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Holborn Viaduct railway station

Disused railway stations in the City of LondonFormer London, Chatham and Dover Railway stationsFormer buildings and structures in the City of LondonRailway stations in Great Britain closed in 1990Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1874
Railway termini in LondonUse British English from July 2017
Holborn Viaduct 8 77
Holborn Viaduct 8 77

Holborn Viaduct was a railway station in the City of London, providing local and commuter services. It was located to the southeast of Holborn Viaduct, and east of Farringdon Street. The station was opened in 1874 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to alleviate increased usage of the nearby Ludgate Hill station. It was originally a through station, with services continuing through the Snow Hill Tunnel to Farringdon and King's Cross. Passenger services through the tunnel ceased in 1916, and consequently Holborn Viaduct became a terminal station. The short distance between itself and Ludgate Hill saw the latter being closed in 1929. Holborn Viaduct station became less used through the 20th century, serving a few local commuting services around southeast London and Kent. The station became redundant with the creation of the Thameslink service in the late 1980s, and was closed in 1990 under British Rail, being effectively replaced at the same location by St. Paul's Thameslink station (later renamed City Thameslink).

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Holborn Viaduct railway station (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Holborn Viaduct railway station
Bear Alley, City of London

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Wikipedia: Holborn Viaduct railway stationContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.5162 ° E -0.1036 °
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Holborn Viaduct

Bear Alley
EC4A 4HH City of London
England, United Kingdom
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Holborn Viaduct 8 77
Holborn Viaduct 8 77
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Cock Lane ghost
Cock Lane ghost

The Cock Lane ghost was a purported haunting that attracted mass public attention in 1762. The location was a lodging in Cock Lane, a short road adjacent to London's Smithfield market and a few minutes' walk from St Paul's Cathedral. The event centred on three people: William Kent, a usurer from Norfolk; Richard Parsons, a parish clerk; and Parsons' daughter Elizabeth. Following the death during childbirth of Kent's wife, Elizabeth Lynes, he became romantically involved with her sister, Fanny. Canon law prevented the couple from marrying, but they nevertheless moved to London and lodged at the property in Cock Lane, then owned by Parsons. Several accounts of strange knocking sounds and ghostly apparitions were reported, although for the most part they stopped after the couple moved out, but following Fanny's death from smallpox and Kent's successful legal action against Parsons over an outstanding debt, they resumed. Parsons claimed that Fanny's ghost haunted his property and later his daughter. Regular séances were held to determine "Scratching Fanny's" motives; Cock Lane was often made impassable by the throngs of interested bystanders. The ghost appeared to claim that Fanny had been poisoned with arsenic and Kent was publicly suspected of being her murderer. But a commission whose members included Samuel Johnson concluded that the supposed haunting was a fraud. Further investigations proved the scam was perpetrated by Elizabeth Parsons, under duress from her father. Those responsible were prosecuted and found guilty; Richard Parsons was pilloried and sentenced to two years in prison. The Cock Lane ghost became a focus of controversy between the Methodist and Anglican churches and is referenced frequently in contemporary literature. Charles Dickens is one of several Victorian authors whose work alluded to the story and the pictorial satirist William Hogarth referenced the ghost in two of his prints.

Snow Hill tunnel (London)
Snow Hill tunnel (London)

Snow Hill tunnel is a railway tunnel on the northern edge of the City of London which carries the up and down Snow Hill lines between City Thameslink and Farringdon stations. The tunnel runs beneath the Smithfield meat market and was constructed, using the cut-and-cover method, immediately prior to the building of the market. The tunnel opened on 1 January 1866. Snow Hill tunnel was constructed by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LC&DR) to connect its line from Herne Hill to the recently opened Metropolitan Railway's Widened Lines, south of Farringdon station. To the north-west, the Widened Lines in turn connected to the tracks of the Great Northern Railway at King's Cross, and the Midland Railway at St Pancras, via tunnels running beneath the two main line termini. Snow Hill tunnel thus provided the crucial link in the only north–south railway route through central London, enabling a number of main line railway companies to run cross-London passenger and goods services. In 1871, an additional, eastwards tunnel was opened, which had connection to the Metropolitan Railway's tracks, enabling trains from the south to also serve Aldersgate (now Barbican) and Moorgate Street (now Moorgate) stations. The eastward curve also connected to an extensive Great Western Railway goods station beneath Smithfield market (now a car park). This Smithfield Curve (which had a very tight radius and could not be used by bogie stock) closed in 1916. The goods station, like those of the GNR, Midland Railway and the Metropolitan Railway, all located nearby, is no longer in use. A station, also named Snow Hill, was opened in the tunnel in 1874, providing an interchange with the LC&DR's adjacent terminus at Holborn Viaduct station. Snow Hill station closed in 1916, although the tunnel remained in use for goods traffic until the end of the 1960s. The tracks were lifted in 1971 and the tunnel was abandoned for fifteen years until works began in 1986 to bring the north–south route back into operation as part of the Thameslink route. New tracks were laid in 1988 and services reopened in 1990. Initially, it was expected that a new station would be built at the site, but this was transferred to what is now City Thameslink (originally called St Paul's Thameslink). The southern end of the tunnel was originally adjacent to Holborn Viaduct station, with trains running on viaduct between there and Blackfriars. As part of the Thameslink works, the viaduct was demolished and replaced with a new section of cut and cover tunnel running most of the way to Blackfriars, incorporating City Thameslink station. To provide clearance for the new tunnel below, road levels at the western end of Ludgate Hill and in the adjacent junction of Ludgate Circus were raised several feet. In 2008, a report by the Planning Inspectorate into a proposed development of the General Market Building, stated that the tunnel structure, known as "the lids", urgently required either repair or replacement. The tunnel lids are supported by girders which have deteriorated due to steam exhaust gases and, more recently, wet conditions resulting from failed waterproofing of the decks above. However, Network Rail maintained that the condition of the structure was not dissimilar to many others of the same age on the network, and is comfortable that it is safe as it currently stands.