Vaults of 1839 

The first vaults to be constructed at Camden Town Depot were those under the locomotive engine house, built by William & Lewis Cubitt in 1837. The stationary winding engine vaults, built by the same contractor over 1836-7, were completed at about the same time. The goods sidings were supported on a complex of vaults and retained embankments that provided goods storage and stabling. There are few descriptions of this first phase of development and only a small part survives under the NLR at Horse Tunnel Market. 

Serpentine walls were constructed in the area of what is now Stables Yard over 1837-9. The purpose of these walls was to retain a multiple-lobed embankment for the rail sidings in the goods terminus area. The sidings were supported at least in part with vaults rather than earth. The vaults under the approach stem and those supporting the No. 1 Goods Shed, on the southern side of the stem, were arranged to fit within these lobed sidings.  George Scharf, a keen observer of the changing face of London in the first half of the 19th century, made what appears to be the only sketch of the construction of the rail sidings of the Goods Depot in June 1837. His sketch, looking west from what is presumed to have been the offices, shows the retaining walls for the goods sidings with Hampstead Road on the right. It would appear to have been drawn from at least a three storey building, perhaps enhanced to give a bird's eye impression. The rail approach to the Goods Depot was directly in line with the artist’s view and goods wagons would be turned into the sidings along the ‘fingers’ created by the foundation vaults. 

The sketch clearly shows the elevation of the railway level above street level in the right foreground. It also shows some earth deposited inside the walls, and shafts for manholes to a sewer that was laid down the centre line. The curved external batter of the walls in the foreground, with counterfort buttresses to their rear, is the characteristic style used at that time for retaining earth. The boundary wall along the Hampstead Road was smaller than the road we now see as it was not required to retain higher land behind.


The vaults are constructed of red brick on concrete footings. The main span of the vaults was 12 ft (3.7 m), the distance between pairs of rail tracks. In the direction of the rails, the modular distance of the arched openings was 10 ft (3.0 m), made up of arches 6 ft 3 in (1.9 m) wide and arch piers 3 ft 9 in (1.1 m) wide. Drawings show a height of 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m) from ground level to the level of the rails. The height of the major arches is 11 ft 10 in (3.6 m), and that of the side openings is 7 ft 3 in (2.2 m). 

A photograph of the vaults in 1987 shows how the rough paving of the vaults has been locally smoothed off along a main access route for the passage of barrows and possibly horses. 

Vaults of 1847 

The rectangular grid of tunnel vaults at the rear of Stables Yard was constructed in 1846-7 as the substructure of a Construction Shop intended for the repair of railway wagons under the supervision of Edward Bury as locomotive superintendent. This was part of a larger scheme of works that was drawn up by the L&BR’s resident engineer, Robert Dockray. The building measured 435 ft (133 m) by 70 ft (21 m) and was covered by a roof in two spans. It was built by George Branson and Edwin Gwyther of Birmingham, who tendered £12,366-15s for the Construction Shop, including the vaults. 

The area of the vaults was quoted as 43,340 ft² (4026 m²) viz. 25 vaults over a length of about 435 ft (133 m) and a depth from front to back of 95 to 105 feet (29 to 32 m), or about an acre (0.4 hectare). The numbers of arches and their alignment remains clearly discernible today, despite much alteration over several phases. The main arches have a 14 ft 3 in (4.3 m) clear span, and are 12 ft (3.7 m) from ground level to the crown with 3 ft (0.9 m) piers (see picture).