the use of the joint station committee, secretary, &c, 

 besides the apartments of the housekeeper; a secondary staircase 

 from this part of the building leads to the clock room, in the upper 

 floor of the tower, and above this to the lead flat, at the level of the 

 principal cornice, from which, between the arches of the upper part, 

 an extensive view of the metropolis and its southern suburbs is ob- 

 tained. 



To carry out their object, the committee availed themselves of the 

 professional services of J. N. Rastrick, Esq., and W. Cubitt, Esq., as 

 their joint engineers, to the judicious counsel of whom they are 

 mainly indebted for the amount of accommodation secured in so con- 

 fined and difficult a situation. 



In the architectural department, Mr. Henry Roberts has been gene- 

 rally consulted, the designs being prepared, and the works more im- 

 mediately superintended by Mr. Thomas Turner, the resident archi- 

 tect and engineer; and we deem it due to the taste and talent of the 

 latter gentleman to state that we are indebted to him for the elegant 

 Italian composition represented in our engraving. 



We remember, that in the competition for the new Infant Orphan 

 Asylum, the second premium was awarded to Mr. Turner, and we 

 think his present effort entitles him to be considered as one of the 

 rising architects of the day. 



OBSERVATIONS ON ARCHITECTS AND ARCHITECTURE. 



By Henry Fulton, M.D. 



No. 3. 



The Institute of British Architects is making a collection of all the 

 editions of the works of Vitruvius. As soon as this collection shall 

 be formed, which ought to contain, as many copies of each edition as 



55 



