Copenhagen Tunnel
Coordinates: 51°32′44″N 0°07′14″W / 51.545638°N 0.120632°W
The Copenhagen Tunnel is a set of three parallel railway tunnels in the United Kingdom carrying the main line tracks out of London's Kings Cross terminus under the rising ground at Barnsbury, about a mile north of the station. Each tunnel has the capacity for two tracks making six tracks in all. The eastern tunnel was taken out of railway service in the 1970s but is maintained to ensure the integrity of the ground overhead. The tunnel is just over a third of a mile (548 metres) long.
The first of the multiple tunnels was built as part of the construction of The Great Northern Railway and was opened in 1850. This section of the railway was designed by the engineer Thomas Brassey and was built by Pearce and Smith and John Jay. The name is taken from Copenhagen Fields, an open space directly above the tunnels, that was once the location of the Ambassador of Denmark's residence in the 17th century. This became a popular pleasure garden and was a public meeting area, notable for rioting there in the late 18th century.[1][2] From this site on 21 April 1834 thousands marched in support of The Tolpuddle Martyrs who had been sentenced to transportation to Australia for forming a trade union.[3] Market Road Gardens, an open space directly above the tunnels, are a present-day surviving remnant of the Fields.
The original tunnel is now the middle of three parallel tunnels. A second tunnel to the west was built in 1877 and a third one to the east in 1886. The western tunnel carried goods traffic both up and down; the centre one was used for down passenger traffic and the eastern one was for up passenger traffic. The eastern tunnel is now closed following electrification in the 1970s and is used for cables. Today, only passenger traffic uses the remaining tunnels and all four modern lines are fully bidirectional.[4][5][6]
The area above the southern tunnel portal was used for a rail line going to the Caledonian Road Coal and Goods Depot (now Bunning Street) which passed along the parapet of the tunnel entrance. This was situated conveniently close to the Metropolitan Cattle Market, located on the ground above the tunnels from 1855 to 1963. Many trains carried cattle along this line on their last journey to the abattoirs there.[7]
It was this area above the southern parapet that was the setting for the final scenes of the 1955 British film comedy, The Ladykillers.[8]
References
- ↑ Copenhagen, Islington Hidden London, Accessed December 2014.
- ↑ Copenhagen Fields The Model Railway Club, Accessed December 2014.
- ↑ Plaque: Tolpuddle Martyrs at Copenhagen Fields 2014 London Remembers. Accessed December 2014.
- ↑ Edith's Streets, London Local History Accessed December 2014
- ↑ The LNER Encyclopaedia Accessed December 2014
- ↑ RailUK Forums Accessed December 2014
- ↑ Caledonian Road Goods Depot The LNER Encyclopedia, December 2005, Accessed December 2014
- ↑ The Ladykillers film locations Film Locations.com , Accessed December 2014