| Summary : In its long history Earl's Court station has seen many changes. The original wooden station opened on 30th October 1871 but had burnt down on 30th December 1875. A new permanent building on the west side of Earl's Court Road, designed under the supervision of the District Railway's engineer-in-chief John (later Sir John) Wolfe-Barry, was opened on 1st February 1878. By this time the District's style had changed: gone were the elaborate mouldings and parapets in favour of a generally plain - and also cheaper - white Suffolk brick structure. One of the most impressive features is the train shed roof by Sir John Wolfe Barry which spans all four platforms. The station facade was altered in readiness for the opening of the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway on 15 December 1906. This was a 'tube' railway, owned by the same concern as the District, and work was carried out by Harry W Ford under the supervision of the chief architect, Leslie W White. The facade is constructed from buff glazed faience with green trimmings and is of two storeys in height and five bays wide. The shop to the ground floor retains its original shop windows with curved plate glass. The faience fascia is inscribed "District Railway:Earls Court Station. G N Piccadilly and Brompton Railway". At the western end of the station a high-level walkway was constructed to serve the Earl's Court Exhibition Hall in Warwick Road, some distance from the old station. This resulted in alterations to the western end of the platforms and the construction of an entrance in Warwick Road, opened in 1937. Further major work was carried out in 1982 in connection with the installation of new high-speed lifts for the Piccadilly Line. On 4 October 1911 Earl's Court received the first public escalators, or 'moving stairs', on the Underground. They linked the District platforms to the Piccadilly. |