Shadwell Station c.1910 - copyright Paul Laming collection

Shadwell Station, Watney Street, was opened in 1876. The Station was built as part of the extension of the East London Railway from Wapping to Whitechapel and Shoreditch. The East London Railway had been opened in 1869 when trains ran for the first time through the Thames Tunnel between Wapping and New Cross.

The coming of the East London Railway to Shadwell, built by the cut and cover method of construction, led to the destruction of properties in Charles Street, the former name for this part of Watney Street.  Prior to this Watney Street had just been a small street market off  Commercial Road. However, it was decided to rebuild Charles Street with shops and Public Houses and to link it to Watney Street. The whole street was, then, renamed Watney Street, with a street market, open six days a week, running from Commercial Road to Cable Street.

In the 1890s through-tickets could be purchased from Shadwell Station to the South Coast as seen displayed outside in this view. Other information outside the Station is written in Yiddish, reflecting the large Jewish community that lived in the immediate area. There was also a direct link to the main underground system through a tunnel south of Whitechapel Station. Trains also ran to Liverpool Street. However by the 1940s the familiar pattern of the East London Line was established with a just a service between Shoreditch and New Cross, and New Cross Gate.

The entrance to Shadwell Station led to a wooden ticket hall, which echoed to a dull thud as passengers walked across its wooden floor. To the left of the entrance was the ticket office. Tickets were bought through a small barred window. When closed by a wooden trapdoor, a bell was pressed to draw the Ticket Clerk’s attention. Then the trapdoor would be raised slowly to reveal the Ticket Clerk’s "smiling face"! Off the ticket hall was a Ladies Room and in the far corner a telephone kiosk. At the top of the wooden stairs that led to the platforms stood a ticket inspector, who doubled as a ticket clerk at off peak times. To his left was a small narrow long waiting room with no windows or fire-place.

The wooden stairs to the platforms were very steep and roughly half way down was a small landing from where two flights of stairs led to the "up" and "down" platforms. On the small landing were two wooden seats that offered the weary passenger a chance to sit and rest awhile, especially those climbing. Known locally as "killer stairs", some passengers never made it to the top!

At platform level is a huge cavernous arch structure. Smoke from the steam trains rose to the top of the arch and was sucked out by a large opening to the sky at the end of the platforms. The East London Railway was electrified in 1913. Shadwell Station has its own spring at the end of the "southbound" platform. This spring has never stopped running.

In 1987 the Shadwell Station entrance seen in this view from Watney Street was closed and a new station entrance was built, with two lifts, nearby in Cable Street, as it is today. .