British Library
St Pancras station
King’s Cross Station
319—321 Gray’s Inn Road
Road traffic signs
Cent. London T&E Hosp.
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Parsons’ Library
R L Homœopathic Hospital
British Monomarks
Faraday House
Central Saint Martins
Pharmaceutical Soc.
British Museum
Dairy Supply Co.
Smith’s umbrellas
Lavers & Barraud
Underground station
27–29 Long Acre
Street names
The Coliseum
Pedestrian signage
St Martin’s Schools
St Martin’s/Fields
Sainsbury Wing
Further reading
Background
Credits
Image bibliography
Exploiting context
01

St Pancras station

At the time of preparing this, St Pancras is currently being redeveloped in readiness for becoming London’s second Eurostar terminal. [note St Pancras station buildings were designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott for the Midland Railway from 1868–76 and front a single-span train shed of 1866–8 by F H Barlow & R M Ordish. The Eurostar terminal will include a new Underground ticket office under the station forecourt and involve the moving of the gasworks to the north of King’s Cross station.]

In addition to a few much older examples, there still remain traces of the Design Research Unit’s British Rail corporate identity of 1964. This used the Rail Alphabet designed by Jock Kinneir & Margaret Calvert. A sans serif typeface, it was designed as a tiled system to enable correctly spaced signs to be assembled by untrained staff.

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Older lettering
BR Rail Alphabet

All stills for St Pancras station

Older lettering

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Carved lettering presumably from 1873. This is similar in feel to that used at Lavers & Barraud.

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Steel silhouette letters above steps up from St Pancras Road to the raised forecourt. This area is now closed off while a new Underground ticket office is built.

BR Rail Alphabet

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British Rail signs. The top five slats show the system as designed with blue arrows which visually balance with the black Rail Alphabet by Kinneir Calvert. Slat six dates from the 1980s and includes a short-lived Network South East colour bar along its lower edge.

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British Rail signs as modified in the late 1980s and features dark grey arrows which visually dominate.