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Cannon
Street station, one of three stations set on the north bank
of the Thames, is in the heart of London's financial district.
Built for the South Eastern Railway,
the station was constructed, with its hotel, in 1865 - 67.
The station's cast-iron roof was supported on walls that matched
the design of the train-shed side of the hotel.
Designed by the engineer Sir
John Hawkshaw, the train-shed, like that at Charing Cross,
was roofed without internal supports. Until St Pancras
was completed in 1868 these were the largest roofs of their
kind. The vast Cannon Street Hotel was designed by E
M Barry, and for the first half of the the 20th century the
hotel was used as offices but after World War II the building
was demolished. Only the stone towers and the immense
brick walls of the train-shed survived.
The South Eastern Railway merged
with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to become the South
Eastern and Chatham. This railway was the sworn enemy of the
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, based at London
Bridge Station.
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