Clapham South is a station on

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 counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, t ...

between and

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

. The station is located at the corner of Balham Hill ( A24) and Nightingale Lane, at the southern edge of

Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of g ...

. It is in both Travelcard Zone 2 and Travelcard Zone 3.

History

The station was designed by

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

and was opened on 13 September 1926 as the first station of the Morden extension of the City and South London Railway, which is now part of the Northern line. Other proposed names for the station prior to opening were ''"Balham North"'' and ''"Nightingale Lane"''. The apartments above the station, named Westbury Court, were a later addition, built in the mid-1930s. The parade of shops along Balham Hill was extended as part of the same development using the same style as the original three closest to the station. The station was refurbished in the 1990s, with new flooring, tiling and CCTV - albeit ensuring that original

features were restored or reproduced. The restoration work was awarded a National Railway Heritage Award. It is one of eight London Underground stations with a deep-level air-raid shelter underneath it. In 1948, the deep shelter was used as temporary accommodation for immigrants from the West Indies. The arrived at Tilbury in 1948 carrying 492 immigrants. London had a severe labour shortage after the war and the Colonial Office had sought to recruit a labour force from Jamaica. An advertisement had appeared in Jamaica's ''Daily Gleaner'' on 13 April 1948 offering transport to the UK. The ''Windrush'' was quickly filled. As there was no accommodation for all of the new arrivals, the Colonial Office housed many of them temporarily in the deep-level shelter at Clapham South. The underground shelter opened its doors to the public in 2016.

Connections

The station is served by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes 50, 155, 249, 355, G1, 690, and also by night route N155.

References

Gallery

File:Clapham South stn northbound look south.JPG, Northbound platform looking south File:Clapham South stn southbound look north.JPG, Southbound platform looking north File:Clapham South tube roundel.jpg, Roundel on the southbound platform File:Clapham South tube station.jpg, Uplighters on the escalators File:Clapham_South_deeplevelshelter.jpg, One of the entrances to Clapham South deep level shelter; the other is on the Common

External links

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** **

Early photograph of station {{Northern line navbox Northern line stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Wandsworth Former City and South London Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1926 London Underground stations located underground Charles Holden railway stations Art Deco architecture in London Clapham London Underground Night Tube stations Art Deco railway stations