London’s Lost Grand Central: Forgotten 1853 Station Plans Unveiled

The sweeping arches of New York’s Grand Central are instantly recognisable worldwide — but a similar landmark could once have stood in the heart of London.

Architectural drawings by Perceval Parsons, shelved for 172 years, reveal ambitious plans for a vast Thames-side station linking the capital’s railways. Created in 1853 and now being publicly offered for the first time, the proposal would have dramatically reshaped the city’s landscape.

Parsons envisioned the station at Great Scotland Yard, near today’s Embankment station, with an ornate façade stretching 800 feet (245 metres). Inside, a grand hall of 300 feet would greet passengers, flanked by pay offices for each railway line. The design featured eight arrival and eight departure platforms.

Describing the project as relatively inexpensive, Parsons noted the site was largely disused sheds and marshland giving off “anything but agreeable or wholesome odours”. He argued the station would solve London’s pressing need for a central hub connecting its growing railway network and suburbs.

Parsons’ plan for the proposed terminal. Photograph: Jarndyce

The scheme won backing from Robert Stephenson, son of railway pioneer George Stephenson. But enthusiasm waned as the Crimean War diverted funds, and the idea faded into obscurity.

The original prospectus — complete with large folded maps — is being offered for £1,450 as part of a new railway catalogue compiled by Jarndyce antiquarian booksellers, on display at this week’s York book fair. Other highlights include letters from George Stephenson (1834) and Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1838), along with early timetables, guides, and manuscripts.

The 1840s “railway mania” had spurred numerous central London station proposals, but most collapsed after the 1847 banking crisis. A royal commission in 1846 further discouraged central terminals, leading instead to the birth of the underground system in 1860.

Parsons’ planned line would have run from Brentford through Hammersmith, Kensington, and Chelsea, cutting across Victoria Street, Westminster, and under the arches of Hungerford and Waterloo bridges. He proposed reclaiming the muddy riverbanks with a solid embankment to house the “grand Central Station”.

As railway historian Christian Wolmar notes, most stations of the 1840s were built outside central London due to the prohibitive costs of tunnelling into the city.

The rediscovered drawings also coincide with the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington railway — the world’s first public passenger line, opened on 27 September 1825, where 40,000 spectators watched Locomotion No 1 pull the inaugural train.