Bricklayers' Arms
Encyclopedia
A2 road (Great Britain)
The A2 is a major road in southern England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. This route has always been of importance as a connection between the British capital of London and sea trade routes to Continental Europe...
and the London Inner Ring Road
London Inner Ring Road
The London Inner Ring Road is the name commonly given to a route formed from a number of major roads that encircle the centremost part of London...
in south London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is the junction of Tower Bridge Road, Old Kent Road
Old Kent Road
The Old Kent Road is a road in South East London, England and forms part of Watling Street, the Roman road which ran from Dover to Holyhead. The street is famous as the equal cheapest property on the London Monopoly board and as the only one in South London....
, New Kent Road
New Kent Road
New Kent Road is a road in the London Borough of Southwark. The road was created in 1751 when the Turnpike Trust upgraded a local footpath. This was done as part of the general road improvements associated with the creation of Westminster Bridge; in effect it was possible to travel from the West...
and Great Dover Street
Great Dover Street
Great Dover Street is in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end it joins Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street and there is a junction with Long Lane; Borough tube station is at this location. At the southeast end is the Bricklayers' Arms roundabout and flyover...
; Old Kent Road and New Kent Road east-bound are connected by a flyover.
The area is named after a local coaching inn
Coaching inn
In Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...
that was situated at the junction. It is also the former site of a large railway facility.
Coaching Inn
There have been inns situated at this site for more than six hundred years, and excavations during the rebuilding of the inn in the 1890s came across several previous foundations and a hidden hoard of ancient coins. It was the point at which coaches travelling along the Old Kent RoadOld Kent Road
The Old Kent Road is a road in South East London, England and forms part of Watling Street, the Roman road which ran from Dover to Holyhead. The street is famous as the equal cheapest property on the London Monopoly board and as the only one in South London....
to or from the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
set down or picked up passengers travelling to or from the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. The inn was situated on land owned by the City of London Corporation and its sign was the Coat of Arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers
Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers
The Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The organisation of Tylers and Bricklayers existed in 1416; it was incorporated by a Royal Charter in 1568. Originally, the Company possessed a monopoly over bricklaying within the City of London...
.
Flyover
A flyover of the Bricklayers' Arms roundabout was built in the 1970s to cope with the increase in traffic in the area. Initially it consisted of two lanes for traffic, one into and one out of London; however, the London-bound lane was later closed after a number of head-on collisions on the flyover, which was hence reduced to a single lane.The rather over generous proportions of the roundabout which includes pedestrian underpasses from the adjacent roads onto it was a result of London Underground route safeguarding for future proposals of an extension of the Bakerloo Line from its terminus at Elephant and Castle
Elephant and Castle
The Elephant and Castle is a major road intersection in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is also used as a name for the surrounding area....
Tube Station along and under the main road route and thence underneath the trackways of the old mainline station to join surface services at South Bermondsey
South Bermondsey
South Bermondsey is an area of southeast London, England.It is a largely industrial area and has been the home of Millwall Football Club since 1993 when the club moved to its new stadium The Den in Zampa Road....
station. The roundabout would have been the site of a station, similar in layout to that at Old Street
Old Street
Old Street is a street in east London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, to the crossroads where it intersects with Shoreditch High Street , Kingsland Road and Hackney Road in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.The nearest...
. The route is still safeguarded but has no prominence in current proposals.
Railway facilities
Adjacent to Bricklayers' Arms was a 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) site, connected to the main line between London Bridge and CroydonCroydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
which was formerly of considerable importance to the history of railways in south London.
Bricklayers' Arms branch
The line was one mile (1.6 km) and 56 chains in length and was constructed in 1843–4 as a result of concerns by the South EasternSouth Eastern Railway (UK)
The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...
(SER) and London and Croydon
London and Croydon Railway
The London and Croydon Railway was an early railway which operated between London and Croydon in England. It was opened in 1839 and in July 1846 it merged with other railways to form a part of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway ....
(L&CR) railways about the charges being imposed by the London and Greenwich Railway
London and Greenwich Railway
The London and Greenwich Railway was opened in London between 1836 and 1838. It was the first steam railway to have a terminus in the capital, the first of any to be built specifically for passenger service, and the first example of an elevated railway....
