St Pancras International Facts
15th November 2007
1. The Meeting Place Statue
Paul Day’s bronze statue “The Meeting Place” which features a man and a woman in an embrace is actually based on him and his half-French wife to symbolise the connection between Britain and France as well as emphasizing the train station as a place for fond farewells or impassioned hellos.
2. Sir John Betjeman
The bronze statue of Sir John Betjeman by the artist Martin Jennings stands as a legacy to the author’s successful campaign to save St Pancras from demolition in the 1960s.
3. St Pancras in Film
St Pancras has served as a film and music set many times, with the Spice Girls first hit single “Wannabe” filmed on the staircase of the Midland Grand, and Batman Begins and Harry Potter both using the Victorian redbrick for atmospheric effect.
4. The Barlow Shed Roof
The glass panels on the roof of the Barlow shed are self cleaning, and with a total of 14,080 glass panels, it is easy to see why.
5. The Barlow Shed Beers
The undercroft of the Barlow shed was once used for storing beer barrels; as such the shed’s 25 arches are set at spaces of 29ft 4 inches so as to accommodate the barrels.
6. St Pancras Clock
The famous clock is a replica of the original clock from St Pancras which now sits in the garden of a retired railway man who collected and restored the pieces when it was accidentally broken in the 1970s. The replica with its welsh slate numerals, cast iron hands and gold leaf decoration is back in its rightful place at St Pancras.
7. The Saint
St Pancras was named after a Roman citizen Saint Pancras who was matyred at the age of 14 for converting to Christianity. The name is actually Greek for ‘the one that holds everything’ and lends itself to a number of churches and buildings in England.
8. Spooky St Pancras
St Pancras Chambers, the Gothic fronting for St Pancras and the former Midland Grand Hotel is reportedly haunted. The Midland Grand, one of the great London hotels during the late 1800s closed in the late 1930s, the hotel was built on part of the cemetery of St Pancras Old Church, and as such has been subject to paranormal activity ever since.
9. St Pancras in 1868
Unlike the fanfare surrounding the present opening of St Pancras, when the station first opened in 1868 it was an unceremonious affair. Due to spiralling costs the opening ceremony merely consisted of members of the night shift moving from their office across the road in Kings Cross to their new office in St Pancras.
10. Champagne Bar
Eurostar passengers and visitors to the new sation can quaff champagne at the longest champagne bar in Europe, at a length of over 90 metres.
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