Do any buildings exist that were formerly the surface buildings
(entrance etc) of Old St station and if so exactly where and what are
they? A picture would be nice, but with directions I can nip round
there and look. If they do not still exist, I'd love to know where
they were exactly and again a picture (or map??) would be great. I do
know about the present ?60-s looking entrance, in the shopping arcade,
about one floor below ground level, in the middle of the roundabout,
but what I am looking for is evidence of what buildings the station
had originally, and whether there was anything *between* (in time)
those original buildings and the current entrance. I have never tried
this service before so if I am asking too much (or too little!) for
the price you'd better tell me! I need to be able to cite this
research (I'm trying to settle an argument) so references would be
extremely welcome.

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Clarification of Question by nevilley-ga on 25 Jun 2004 01:54 PDT

I've now got the photo in this book: Tames, R, ''Clerkenwell and
Finsbury Past,'' Historical Publications Ltd, London, 1999. ISBN 0
948667 56 7. Plate 172, p. 122: "The old ground-level Old Street
station". I hope to see the original at the Islington Local History
library. I would still be prepared to pay for more detail, including a
map and or a citeable reference which explains the history of the
building - the photo I found is helpful but the accompanying text does
not do this.

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Clarification of Question by nevilley-ga on 28 Jun 2004 23:11 PDT

I've dropped the price because I've now got most of the answer! The
London Transport Museum has a database of stations in which there is a
*lenghty*, very good text description of this station, which pretty
thoroughly answers my question. I am still planning to visit the
Islington and Metropolitan archives but really just out of residual
curiosity as I have answers to pretty much all that I needed. Thanks
very much to people who left helpful comments - it's been very
interesting.

Nevilley - I'm really glad you've found a book to help you with this.

Although I looked for information online, there didn't seem to be anything useful.

Leli

Maybe this Tube expert could help you: 
<http://www.starfury.demon.co.uk/uground/>

These webpages may be helpful:

http://www.describe-online.com/lul/oldstreet/oldstreetstation.htm

http://www.describe-online.com/lul/londonundergroundstations.htm

Thanks very much for those comments. I've been through most of the
well-known history sites dealing with the Underground without much
luck: there is *loads* of really good stuff out there but my question
is perhaps a bit too specialized and it's just a matter of luck
whether it's been mentioned or not. It's a bit like my finding a photo
in a book - it was pure luck really, and did not relate especially
strongly to the text but was just there for general illustration. I
suppose what I need is a a book called "Station Buildings on the
Northern Line" but I have not yet found it! I do however have a couple
of archives in mind to visit and am hoping that might bear fruit. The
maddening thing is that I am pretty sure I have seen a statement in
print about this station, which went some of the way towards what I
needed, but I can no longer find it! Thanks again.

The London Transport Museum would probably be the best place to look.
They have a reference library, picture library and film and video
collection.
http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/reference.html
The picture library has a collection over 150,000 images.
http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/picture.html
The collection of over 80,000 includes station plans and architectural drawings.
http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/drawings.html

Thanks, belindalevez for that additional comment. The LTM is indeed on
my list - the others being Islington (who apparently own the original
of the pic I found in a book, so obviously I would love to see that)
and the London Metropolitan Archive. Both are these, conveniently, are
within a brisk walk from my office! :) For the LTM I will have to go
on a proper visit but this is long overdue anyway, and I gather they
are shortly to close for refurbishment, so I had better get on with
it... thanks again for all your help everyone.