Clapham South Tube Station
History
The station was designed by Charles Holden 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 Charles Holden 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 HMT Empire Windrush 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 has been available to visit through London Transport Museum's Hidden London programme of guided tours since 2016.
Connections
The station is served by London Buses routes 50, 155, 249, 355, G1, 690, as well as by night route N155.
References
- ^ "Station Codes" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
- ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
- ^ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2023. Transport for London. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "Clapham South Station (Including Above Ground Station Building and Sub Surface Platforms and Passages) (1266140)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Clapham South Station Award For 60 Year Face Lift". London Transport. 13 March 1997. Archived from the original on 4 August 1997. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ Duggins, Alexi. "Exclusive: inside Clapham South's secret wartime tunnels". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ Kushner, Tony; Lunn, Kenneth (1991). The Politics of Marginality: Race, the Radical Right and Minorities in Twentieth Century Britain. London: Routledge. p. 166. ISBN 978-0714633916.
- ^ "A tour of the WWII Clapham South deep-level shelter, in pictures - Telegraph". 18 January 2016. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
Gallery
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Northbound platform looking south
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Southbound platform looking north
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Roundel on the southbound platform
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Uplighters on the escalators
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One of the entrances to Clapham South deep level shelter; the other is on the Common
External links
- London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
- CharlesHolden.com Early photograph of station
Preceding station | London Underground | Following station | ||
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Clapham Common | Northern line Morden branch
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Balham towards Morden
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