The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-30 00:00:00

RAILWAY EYE-SORES.

The Secretary of the London, Chatham, and Dover Rail-
way—a railway whose measure of usefulness may be
gathered from the fact that its shares are at more than 60
per cent. discount—has attempted to defend the proposed
unsightly ext nsion of this enterprise across Ludgate-hill
on the ground that it was not opposed by the local residents
in 1860. Three years ago, the public were not so well ac-
quainted with the working of metropolitan railways as they
are now, and had come to no definite opinion as to the form
these constructions ought to take. The experience
gained by the sight of such structures as now dis-
figure the Waterloo and Blackfriars' Roads, and the dismal
leaden-looking tank which is raised across the mouth of the
Borough, have determined the public to tolerate none but
strictly underground railways. The expense of a few thou-
sands, more or less, or the crotchets of a few interested
engineers and contractors, are as nothing to weigh in the
scale against the preservation of Louden from further dis-
figurement. Our City has too little beauty to spare, and
is already too much the laughing-stock of critical
foreigners, to be given up without a struggle to rail-
way vandalism. In tolerating a railway project of
this kind. we shall not be really going forward in
what is rather showily called the "path of progress,"
but returning to things which were practically got
rid of by our forefathers. More than 100 years ago, the
old lud-gate or arch, which spanned Ludgate-hill, was
taken down in compliance with the wishes of the inhabi-
tants, and now it is proposed to erect a viaduct in its place
only 18 feet high, which is certainly going backwards with
a vengeance. The secretary of the London, Chatham,
and Dover Railway—the railway at 60 per cent, discount
—may promise an ornamental obstruction, bat there
are several reasons why such a promise should
not be accepted. In the first place, the obstruction is not
necessary, as a dozen eminent engineers and contractors
are ready to show; in the second place, no amount of
high art plastering can make a real obstruction bearable;
in the third place, the public has too much cause to
distrust the taste of engineer-architects, when it looks
at what they have done in South Kensington and
other quarters; in the fourth place, it objects to the
destruction of houses, and the consequent rise
in rents, which are inseparable from all metro-
politan railway operations above ground; and, in the fifth
place, it objects to any structure which must inevitably im-
pede the traffic circulation of so crowded a thoroughfare as
Ludgate-hill, which often has to affird a passage to more
than 7,000 vehicles within an hour. A thoroughfare like
this is too important to be given up, bound hand and foot,
to the mercies of an unscrupulous tenth-rate railway. The
proposal to facilitate the widening of the mouth of Lud •
gate-hill will be no recompense for the obstruction, as the
chief pressure of the traffic is felt higher up, where the
roadway is most narrow.
If the House of Lords should grant this railway company
all the powers which, by surreptitious clauses and all the
pettifogging arts of Parliamentary warfare, it is striving to
obtain, a most dangerous precedent will be established.
When the principal thoroughfare in the City is handed over
to the railway Goths, no other thoroughfare will long be
safe, and London will soon become, like Birmingham or
Manchester, a mere city of viaducts. The question whether
this main thoroughfare of London, from east to west, is
to bo permanently disfigured by a hideous railway-
arch is not merely a local question. It is one that interests
not only the millions who dwell in and about the City, but
every visitor to the metropolis. The view of St. Paul's from
the foot of Fleet-street is not the private property of a few
dwellers upon Ludgate-hill, but of almost every man,
woman, and child in the country. A LONDONER.

TIIE PROPOSED RAILWAY VIADUCT ACROSS
LUDGATE-HILL.

