| Summary : London Underground station. From Gloucester Road the District Railway constructed an extension to West Brompton, with a terminus alongside a station to the West London Extension Railway. Trains worked by the Metropolitan from Gloucester Road commenced on 12th April 1869 and District through trains ran between Blackfriars and West Brompton from 1st August 1870. The station, designed by Sir John Fowler, remains largely as originally built. The booking hall is built of white Suffolk bricks with a slate pavilion roof surrounded by a parapet, now without its ornamental urns. Twin iron footbridges built for departing and arriving passengers both survive, although the exit footbridge is no longer linked directly to the street. The platforms are covered by a train shed with wooden windscreen and supporting posts. The station ceased to be a terminus when the line was extended to Putney Bridge on 1st March 1880. Some rebuilding was carried out in 1928 when external mouldings were removed and the ticket hall rearranged; a former ladies' room on the right-hand side was rebuilt for retail space, altering the symmetrical facade. After World War II the facade was painted cream and brown. Rebuilding was considered again in 1937 and 1959, but not carried out, and a repair and renovation programme was completed in 1990. The station is one of a small number of 1860s underground stations which are the first in the World, West Bromptonm being unusual in retaining its original booking hall, although with some alterations. It is the best preserved example of a station on the District Line. |