Eastern Coal Drops at Kings Cross Goods Yard

The Eastern Coal Drops at King’s Cross Goods Yard are a significant example of a 1851-1852 railway structure, likely designed by Lewis Cubitt. Later in the 19th century, the southern section was converted into a warehouse. The northern coal-handling bays suffered fire damage in 1985.

The building is constructed of multi-coloured stock brick with a framework of cast-iron columns and beams within each bay. It has a slated hipped roof. The overall plan is oblong, with two storeys and a mezzanine level.

The south elevation features a single-storey extension above which is the main building, exhibiting four lunettes. Recessed oblong panels are set below, and brick pilasters support the iron gable end. The eastern elevation contains segmental-headed ground-floor openings, acting as cart loading bays. The brickwork of the arches has been extended and linked to create the impression of an arcading with inset cast-iron Tuscan columns. Small-paned, metal-framed windows are present, and occasional flat circular patterns decorate the brickwork of the spandrels. The mezzanine floor has half-length segmental-arched windows, topped by a brick cornice that breaks at the window heads. The second floor, at railway level, features shallow blind brick arcading, with lunettes within the arch heads and recessed oblong panels at the base of each arch. The western elevation mirrors this arcading, with the visible remains of a railway line on a round-arched viaduct at the top floor level.

The interior contains massive timber framing to support the railway tracks at the upper level and storage hoppers on the mezzanine. The roof is an open composite truss structure with timber tie-beams, rafters, collars, and struts, as well as single iron rods extending from the apex. Queen posts of wrought-iron are also present. Wrought-iron plates secure joints, and cast-iron brackets support the principal rafters, which are formed of two timbers joined at collar height.

Historically, the coal drops formed part of a system for distributing coal from the north-east and Yorkshire to the London market. Originally, four high-level railway tracks ran across the structure, allowing waggons to discharge coal into storage bins on the mezzanine floor above the cart-loading bays. A waggon traverser was located at the southern end, enabling empty waggons to be transferred to a wooden viaduct to the west. Road access is at a lower level than the drops.