The following letter, on the subject of the proposed rail-
way viaduct across Ludgate-hill, has been addressed to in-
dividual members of the House of Lords :
As occupiers and proprietors of houses in Ludgate-hill and
neighbourhood, in the city of London, we respectfully beg
leave to call your lordship's attention to the inconvenience
aaa daub- et or ate new raiiwayviaduct proposed to be carried
across that important thoroughfare, by a company now
seeking for the sanction of Parliament ; and, in so doing, we
beg to assure your lordship that we believe ourselves to be
expressing, not only the views of ourselves and others
whose interests are directly affected by the scheme in ques-
tion, but also those of the inhabitants of the metropolis ge-
nerally.
Your lordship is aware that in 1860 the London, Chat-
ham, and Dover Railway Company obtained an act of Par-
liament, empowering them, amongst a number of other pro-
jects, to form such a viaduct as is now proposed, at a height
of 18 feet from the ground. Though these powers were not
obtained without considerable opposition, the subject of the
introduction of railways into crowded portions of the metro-
polis had, at that time, received but little attention from the
Legislature, and could scarcely be said to have drawn forth
an expression of public opinion. It is, indeed, only within
the last few months that the rapid ex' ension of such schemes,
coupled with the practical illustration of their consequences
afforded by the inconvenient, dangerous, and unsightly via-
ducts rec-ntly built over important thoroughfares, has
brought this subject prominently before the notice ofPar-
liament, and has particularly elicited a powerful expression
of opinion from some of the mast distinguished members of
your lordship's house. It has been perceived that these
schemes have been laid down without any settled plan or
approach to conjoint action, and rather with a view to the
interests of particular companies, or for the carrying on of
a wasteful competition with existing lines, than with that
regard for the public interests which is the only ground of
their applications to the Legislature for special powers and
privileges.
The London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
does not appear to have been free from these acknowledged
evils attendant upon the development of railway enterprise.
Nearly every portion of its extensive system of lines is en-
gaged in a disastrous rivalry with railways of earlier con-
struction, serving the same, or nearly the same, districts;
and so low is the publicfaith in its prospects that its shares,
upon which £lOO have been paid, are at present sold in
the markets at lets then £4O, indicating a settled opinion
among investors that more than three-fifths of the entire
capital of the company have been expended unproductively.
Under these circumstances the company appear to have, in
reality, abandoned their scheme lor carrying their line north-
ward of Earl-street, Blackfriars, including their proposed
viaduct across Ludgate-hill. The time allowed for the com-
pulsory purchase of land for the construction of this portion
of the line is limited by the company's act to August, 1863,
and the time for the completion of the undertaking to
August, 1865. But the company are now confessedly un-
able to proceed with such purchase, or with the construc-
tion of this portion of their project, a clause having been
inserted by them in a bill (clause 17, No. 1 bill) now before
Parliament, praying for the extension of these periods to
August, 1865, and August, 1867, respectively; while by
another bill also before Parliament it appears that the Lon-
don, Chatham, and Dover Company have privately con-
sented to relinquish their powers fur the construction of all
this portion of their original scheme to an entirely Lew coin
pany, formed under the title of the Ludgate Station and
Juncti en Railway Company, who are now seeking powers
for a similar, but, as we conceive, an even more objectionable
project.

- The subject of the proposed railway and viaduct being thus
brought entirely anew before the consideration of the Legis-
lature, and the Ludgate Station and Junction Company's
scheme having been recently referred to a committee of your
Lordship's House, an opportunity has arisen fur the re-con-
sideratien of the subject by the light of the experience which
has been gained during the three years which have elapsed
since the London, Chatham, and Dover Company obtained
their bill : and we therefore respectfully beg leave to sub-
mit to your lordship our reasons for objecting to the a-
o-
posed undertaking in its present form. The ancient Lud
Gate, which originally spanned the thoroughfare called Lud-
gate-hill, was removed in 1760, at the solicitation of the in-
habitants of Farringdon Within or Farringdon Without,
having been found a serious obstruction even to the compa-
ratively small traffic of those days. At the present time a
viaduct crossing this crowded thoroughfare must be far more
productive of injury to trade, inconvenience, annoyance,
and danger, and will greatly disfigure this portion of the
City. It will shut out from public view the noble Cathedral
of St, Paul, and will effectually prevent the widening of the
street at any future title, From the already crowded state
c
of Ludgate-hill and the steepness of its descent accidents
are of frequent occurrence; b
as it does, to obtain powers tonomtlypacnloysePraollpoostilnieg;
yuetr 1 then ane
streets, roads, and alleys running east and west for a consi •
derable distance, it may be expected that the railway will
still further largely increase the traffic in this thoroughfare,
while the lowness of the viaduct will bring passing trains
and engines so close to the heads of the horses that a great
augmentation of danger to life and property may be ex-
pected. On the other hand, it is the opinion of competent
authorities, including Mr. Tile, that the proposed viaduct
is wholly unnecessary, and that the railway may be con.
veyed with ease, and at an inconsiderable addition to tho
cost of the undertaking, under Ludgate hill by means of a
tunnel.

We have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most humble and
Most obedient servants,
(Signed) F. K. GLOVER,
JOHN GRAHAM,
CHAS. SAMUELS,
J. W. BENSON,
Committee-room, 12, Ludgate-street, HENRY GILBERTSON,
GE,
THOS. TRELOAR, Hon SOC.,
Committee for the Preservation of Ludgate-hill.
April 27, 1863.
gaiiteE:Bl:eEet,RE:T:ED

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