(L&GR) for the use of their terminus at London Bridge and its approaches. The two railways constructed a new passenger terminus and goods station on the site, thereby removing the need for them to use the Greenwich Railway facilities. According to Charles Vignoles, 'the making of Bricklayers' Arms station was a matter of compulsion in driving the Greenwich people to reasonable terms'. It had the desired effect and the L&GR agreed to more reasonable terms, as a result the L&CR ceased using the station in March 1845.
Plans to extend the line from Bricklayers' Arms to a new South Eastern Railway terminus at Hungerford Bridge
Hungerford Bridge
The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. It is a steel truss railway bridge—sometimes known as the Charing Cross Bridge—flanked by two more recent, cable-stayed, pedestrian bridges that share the railway bridge's...
, closer to the centre of London were never implemented. The railway introduced a proposal to extend the line to Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road, London
Waterloo Road is a road straddling Lambeth and Southwark, London, England. It runs between Westminster Bridge Road close to St George's Circus at the south-east end and Waterloo Bridge across the River Thames towards London's West End district at the north-west end.At the northern end near the...
in 1846 which was rejected by a committee of Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
. In 1846 L&C became part of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) and the SER had leased the L&G line the previous year; future passenger developments were at London Bridge.
As part of a series of agreements of 1848 and 1849, the LB&SCR sold its inherited share of the facilities to the SER in the latter year whilst retaining the right to use the branch and to construct its own 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) goods depot on the site for an annual rent of one shilling (£0.05).
In the early 1890s the SER again proposed building an extension of the branch, but this time to Charing Cross
Charing Cross railway station
Charing Cross railway station, also known as London Charing Cross, is a central London railway terminus in the City of Westminster, England. It is one of 18 stations managed by Network Rail, and trains serving it are operated by Southeastern...
and thence to Cannon Street but the plan was deferred about 1894, and was not later proceeded with by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway
South Eastern and Chatham Railway
The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between...
Management Committee.
The line is historically significant as it was the first in the world to be controlled by a signal box
Signal box
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
. The signals and points installed by Charles Hutton Gregory
Charles Hutton Gregory
Sir Charles Hutton Gregory KCMG was a British civil engineer. He was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers between December 1867 and December 1869....
and were the first to contain some elements of interlocking
Interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively referred to as an interlocking plant...
. A boiler explosion by a SER locomotive on 11 December 1844 caused a bridge collapse and killed two staff.
Passenger terminus
The terminus building was designed by Lewis CubittLewis Cubitt
Lewis Cubitt was born on 29 September 1799 and died on 9 June 1883. He married Sophia Kendall on 23 January 1830.He was the younger brother of Thomas Cubitt, the leading master builder in London in the second quarter of the 19th century, and he designed many of the housing developments constructed...
with an imposing facade resembling his later design of King's Cross railway station
King's Cross railway station
King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a central London railway terminus opened in 1852. The station is on the northern edge of central London, at the junction of the A501 Euston Road and York Way, in the Kings Cross district and within the London Borough of Camden on...
, and costing £89,000. From 1844 the SER transferred all of its services to this new terminus, whilst the L&CR operated services from both termini. As mentioned above the L&CR ceased using the station in 1845 although its successor (the LB&SCR) retained running powers over the branch.
The station was never commercially viable as a passenger terminus due to its location in a poor working-class neighbourhood on the Old Kent Road
Old Kent Road
The Old Kent Road is a road in South East London, England and forms part of Watling Street, the Roman road which ran from Dover to Holyhead. The street is famous as the equal cheapest property on the London Monopoly board and as the only one in South London....
and its distance from the centre of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Also its raison d'etre largely disappeared after the South Eastern Railway took over the operation of the London and Greenwich Railway in 1845. A shunting accident during August 1850 caused the collapse of a large part of the station roof, killing a porter. The SER therefore closed Bricklayers' Arms terminus for passenger traffic in 1852 and transferred all of its services back to London Bridge. Thereafter it was occasionally used for special trains, such as a Royal train carrying Queen Alexandra on 3 March 1863. It was also used for passenger excursions trains from 1932 until circa 1940, and occasional enthusiasts' specials until closure of the line in 1981.
Bricklayers' Arms Goods Depot
After closure of the passenger facilities the original goods station and the surrounding site proved to be ideal for the development of the main SER goods depotFreight train
A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
in London. New sidings were laid and the former passenger station was converted into a goods station
Goods station
A goods station is, in the widest sense, a railway station which is exclusively or predominantly where goods of any description are loaded or unloaded from ships or road vehicles and/or where goods wagons are transferred to local sidings.A station where goods are not specifically received or...
