Sitting atop a hill in the City of Westminster, Charing Cross station serves more than 30million passengers every year. A new TV documentary reveals the network of barrel vaults beneath Charing Cross station which prevent it from slipping into the River Thames. They then demolished it to make way for Charing Cross station. Designed by Middleton Barry in a French Renaissance style, when it opened in May 1865 it was named the Charing Cross Hotel. The hotel's manager, Pedro da Silva, told Mr Dunn that Middleton Barry wanted to offer 'something to the city that it had never seen before'.

Source: The Nation September 27, 2021 15:56 UTC