The Euston Arch, the entrance to Euston…

The Euston Arch, the entrance to Euston Station in North Central London, designed by the well-known classically trained architect Philip Hardwick, is inspired by Greek architecture Hardwick had encountered on a trip to Italy in 1818 and 1819.

It is not, in the strict sense, an arch, but a propylaeum of the Doric order, the largest ever built.

The sandstone structure is designed for the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) constructed by Robert Stephenson, mirroring Curzon Street Station, Birmingham, at the other end of the company's mainline.

The arch is to be not only a fitting gateway to the north, but to the completely new world that the railway is to open up.