London Tube Stations Become Listed Buildings

Oxford Circus and Covent Garden are among 16 Underground stations given Grade II listed status today by Heritage Minister John Penrose, on the advice of English Heritage.

The listed stations include several of the tube stations designed by Leslie Green whose ‘ox-blood’ red tile facades, pioneered the use of a strong and consistent corporate image that’s recognised around the world. All the stations have historic and architectural significance, illustrating the development of the capital’s Underground system.

Stations given Grade II status are: Aldwych, Belsize Park, Brent Cross, Caledonian Road, Chalk Farm, Chesham, Covent Garden, Hendon Central, Oxford Circus - originally two separate stations (on the north-west corner of Argyll St and Oxford Street, and the north-east corner of Argyll St and Oxford Street including the office above), Perivale, Redbridge, Russell Square, St John’s Wood, West Acton, and Wood Green.

Three other stations have had their listing upgraded from Grade II to Grade II they are:

Arnos Grove, Oakwood, and Sudbury Town, all designed by the distinguished modernist architect Charles Holden, for the Piccadilly Line extension in the 1930s.

“Tube stations are great examples of the capital’s hidden heritage,” said Mr Penrose. “Although listing does not mean these stations will remain unchanged for all time, it does mean that any redevelopment plans will have to take the sites’ heritage value into account, which seems entirely right and will ensure the best of design is preserved for the future.”

(BMcN)