Editing King's Cross, London (section)

===Development and the name "King's Cross"===
[[File:St Pancras and Battle Bridge.png|thumb|The countryside north of Bloomsbury and Holborn, with the hamlets of St Pancras and Battle Bridge, on [[John Rocque]]'s map of London (1746)]]
[[File:King's Cross statue of George IV.jpg|thumb|upright|The 19th century monument to George IV, since demolished, that gave the area its name]]
The [[John Rocque's Map of London, 1746|Roque map of 1746]] shows the area as entirely undeveloped; however, the opening of the new [[Euston Road]] (originally ''New Road'') in 1756 opened the area up for development. The current name has its origin in [[King's Cross (building)|a monument]] to [[George IV of the United Kingdom|King George IV]] which stood from 1830 to 1845 at "the king's crossroads" where New Road (later [[Euston Road]]), [[Gray's Inn Road]], and [[Pentonville Road]] met.<ref name="Mills">{{cite book | last = Mills | first = A. D. | title = A dictionary of London place names | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford | year = 2001 | isbn = 0192801066 }}</ref> The monument was {{Convert | 60 | ft | m |spell = in }} high and topped by an {{Convert | 11 | ft | m | spell = in | adj = mid |-high}} statue of the king; it was described by [[George Walter Thornbury|Walter Thornbury]] as "a ridiculous octagonal structure crowned by an absurd statue".<ref name="thornbury"/> The statue itself, which cost no more than £25, was constructed of bricks and mortar, and finished in a manner that gave it the appearance of stone "at least to the eyes of common spectators".<ref name=gmam>{{cite magazine|magazine=The Gentleman's Magazine|title=The Architectural Magazine, conducted by J.C. Loudon F.L.S. &c. Vol. III. Nos. XXIII. to XXX.|pages=627–8|year=1836|volume=6 (new series)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VTVOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA628}} quoting ''The Architectural Magazine''</ref>  The architect was [[Stephen Geary]],<ref name=survey>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=65569 |title=Euston Road |author=Walter H. Godfrey and W. McB. Marcham (editors) |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1952 |work=Survey of London: volume 24: The parish of St Pancras part 4: King’s Cross Neighbourhood |access-date=24 May 2012 }}</ref> who exhibited a model of "the Kings Cross" at the Royal Academy in 1830.<ref>{{cite book |author=Algernon Graves |title=The Royal Academy: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors from its Foundations in 1769 to 1904 |volume=4|year= 1905 |publisher= Henry Graves|location=London  |page=220}}</ref> The upper storey was used as a [[camera obscura]] while the base housed first a police station, and later a public house. The unpopular building was demolished in 1845, though the area kept the name of King's Cross.<ref name="thornbury"/> A structure in the form of a [[lighthouse]] was built on top of a building almost on the site about 30 years later. Known locally as the "Lighthouse Building", the structure was popularly thought to be an advertisement for Netten's Oyster Bar on the ground floor, but this seems not to be true.<ref>[http://www.glias.org.uk/news/186news.html#L Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society newsletter, February 2000]. Glias.org.uk (27 December 1999). Retrieved on 30 July 2013.</ref> It is a grade II listed building.<ref>[http://mycamden.camden.gov.uk/gdw/T/ListedBuildingDetail?LbNo=655&xsl=ListedBuildingDetail.xsl ''Listed building details'', Camden Council] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514111809/http://mycamden.camden.gov.uk/gdw/T/ListedBuildingDetail?LbNo=655&xsl=ListedBuildingDetail.xsl |date=14 May 2012 }}. Mycamden.camden.gov.uk. Retrieved on 30 July 2013.</ref>