Brompton Road is a disused station on the

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...

of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

, located between

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

and South Kensington stations. It was closed in 1934, nearly 28 years after being opened by the

Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London.A "tube" railway is an underground rail ...

company. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was used as the command centre of the 26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade. In 2014, the owner of the site, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, sold it to a Ukrainian businessman,

Dmytro Firtash Dmytro Vasylovych Firtash ( uk, Дмитро́ Васи́льович Фі́рташ; born 2 May 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman who heads the board of directors of Group DF. He was highly influential during the Yuschenko administration and th ...

, who claimed an intention to convert it to residential use.

History

Brompton Road was opened on 15 December 1906 by the

(GNP&BR). The station was located at the junction of

Brompton Road Brompton Road is a street located in the southern part from Knightsbridge and in the eastern part from Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and partly the City of Westminster in London. It starts from Knightsbridge Und ...

and Cottage Place. Although it was conveniently situated for both the

Brompton Oratory Brompton Oratory is a large neo-classical Roman Catholic church in the Knightsbridge area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. Its full name is the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or as named in its Grade II* archite ...

and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, it saw little passenger usage and by October 1909 some services passed through without stopping. Brompton road map 1912

The station closed on 4 May 1926 due to

the general strike ''The General Strike'' is Anti-Flag's ninth studio album. The album was released on March 20, 2012.http://www.anti-flag.com/?p=172 The album marks the band's second release for SideOneDummy Records. The first single from the album, "The Neolibera ...

and did not reopen until 4 October of that year with services initially only calling there on weekdays. Sunday services were restored on 2 January 1927. As before, Brompton Road was little used, to the extent that two of its lifts were removed and relocated elsewhere and the ticket office was closed. When the adjacent Knightsbridge station was modernised with escalators replacing lifts, it was provided with a new southern entrance that was built closer to Brompton Road station, reducing its

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

. When the new entrance for Knightsbridge opened on 30 July 1934, Brompton Road closed. Just prior to the outbreak of the

, the street-level building together with the lift shafts and lower western passages were sold to the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

for a sum of £22,000 (equivalent to £ million in ) for use by the 26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade of the 1st Anti-Aircraft Division. During the War, it was the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

's anti-aircraft operations room for central London. This use was discontinued in the 1950s. It was subsequently used as the town headquarters (THQ) of the

University of London Air Squadron A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, the University of London Royal Naval Unit and 46F (Kensington) Squadron Air Training Corps.

Station building

Like the others on the GNP&BR, the station building was designed by

Leslie Green Leslie William Green (6 February 1875 – 31 August 1908) was an English architect. He is best known for his design of iconic stations constructed on the London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20t ...

. The surface building occupied an L-shaped site built on two adjacent sides of a public house which occupied the corner of Brompton Road and Cottage Place. The façades were of Green's standard red-glazed

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

design with semi-circular arches at first floor level. The entrance and exits to the lifts were on Brompton Road with the Cottage Place elevation providing staff access. The Brompton Road elevation was demolished in 1972, but the Cottage Place elevation remains, now partly incorporated into a larger building. Although the platforms have long since been removed, their original location can be seen from passing trains by the brick walls that stand in their place. The original tiling remains on the tunnel walls, although soot and dirt now obscures them.

Proposals for reuse

In 2011, proposals from The Old London Underground Company were made suggesting the parts of the station which were used during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

be opened to the public, with the remainder of the above-ground buildings becoming a restaurant, and the rest of the underground space being turned over to the

London Fire Brigade Museum The London Fire Brigade Museum (temporarily housed at The Workshop, Lambeth High Street) covers the history of firefighting since 1666 (the date of the Great Fire of London). The museum houses old fire appliances and other equipment. Over ...

. In July 2013, the Ministry of Defence announced the site was for sale, with an expected price of about £20 million. The MoD's property surveyor said specialist developers could adapt the site but stated "a lot of work was needed". In May 2014, the site was sold for £53 million to

, a billionaire Ukrainian businessman who claimed an intention to convert it to residential use. The property remained unused .

In popular culture

A 1928 comedy play by Jevan Brandon-Thomas was about a woman who lived near Brompton Road and felt that life was passing her by just as the non-stopping trains were, and so it was titled ''Passing Brompton Road''. The London production starring

Marie Tempest Dame Mary Susan Etherington, (15 July 1864 – 15 October 1942), known professionally as Marie Tempest, was an English singer and actress. Tempest became a famous soprano in late Victorian light opera and Edwardian musical comedies. Later, sh ...

ran for 174 performances. (For a 1931 film adaptation, the title was changed to '' Her Reputation''.) Another play in 2008 used the station. ''Sailing By'', by Anthony Chew, took place on the long-closed platform, where two people sit and talk while

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

stalks them.

References

External links

* * (includes photos of station as it is today) * Original station building shortly after opening * {{closed london underground stations Piccadilly line stations Disused London Underground stations Disused railway stations in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Former Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1906 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1934 Brompton, London Leslie Green railway stations Railway stations located underground in the United Kingdom