King William Street was the original but short-lived northern terminus of the

City and South London Railway The City and South London Railway (C&SLR) was the first successful deep-level underground "tube" railway in the world, and the first major railway to use electric traction. The railway was originally intended for cable-hauled trains, but owing ...

(C&SLR), the first successful deep-level underground railway in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and one of the component parts of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

. It was located in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, on King William Street, just south of the present Monument station. When King William Street was in operation the next station to the south was

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

and the southern terminus of the line was

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The na ...

. The station was short-lived, in operation for less than ten years. It was named after the street above, which in turn was named after

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

History

King William Street opened on 18 December 1890 and was constructed from a large masonry station tunnel, accessed from the surface by a lift shaft or spiral staircase. Two platforms were provided, one on each side of the single, central track — one for passengers entering and the other for passengers leaving the trains — a system later referred to as the

Spanish solution In railway and rapid transit parlance, the Spanish solution is a station layout with two railway platforms, one on each side of the track, which allows for separate platforms for boarding and alighting. Description This platform arrangement allo ...

. The station tunnel itself is situated beneath Monument Street and runs east–west across King William Street, ending beneath Arthur Street. The approach running tunnels had tight curves and steep gradients in order to pass underneath the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

while following underneath public roads, especially Swan Lane and Arthur Street. The combination of station layout and poor alignment of the running tunnels severely limited the capacity of the station and, in the years after opening, a number of initiatives were made to improve operations. In 1895, a central island platform with tracks each side was constructed to enable two trains to occupy the station at once; however, capacity was still restricted. When the line was extended northwards to

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, b ...

, new running tunnels on a different alignment, but still running beneath

Borough High Street Borough High Street is a road in Southwark, London, running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 route which runs from London to Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. Overview Borough High Street continues southwest a ...

, were constructed running from below St George the Martyr's church, north of Borough station, to a new station at

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

and onwards to an alternative City station at Bank. Under the Thames, the present running tunnels of the Northern line are situated to the east of London Bridge, whereas the King William Street tunnels pass to the west of the bridge, with the southbound tunnel below the northbound track as the line passes under the Thames. The station closed from Monday 26 February 1900 when the Moorgate extension opened. The original station building was demolished in the 1930s, although the parts of the station below ground were converted for use as a public

air-raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but many ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Access today is via a manhole in the basement of Regis House, a contemporary office building, where the original cast iron spiral staircase leads down to platform level. The lift shaft was filled in with concrete during the construction of the original Regis House. The original running tunnels north of Borough station remain, although when the

Jubilee line extension The Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) is the extension of the London Underground Jubilee line from to through south and east London. An eastward extension of the line was first proposed in the 1970s. As part of the development of London Docklands, ...

was built in the late 1990s, the old southbound tunnel was cut through as part of the construction works at London Bridge station in order to provide the lift shaft situated at the south end of the Northern line platforms. These running tunnels are now used as a ventilation shaft for the station and the openings for several

adit An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adits ...

s to the old running tunnels can be seen in the roofs of the Northern line platform tunnels and in the central concourse between them. A construction shaft between London Bridge and King William Street, beneath Old Swan Wharf, now functions as a pump shaft for the disused sections of the running tunnels. It is no longer possible to walk through between the two stations as the old C&SLR running tunnels have been blocked off with concrete bulkheads on both sides of the Thames. The tunnels were further severed by upgrades to

Bank station Bank and Monument are interlinked London Underground and Docklands Light Railway, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) stations that form a public transport complex spanning the length of King William Street, London, King William Street in the City of ...

, as the construction shaft for the new

tunnel, located in Arthur Street, cuts straight through the approach tunnel to King William Street station, with the station site itself linked to the new tunnel via a ventilation adit.

References

Citations Sources *

External links

Subterranea Britannica website — King William Street Station

* Abandoned passenger tunnels at King William Street station, 1930 * *
Sketches of the interior and exterior of the station in the 1890s
{{Closed london underground stations Former buildings and structures in the City of London Tube stations in the City of London Disused railway stations in the City of London Disused London Underground stations Former City and South London Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1890 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1900 Railway stations located underground in the United Kingdom