What Is Paddington Station?
This station was built to be the London terminus of the Great Western Railway, and is also the namesake of a famous literary bear!
What Makes It Historical?
The Great Western Railway was the idea of merchants in Bristol who wanted to compete with the ports of Liverpool for business! With the passing of the Great Western Railway Act in 1835, the routing of the line connecting Bristol to London fell to 27-year old Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who controversially chose a route that didn’t have many stops in order to maximize the speed between Bristol and London! While the line moved west, Mr. Brunel planned for London’s terminus station to be at Paddington. First, a temporary, economical station opened on June 4, 1838, but after a decade of increasing railroad traffic, the GWR agreed to let Mr. Brunel move forward with a grander building!
Inspired by the wrought iron and glass design of the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851, Mr. Brunel designed what was then the largest train shed in the world! The decoration was the work of architect, Matthew Digby-Wyatt, while the main station went up under contract with Fox Henderson & Company, opening to the public, alongside office space, a royal waiting room, and the Great Western Hotel, in 1854! Today, Paddington Station boasts 14 transit platforms!
It was near here that BBC cameraman, Michael Bond, bought a little souvenir bear and wondered, years later, what it would be like if a real bear had come to Paddington! His A Bear Called Paddington, published in 1958, became an international phenomenon! Arriving in London from “darkest Peru,” this big-hatted, marmalade-loving bear gets adopted by the Brown family and gets into all sorts of scrapes because of honest mistakes! Apart from kids the world over, Paddington was especially popular among immigrants and refugees, who were being demonized in the early 1960s. But Paddington’s Aunt Lucy had sent him to London nonetheless because she was convinced that “London will not have forgotten how to treat a stranger!”
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer with Historic England!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
Praed St
London W2 1HU
United Kingdom
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Whenever the mood strikes you!
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