St James Garden (London)

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Cardington Street,
Euston, London

These gardens are tucked away off Cardington Street to the west of Euston station. The cross appears to be a memorial to a Christie family; one inscription is for Midshipman Edward Christie, aged 19, who died in 1803 at Port Jamaica "of fever contracted on board a slave ship."

This former burial ground still has monuments to various people, including a whole family of sailors/soldiers who were killed off, including a poor 19 year old lad who caught a fever on a captured slave ship back in 1803. Nice reminder that America, Britain were criminal nations for the first 100 years or so, defying international laws when it came to buying and selling people, leaving us to storm their boats whenever possible.

The gardens are large but untended, with weedy flowerbeds, circles where fountains should be, and mud in places instead of grass. It’s alright to eat your sandwiches though, and there’s, surprise, surprise, a lone Thistle hotel next door with an underground bistro!

Sadly, the park is under threat (along with all the adjacent buildings) if the High Speed 2 railway line comes into being, as Euston Station will be expanded westward and will swallow up everything in its path.