Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

GREAT UNDERPINNING ACHIEVEMENTS. 317 Only one railway station has been built under a church in this country, and that is the Bank Station of the City and South London Railway, the first electric line opened in the Metropolis. The original City terminus of this Company was at the A bold and singularly competent group of men were the engineers—the late Sir Ben- jamin Baker, Mr. David Hay, and Mr. Basil Mott—and they gave the most positive assur- ance that the task could be completed with- Building a Railway Sta = tion under a Church. Monument, but when it was decided to make an extension to Moorgate Street, and thence to Islington (sub- sequently to King’s Cross and Euston), a station near the Bank of England became im- perative. Land in such a position has long been at what may be termed a fabulous price, and th© only spot that could be discovered where the new station might be con- veniently placed was below the Church of St. Mary Wool- noth of the Nativity, standing at the corner of King William Street and Lombard Street. At the beginning the directors offered to buy the church out- right, and the price mentioned was sufficient to have enabled the trustees to erect several similar edifices elsewhere. The church was erected by Nicholas Hawksmoor, a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren, and completed in 1727. Possess- ing characteristics which differ from those of every other church in London, the original bold and beauti- ful type it embodies has always been admired ; but the congregation is now small. The authorities, however, declined the terms of the railway company, who had no alternative but that of asking their engineers to con- struct the station under the church. ST. MARY WOOLNOTH—MAIN GIRDERS AND CROSS NEEDLE GIRDERS SUPPORTING A GROUP OF COLUMNS. The ends of needle girders used for supporting the south wall are also shown. out imperilling the fabric in the smallest de- gree. They were as good as their word; though the church was by no means so sound in condition as was generally supposed. Indeed, one of the engineers told the writer that he could have put his umbrella through the roof in several places. Nevertheless, twin