St. Pancras Station, general view of the train shed from the south-east (photo)

Railway platforms were laid out above storage and distribution facilities for Bass, the Burton-on-Trent brewers; this decision was necessitated by the requirement to run above the canal a short distance north of the station. It was designed by W H Barlow, and opened in 1868. For decades in the later part of the C20, its survival was under threat, but eventually it was decided that the HS1 Eurostar Channel Tunnel service would make it the London terminus. The ground floor storage depot has now been converted into a shopping mall. In its new gruise the station was formally opened in November 2007.