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The article on Maida Vale station at
Unfinished buildings.org speculates that the developer of the two parades of shops on each side of Elgin Avenue anticipated the construction of the station by building the fireplaces on the first floor in advance. I have left the link but commented it as speculation and probably wrong for the following reasons:
The architectural style of the adjacent buildings on Elgin Avenue appears to be more in keeping with the
1880s or
1890s (which would be consistent with when most of the area around the station was developed) rather than the first or second decade of the
20th century. The parades of shops were thus, most probably built between 15 and 35 years before the station and, most probably, long before any plans had been made for the Bakerloo Line.
Developer's simply do not build in this way. The fireplaces visible in the picture on the Unfinished buildings.org site do not indicate that the developer anticipated a later structure by building part of it in advance; they are the remnants of a three storey building that was demolished so that the station could be built:
The reason the fireplace openings were left in place is that the end wall of the now demolished building and the end wall of the existing parade of shops were built flush against one another. To make a neat job of the demolition by removing the final, thin layer of bricks that formed the end wall of the demolished building could have damaged the end wall of the parade leaving the owners of the Bakerloo Line liable for repairs. Leaving the final skin of bricks from the demolished building in place avoided this risk.
Also, because of the difficulty of building a brick wall neatly against an existing structure (it is impossible to ensure that the mortar is properly pointed), if the parade had been built after the demolished building, the end wall of the parade, had it been exposed by the demolition, might have been found to be of a poor standard requiring repointing or re-skinning to ensure it was made weatherproof. Again this would have been the responsibility of the Bakerloo Line owners. Again, leaving the final skin of bricks from the demolished building in place avoided this problem
The images from the
London Transport Museum Photographic Archive show the structure of the wall more clearly, and it can be seen that the front and rear edges of the wall show the "toothed" effect where the alternate courses of bricks from the front and rear wall have been removed.
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Trains, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to
rail transport on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can visit the
project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the
discussion. See also:
WikiProject Trains to do list and the
Trains Portal.TrainsWikipedia:WikiProject TrainsTemplate:WikiProject Trainsrail transport articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject London, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
London on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.LondonWikipedia:WikiProject LondonTemplate:WikiProject LondonLondon-related articles
The article on Maida Vale station at
Unfinished buildings.org speculates that the developer of the two parades of shops on each side of Elgin Avenue anticipated the construction of the station by building the fireplaces on the first floor in advance. I have left the link but commented it as speculation and probably wrong for the following reasons:
The architectural style of the adjacent buildings on Elgin Avenue appears to be more in keeping with the
1880s or
1890s (which would be consistent with when most of the area around the station was developed) rather than the first or second decade of the
20th century. The parades of shops were thus, most probably built between 15 and 35 years before the station and, most probably, long before any plans had been made for the Bakerloo Line.
Developer's simply do not build in this way. The fireplaces visible in the picture on the Unfinished buildings.org site do not indicate that the developer anticipated a later structure by building part of it in advance; they are the remnants of a three storey building that was demolished so that the station could be built:
The reason the fireplace openings were left in place is that the end wall of the now demolished building and the end wall of the existing parade of shops were built flush against one another. To make a neat job of the demolition by removing the final, thin layer of bricks that formed the end wall of the demolished building could have damaged the end wall of the parade leaving the owners of the Bakerloo Line liable for repairs. Leaving the final skin of bricks from the demolished building in place avoided this risk.
Also, because of the difficulty of building a brick wall neatly against an existing structure (it is impossible to ensure that the mortar is properly pointed), if the parade had been built after the demolished building, the end wall of the parade, had it been exposed by the demolition, might have been found to be of a poor standard requiring repointing or re-skinning to ensure it was made weatherproof. Again this would have been the responsibility of the Bakerloo Line owners. Again, leaving the final skin of bricks from the demolished building in place avoided this problem
The images from the
London Transport Museum Photographic Archive show the structure of the wall more clearly, and it can be seen that the front and rear edges of the wall show the "toothed" effect where the alternate courses of bricks from the front and rear wall have been removed.