Bishopsgate (Low Level) was a railway station opened by the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

(GER) on 4 November 1872 alongside the company's first London terminus, , which stood on a viaduct (and thus became also known as Bishopsgate (High Level)). The newer station was on a lower route, leading south-west, which the GER was building to its future Liverpool Street terminus and was situated on Quaker Street, on the eastern side of

Shoreditch High Street Shoreditch High Street is the old main street of Shoreditch, London. It is part of the A10 road and connects Norton Folgate to the south with Kingsland Road to the north. It constitutes a segment of the Roman Ermine Street, which ran direct ...

(now in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

but then in the

Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green Bethnal Green was a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1899 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney and t ...

) near

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate's name is traditionally attributed to Earconwald, who was Bishop of London in the 7th century. It was first built in Roman times and marked the beginning o ...

.Subterreanea Britannica: Bishopsgate Low Level station
/ref> Situated initially in a brick-lined cutting, the station was covered by two curving roofs and the platforms were accessed by stairs down from the ticket office, which stood on a bridge above the London end of the station. The station was initially opened as a relief station for the high-level terminus when it became unable to cope with the increasing demand. Between November 1872 and January 1874 the station, acting as a temporary terminus, handled traffic off the Enfield and Walthamstow lines.Walthamstow was the terminus of the Chingford branch at this time. Early in 1874 the first four platforms at Liverpool Street station opened, and Bishopsgate (Low Level) station became a normal through station. After the full opening of Liverpool Street in November 1875, the "high level" original Bishopsgate station closed to passengersSubterreanea Britannica: Bishopsgate station
/ref> and the name of Bishopsgate (Low Level) was simplified to Bishopsgate. The high-level terminus reopened as a converted

goods station A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are lo ...

in 1881 known as ''Bishopsgate goods yard'', and had a subway linking it to the passenger station. On 6 August 1889 there was an accident between Bishopsgate and Liverpool Street when a passenger service ran into the back of a stationary

empty coaching stock Empty may refer to: ‍ Music Albums * ''Empty'' (God Lives Underwater album) or the title song, 1995 * ''Empty'' (Nils Frahm album), 2020 * ''Empty'' (Tait album) or the title song, 2001 Songs * "Empty" (The Click Five song), 2007 * ...

train. An inquiry was unable to determine the exact cause of the crash due to conflicting witness statements. A further two running lines were added in 1891, and two platform faces subsequently added. A second ticket office was opened in Commercial Street to serve these platforms. These lines were built through the lower levels of the original Bishopsgate station. In November 1893 the station became one of the first on the Great Eastern Railway to be lit by electricity supplied by the company's nearby Norton Folgate power station. In 1902–3 the overall roofs were demolished and replaced by awnings. Bishopsgate station was closed on 22 May 1916 with other inner-suburban stations on the GER line through the East End of London. Today little remains of the low-level station except two derelict platforms, visible from trains on the approach into Liverpool Street main line station. The arches on the south platform were decorated in 2012 with panels displaying the flags of nations competing in the London Olympic Games that summer. In 2010

Shoreditch High Street railway station Shoreditch High Street is a station on the Windrush line of the London Overground, located on Bethnal Green Road in Shoreditch, East London. Situated in Travelcard Zone 1, it is located between and stations. The station opened on 27 April ...

was opened on the

East London line The East London line is a railway line running north to south through the East, Docklands and South areas of London. It is used by London Overground services. It was previously a line of the London Underground. Built in 1869 by the East Lond ...

, parallel to, above, and immediately to the north of the old Bishopsgate station.

Notes

References

{{Disused railway stations of London Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Disused railway stations in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1872 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1916 Shoreditch