.
Willow Walk Goods Depot
The LB&SCR inherited the L&CR running powers over the branch line and established their own independent goods facilities on the contiguous site at 'Willow Walk' in July 1849. These replaced the former L&CR facilities at New Cross.The LB&SCR facilities were enlarged in 1854 after the Brighton company entered into an agreement with the SER's rival, the London Chatham and Dover Railway to handle their goods traffic at the Depot. Further extensions were built in 1865 and 1902. The Willow Walk depot was officially merged with the Bricklayers' Arms depot by the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (Great Britain)
The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...
in March 1932.
Motive Power depot and repair shop
The South Eastern Railway also opened a motive power depotMotive power depot
Motive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...
at the site on 1 May 1844, with a turntable
Turntable
A turntable is generally a rotating platform, and may refer to:-Music:* Turntable, a motor-driven platform that normally rotates a gramophone record at a constant rotational velocity as part of a phonograph....
large enough to turn the engine and its tender together. This rapidly grew over several buildings and became its principal locomotive depot. It was responsible for an allocation of over 100 locomotives. It operated for nearly 120 years, supplying locomotives and crews for goods and suburban passenger services, as well as the more prestigious express
Express train
Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...
trains from London to the South Coast. It closed on 17 June 1962.
The other important role was to provide refuelling facilities for visiting trains that had worked services into London. Once uncoupled from their coaches, locomotives from Charing Cross
Charing Cross station
Charing Cross station may refer to:In London, England:*Charing Cross railway station*Charing Cross tube station **Embankment tube station was previously named Charing CrossIn Glasgow, Scotland:...
, Cannon Street
Cannon Street station
Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the City of London, England. It is built on the site of the medieval Steelyard, the trading base in England of the Hanseatic League...
and London Bridge
London Bridge station
London Bridge railway station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the London Borough of Southwark, occupying a large area on two levels immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles east of Charing Cross. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the...
stations usually ran tender-first down to Bricklayers Arms' shed to be turned round on the large turntable, rewatered
Water crane
A water crane or standpipe is a device used for delivering a large volume of water into the tank or tender of a steam locomotive. As a steam locomotive consumes large quantities of water, water cranes were a vital part of railway station equipment, often situated at the end of a platform, so that...
and recoaled
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
. Once this was completed they again ran tender
Tender locomotive
A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing the locomotive's fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so tenders are necessary to keep the locomotive running over long distances. A locomotive...
-first back to the terminus to rejoin their train for the return journey out of London. Access to and from Bricklayers Arms' complex on the South Eastern
South Eastern Railway (UK)
The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...
side was via a branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
down a long slope which dropped below the viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
s to either side of it.
The original two-road (two tracks) engine shed lasted from 1844 until 1869. It was supplemented by a nearby four-road shed in 1847, which in turn was enlarged by an adjoining four-road shed in 1865. After 1869 these two sheds became known as the Old Shed and survived until closure. A fourth shed with six roads was opened in 1869, which was known as the New Shed. This was badly damaged during bombing in the Second World War when it lost its roof, and was never repaired. A fifth engine shed with four roads was converted from a carriage shed in 1902 and was known as St Patrick's shed. This lasted until closure.
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
of Britain's railways in 1923, the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (Great Britain)
The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...
modernised the depot and in 1934 built a locomotive repair shop. However the facility was badly damaged by enemy action during the Second World War and was never fully repaired afterwards. When British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
converted from steam
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
to diesel
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
traction in the 1960s the shed became surplus to requirements and closed down, but the goods sidings continued in use up until 1981, when the whole complex was sold to developers.
The wheel drop
Wheel drop
A drop table or wheel drop is a device used in railway engineering during maintenance that require the removal of locomotive or rolling stock wheelsets...
from the repair shop and the turntable from the shed were rescued for the Watercress Line
Watercress Line
The Watercress Line is the marketing name of the Mid-Hants Railway, a heritage railway in Hampshire, England, running from New Alresford to Alton where it connects to the National Rail network. The line gained its popular name in the days that it was used to transport locally grown watercress to...
, in Hampshire. The former has been installed at shed and the latter has been exchanged (summer 2010) for a tank engine.