Euston Road
Encyclopedia
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, 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...
, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road
New Road (London)
The New Road was a turnpike road built across fields around the northern boundaries of London, the first part of which opened in 1756. The route comprises the following modern-day roads: Old Marylebone Road, Marylebone Road, Euston Road, Pentonville Road, City Road, and Moorgate.-Early history:In...
from Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
to Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756. It was London's first bypass, through the fields to the north 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...
in the 1740s, but it is now generally regarded as being in central London.
The New Road was intended to provide a route for sheep and cattle to be driven to Smithfield Market and for this reason the road terminated at Islington where it joined the existing St Johns Street. The road also provided a quicker route for army units to exit London. Building of the New Road was opposed by the Duke of Bedford as it cut off his estate in what is now Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
from the countryside and construction required an enabling act of Parliament.
Strips of terrace houses developed along both sides of the Road and in 1832 Euston Station
Euston railway station
Euston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
opened to the North of the New Road. The Fitzroy Family had become the main property owner in the area and in 1852 the Road was renamed as Euston Road after 'Euston Hall' their country house.
The area around the junction with Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road is a major road in central London, United Kingdom, running from St Giles Circus north to Euston Road, near the border of the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile...
suffered significant bomb damage during the Second World War. Under the Greater London Plan of Patrick Abercrombie
Patrick Abercrombie
Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie ) was an English town planner. Educated at Uppingham School, Rutland; brother of Lascelles Abercrombie, poet and literary critic.-Career:...
Euston Road was widened. In 1960-61 a major set of transport modifications resulted in the destruction of the entrance to Euston Station and the construction of the underpass at the junction with Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road is a major road in central London, United Kingdom, running from St Giles Circus north to Euston Road, near the border of the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile...
.
During the 1960s office developments grew around this junction including the Euston Tower
Euston Tower
Euston Tower is a skyscraper located in the London Borough of Camden. It is a good example of an International style skyscraper with glass curtain walls. It is situated at the intersection of Tottenham Court Road/Hampstead Road and Euston Road. It stands across the Euston Road from Warren Street...
skyscraper that now forms part of Regent's Place
Regent's Place
Regent's Place is a mixed use business and retail and residential quarter on the north side of Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden...
, attracting a number of significant tenants, most notably the former ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
broadcaster Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
who had their corporate headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
and a number of studios
Television studio
A television studio is an installation in which a video productions take place, either for the recording of live television to video tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for post-production. The design of a studio is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for the...
there from 1970 to 1993 and Capital Radio
Capital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
.
The road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
runs from west to east from Marylebone Road
Marylebone Road
Marylebone Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, within the City of Westminster. It runs east-west from the Euston Road at Regent's Park to the A40 Westway at Paddington...
to Pentonville Road. It meets the northern end of Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road
Tottenham Court Road is a major road in central London, United Kingdom, running from St Giles Circus north to Euston Road, near the border of the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile...
at a large junction where there is an underpass. Traffic runs in three lanes in each direction though this is currently restricted at the Eastern end due to ongoing site works around King's Cross and St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
s. The road is commonly clogged with traffic throughout much of the day.
The road is on the edge of the London congestion charge
London congestion charge
The London congestion charge is a fee charged for some categories of motor vehicle to travel at certain times within the Congestion Charge Zone , a traffic area in London. The charge aims to reduce congestion, and raise investment funds for London's transport system...
zone. This means that road users are not charged for using the road itself, but are charged if they turn south into the zone. The road also approximately marks the northern boundary of Travelcard Zone 1
Travelcard Zone 1
Fare zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services. For most tickets, travel through the zone is charged...
of Transport for London
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
.
Notable architecture
King's Cross and St PancrasSt Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
railway stations are at the eastern end of the road, the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
is nearby, and Euston railway station
Euston railway station
Euston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
is a little further to the west. Euston Tower
Euston Tower
Euston Tower is a skyscraper located in the London Borough of Camden. It is a good example of an International style skyscraper with glass curtain walls. It is situated at the intersection of Tottenham Court Road/Hampstead Road and Euston Road. It stands across the Euston Road from Warren Street...
is also on the road. Both the old and new headquarters of the Wellcome Trust
Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust was established in 1936 as an independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health. With an endowment of around £13.9 billion, it is the United Kingdom's largest non-governmental source of funds for biomedical research...
are on the south side of the road. About half-way along, at the junction with Upper Woburn Place is St Pancras New Church
St Pancras New Church
St Pancras Parish Church, sometimes referred to as St Pancras New Church to distinguish it from St Pancras Old Church, is a 19th century Greek Revival church in London, England.-Location:...
