2023北京国际设计周

Once Upon A Time – Farringdon Station

For the 10th anniversary Clerkenwell Design Week would like to celebrate the history of the area, Clerkenwell is full of rich historical tales from wife sales to prison escapes. In May 2019 we want to bring these stories to life by creating vinyl manifestations along the route. Not only will the artworks themselves be inspired by the history, CDW has teamed up with Lansdown’s London to run tours during the festival.

CDW selected x6 locations for the project with significant historical stories. Out of the x6 locations, students were assigned x1 to design for. The design target must’ve inspired and told the story of the historical tale allocated.

Location One – Farringdon Station

At first, underground railway trains were steam trains. Farringdon Station opened on the 10^th of January 1863, as the terminus of the world’s first underground railway, which ran from Paddington to Farringdon via Baker Street and Kings Cross.

People would have travelled her by tube to see Britain’s last public hanging (Michael Barratt) in 1868 The station initially named Farringdon Street, was originally a short distance from the present station building.

Originally called the Metropolitan Railway it gave the name “metro” to subsequent underground railways throughout the world.

Before it opened it was nick named “the sewer train” by the press. The Fleet sewer, which runs alongside the line in the Farringdon area, had to be culverted (put into a pipe) in order to construct the railway and it burst spectacularly onto the line on at least two occasions during construction.

Farringdon will be a major intersection on the new Elizabeth Line (Crossrail).

See our other location, House of Detention, where many travelled to Farringdon to see the last public hanging in England.

Anya Mandal