Down Street tube station
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Down Street, also known as Down Street (Mayfair), is a disused station on 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 in
Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
, west London. 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 ...
opened it in 1907. It was latterly served by 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 ...
and was situated between
Dover Street Dover Street is a street in Mayfair, London. The street is notable for its Georgian architecture as well as the location of historic London clubs and hotels, which have been frequented by world leaders and historic figures in the arts. It also ...
(now named Green Park) and
Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the junc ...
stations. The station was little used; many trains passed through without stopping. Lack of patronage and proximity to other stations led to its closure in 1932. 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 a bunker by the Prime Minister,
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, and the
war cabinet A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senior ...
. The station building survives and is close to Down Street's junction with
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
. Part of it is now converted to a retail outlet.
London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...
has been running guided tours of the station through its "Hidden London" programme since 2016. The tour covers the history of the site using archives from the museum's collection, with a focus on its Second World War connection.


History


Operation

The station is in Down Street in Mayfair, just off Piccadilly and a short distance from
Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...
. It lies between Green Park (originally named Dover Street) and Hyde Park Corner on the Piccadilly line. It was 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 ...
(GNP&BR; the precursor to the Piccadilly line) on 15 March 1907, a few months after the rest of the line opened. The delay was due to difficulties in purchasing the site for the station building and agreeing a safe layout of the passages below ground with the
Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
. The surface building was designed by the
Underground Electric Railways Company of London The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited (UERL), known operationally as the Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an und ...
's (UERL's) architect
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 ...
in the UERL house style of a two-storey steel-framed building faced with 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 ...
blocks, with wide semi-circular windows on the upper floor. The station had a pair of
Otis Otis may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Otis (Superman), in the films ''Superman'' and ''Superman II'' and related DC Comics media ** Otis Graves, in the TV series ''Supergirl'' * Otis (The Walking Dead), Otis (''The Walking Dead' ...
lifts, with the platforms located below the street level of Piccadilly. Down Street was never a busy station, as the surrounding area was largely residential and its residents mostly wealthy enough to travel by other means. The neighbouring stations were also close by, with Dover Street station about to the east and Hyde Park Corner to the west. From 1909, like
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 ...
, Down Street was often skipped by trains. From 1918 it was closed on Sundays. In 1929, Down Street was one of the stations suggested for closure in connection with the extension of the Piccadilly line: the elimination of less-busy stations in the central area would improve both reliability and journey times for long-distance commuters. Additionally, the neighbouring stations were being rebuilt with
escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...
s in place of lifts and their new entrances were even nearer to Down Street, further squeezing 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 ...
. The station was permanently closed on 21 May 1932. After the station was closed it was almost immediately modified. The western headwalls of both platform tunnels were rebuilt to allow a step plate junction to be installed, providing access from the eastbound and westbound tunnels to a new
siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch l ...
located between Down Street and Hyde Park Corner. The siding is mainly used to reverse westbound trains, but could also be used for servicing trains. The siding tunnel is accessible at its western end through a small foot tunnel constructed from Hyde Park Corner station. The lifts were removed and the shafts adapted to provide additional tunnel ventilation.


Wartime use and after

The station was selected for use as an underground bunker in early 1939 as part of a programme of developing deep shelters to protect government operations from bombing in the event of war. The platform faces were bricked up and the enclosed platform areas and space in the circulation passages were divided up into offices, meeting rooms and dormitories. The engineering and structural work was carried out by the
London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...
and the fitting-out of the rooms and installation of the power and communications equipment was done by the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
. A two-person lift was installed in the original emergency stairwell and a telephone exchange, toilets and bathrooms were added. The main occupant of the shelter was the
Railway Executive Committee The Railway Executive Committee (REC) was a government body which controlled the operation of Britain's railways during World War I and World War II. It should not be confused with the Railway Executive which was a division of the British Transp ...
, but it was also used as a shelter by the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the war cabinet until the
Cabinet War Rooms The Churchill War Rooms is a museum in London and one of the five branches of the Imperial War Museum. The museum comprises the ''Cabinet War Rooms'', a historic underground complex that housed a British government command centre throughout the ...
were ready; Churchill called it "The Barn". Since the end of the war, the station has been used only for engineering access and as an emergency exit point from the Underground. In April 2015, Transport for London announced that it was seeking proposals for the commercial use of parts of the surface building, disused lift shaft and underground passages. Suggested possible uses included a restaurant, a bar, a theatre, a gallery or retail space. Tours by the
London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...
through its "Hidden London" programme began in 2016.


Use in media

Down Street is the inspiration for a location in the television series and novel ''
Neverwhere ''Neverwhere'' is an urban fantasy television miniseries by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC 2. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was d ...
'', where it provides an entrance to an underground labyrinth. A much modified and expanded version of the station appears as a part of a
level Level or levels may refer to: Engineering *Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights *Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical *Canal pound or level *Regr ...
in the
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
'' Shadow Man'', which was used as
Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...
's hideout. Part of the 2004 British horror film '' Creep'' was set in Down Street station, although the scenes were actually shot at the disused Aldwych station and on studio sets. The British band Hefner released a song titled "Down Street" on their 2006 album ''
Catfight Catfight (also girl fight) is a term for an altercation between two females, often characterized as involving scratching, shoving, slapping, choking, punching, kicking, biting, spitting, hair-pulling, and shirt-shredding. It can also be used to d ...
''; according to its sleeve notes, it is set in the early 1930s and tells the story of two lovers who meet at the station.
Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...
also recorded a song titled "Down Street" on his 2006 album '' Wild Orchids'', about the station. The station features in
Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...
's '' World Tour of England, Ireland and Wales'',
Dan Cruickshank Daniel Gordon Raffan Cruickshank (born 26 August 1949) is a British art historian and BBC television presenter, with a special interest in the history of architecture. Professional career Cruickshank holds a BA in Art, Design and Architecture ...
's
National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
series ''Great Railway Adventures'' and the 2012 TV series '' The Tube''.


In popular culture

Down St is mentioned in ''
The Man in the Brown Suit ''The Man in the Brown Suit'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by The Bodley Head on 22 August 1924 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The character Colo ...
'' and ''
The Mystery of the Blue Train ''The Mystery of the Blue Train'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by William Collins & Sons on 29 March 1928 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in ...
'' by Agatha Christie, and ''Neverwhere'' by Neil Gaiman.


Notes and references

Notes References Bibliography * * * *


External links

*
Underground History: Down Street.
* Photographs of the current condition of the station
in 2006
an
in 2016
{{Closed London Underground stations Buildings and structures in Mayfair Disused London Underground stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1907 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1932 Disused railway stations in the City of Westminster Former buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Former Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway stations Piccadilly line stations Leslie Green railway stations Railway stations located underground in the United Kingdom