St Pancras Chambers - Tour
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In the Entrance Hall, look around the room and note the range of materials and decorative
techniques that you will see on your visit. On the floor are patterns of Minton tiles; on the
ceiling some of the original stencil decoration has been uncovered, and around the hall are
columns of honey-coloured Ancaster stone, Red Mansfield Sandstone and Polished Limestone.
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The Coffee Lounge must once have been one of the most impressive rooms in the building. The
highly decorated lounge had richly textured wallpaper on the panels between the columns, which are
alternatively 'Red Devonshire' and 'Green Connemara' polished limestone. They must have looked
stunning before they were painted over: Small areas of paint have been carefully stripped away
to reveal the polished stone. The ceiling plasterwork is amazingly intricate. The holes in the
ceiling and the differently painted wall areas show the effect of later office use with a suspended
ceiling, installed to save heating costs.
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Walk up the Grand Staircase to the first floor. This is one of the finest staircases in the
country. It was originally lit by Skidmore's gas lighting and converted to electric in the 1880's.
The metal columns on the staircase were hollow gas pipes; the upper parts have since been removed
and the holes sealed.
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The Wilton Axminster carpet that was designed for the staircase has survived, and is preserved elsewhere
in the building. Lifts, or "ascending chambers" as they were called, were originally operated by
hydraulic power, apart from the hand operated food lifts.
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One the first floor landing a Chaucerian scene from the "Romance of the Rose" is the only canvas
mural left in the building. It was painted by Thomas Wallis Hay who carried out a great deal of work
in the 1880's.
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Take the right hand corridor, noting one of the old Victorian radiators on your left. Parts of the
building were centrally heated by steam boilers in the basements, while the bedrooms had only coal
burning fires. In winter it was a very labour intensive task keeping the hundred of fires fed.
On the right. a fine example of the art of stencilling has been uncovered: just imagine the effect
of this throughout the corridor.
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In the 1890's the Ladies' Drawing Room became known as the Ladies' Smoking Room and was the
first in London. Slightly shocking for the age - Ladies smoking, and in public! The room was
equipped with an electrophone which linked quests by telephone to the Queen's Hall and other London
halls and churches. A men's room elsewhere has a column printer that relayed news from the Stock
Exchange and racing results.
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Walk through into the dining room, which is now divided into two parts. Leading onto the Balconies
were French windows, later replaced by the present windows. The kitchens were in the basement, and
food was bought to this floor by hand-operated hoists. As in the Coffee Lounge immediately below,
the ceiling and plasterwork is exquisite.
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Walk back to the landing and to the top of the Grand Staircase. The paintings have been
extensively restored, by removing up to seven layers of varnish and accumulated grime. Painted
between September 1876 and February 1877, they are the work of Andrew Benjamin Donaldson, who worked
for Gillow. Standing with your back to the rail and look at the panel of the Virtues: they are, from
left to right - Humility, Liberality, Industry, Chastity, Temperance, Truth, Charity and Patience.
In the middle is the first Coat of Arms of the Midlands Railway which incorporates features from the
arms of some of the cities it served. Top row (left to right) are Birmingham, Derby, Bristol; bottom row
(left to right) are Leicester, Lincoln and Leeds. Note the carvings of the Wyvern, the heraldic beast
that was adopted as the symbol of the Midland Railway, appear on various parts of the building.
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