. Almost opposite is the Euston Road fire station, built 1901–2, in an "Arts and Crafts" style. It was designed by Percy Nobbs (1875–1964). At 100–110 is the Shaw Theatre. It was built in honour of GB Shaw in 1971, and completely rebuilt in 1998. The new University College Hospital
University College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
building is also on the south of the road.
Euston Road appears on the 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...
edition of the board game Monopoly
Monopoly (game)
Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...
.
Future proposals
In 2002 the Greater London AuthorityGreater London Authority
The Greater London Authority is the top-tier administrative body for Greater London, England. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currently Boris Johnson, and an elected 25-member London Assembly with scrutiny powers...
commissioned a masterplan for the improvement of Euston Road from the prominent architectural firm Terry Farrell and Partners
Terry Farrell (architect)
Sir Terry Farrell, CBE, RIBA, FRSA, FCSD, MRTPI is a British architect.-Life and career:Farrell was born in Sale, Cheshire. As a youth he moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, where he attended St Cuthbert's High School. He graduated with a degree from Newcastle University, followed by a Masters in urban...
. The study is ongoing, with some minor changes to the streetscape already applied. The work was supplemented in 2007 with a parallel investigation by the postgraduate Architecture Design Studio 15 at the University of Westminster
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
.
Major redevelopment works are ongoing at the East end of the road linking King's Cross and St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
s with a new passenger concourse and access to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
via High Speed 1.
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| West: Marylebone Road Marylebone Road Marylebone Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, within the City of Westminster. It runs east-west from the Euston Road at Regent's Park to the A40 Westway at Paddington... |
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| Great Portland Street Great Portland Street Great Portland Street is a street in the West End of London. Linking Oxford Street with Albany Street and the busy A501 Marylebone Road and Euston Road, the road forms the boundary between Fitzrovia to the east and Marylebone to the west... |
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| Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road is a major road in central London, United Kingdom, running from St Giles Circus north to Euston Road, near the border of the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile... |
Hampstead Road | |
| Gower Street Gower Street (London) Gower Street is a street in Bloomsbury, Central London, England, running between Euston Road to the north and Montague Place to the south.North Gower Street is a separate street running north of the Euston Road... |
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| Upper Woburn Place | Eversholt Street | |
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| Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road, formerly Gray's Inn Lane, is a major road in central London, in the London Borough of Camden. It is named after Gray's Inn, one of the main Inns of Court. The road starts in Holborn, near Chancery Lane tube station and the boundaries of the City of London and the London Borough... |
York Way York Way York Way is a major road in the London Borough of Islington, running north for one mile from the junction of Pentonville Road and Euston Road, adjacent to King's Cross railway station towards Kentish Town and Holloway. At its northern end the road becomes Brecknock Road... |
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| East: Pentonville Road | ||
| ← towards the centre | ↓ | away from the centre → |
| South | North | |
Tube stations on Euston Road
Ordered from West to East:- Regent's Park tube stationRegent's Park tube stationRegent's Park tube station is a London Underground station by Regent's Park. It is on the Bakerloo line, between Baker Street and Oxford Circus...
- Great Portland Street tube stationGreat Portland Street tube stationGreat Portland Street is a London Underground station near Regent's Park. It is between and on the Hammersmith & City, Circle and Metropolitan lines...
- Warren Street tube stationWarren Street tube stationWarren Street tube station is a London Underground station, located at the intersection of Tottenham Court Road and Euston Road. It is on the branch of the Northern Line, between and , and the Victoria Line between and Euston. It is in Travelcard Zone 1 and is the nearest tube station to...
- Euston Square tube stationEuston Square tube stationEuston Square is a London Underground station at the corner of Euston Road and Gower Street, just north of University College London and within walking distance of Euston railway station. It is between Great Portland Street and King's Cross St. Pancras on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and...
- Euston stationEuston tube stationEuston tube station is a London Underground station served by the Victoria Line and both branches of the Northern Line. It directly connects with the Euston mainline station above it. The station is in Travelcard Zone 1....
- King's Cross St. Pancras tube stationKing's Cross St. Pancras tube stationKing's Cross St. Pancras is a tube station in the London Borough of Camden, on the London Underground network, serving both King's Cross and main line stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It is the fourth busiest station on the system and serves more lines than any other...