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BARONS COURT
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Barons Court - a history
Introduction
A new station on the existing District Railway was opened at Barons Court on 9 October 1905.
Just 14 months later on 15 December, 1906, the Great Northern. Piccadilly & Brompton Railway (soon to be abbreviated to the Piccadilly) opened.
At that time, District Railway trains used both sides of the current westbound island platform, while Piccadilly trains served what is now the eastbound island platform. This arrangement was altered in preparation for the Piccadilly line’s extension west of Hammersmith in July 1932, thereby creating cross-platform interchange between the District and Piccadilly line at Baron’s Court, Hammersmith and Acton Town. Little further change has occurred over the years and indeed a recently completed refurbishment project has restored much of the station to how it would have appeared in the mid 1920’s. The station was given grade 2 listed status in 1985.

Harry Wharton Ford (1875-1947) - The Designer
Harry Ford was born in Hampstead and was articled to F.W.Hunt before becoming assistant to Messrs Aldwinkle, Bressey and Dighton Pearson. He was appointed Architect to the District Railway in 1900 at the age of 25. Although he resigned in 1911. he continued to design for the railway for a further five years while in private practice. After a short period working for the Admiralty during the First World War, he feturned to private practice before finally retiring in 1945.
Ford’s impact on the railway architecture of London was substantial. He was responsible not only for the new District Railway stations such as Barons Court but also for others which were rebuilt at the time of the introduction of electric traction in the early years of this century. His stations were generally characterised by the use of brown térracotta facing, although Portland stone was used at some stations. Other surviving Ford stations include Temple, Embankment. Earl’s Court (Earl’s Court Road frontage) and Fulham Broadway.

The architectural features of Barons Court Station

[Illustration of the front of the station]This frontage is among the most attractive and distinctive of any of the stations on the Underground. The structure is metal-framed and clad with light brown terracotta. This use of terracotta, along with the presence of large flat- arched windows above the shop units, is reminiscent of the work of Leslie Green for the Yerkes deep-level tube railways (Bakerloo. Piccadilly and Northern) which were being constructed at around the same time and indeed Green may well have had an influence in view of the impending opening of the Piccadilly. In the centre of both the main east and south-facing façades, an open-apex pediment displays the station name in brown lettering, with the words District Railway below. A decorative balustrade surmounted by ornamental urns extends almost the full length of the two façades, at the extreme ends of which were the original exits (also indicated by brown lettering) from the two lines. Other interesting features to note include the District Railway monogram at the junction of the two façades, the decorative metalwork on the canopy and the fine art nouveau glazing above each shop unit.

Ticket Hall
[image of the Ticket Hall]

The ticket hall retains much of its Edwardian character, with many early features surviving. The walls are clad with distinctive green tiles and mouldings and high-level friezes using a deeper tone of green. The ticket office retains its original appearance but a matching ticket office on the right hand side was demolished to allow the enlargement of the ticket hall in the early 1930s. The mottled tiled floor surface is a relatively recent addition but compliments the earlier finishes well.

Platforms

[Image of the platform]
The attractive, canopied platforms are typical of their age and have changed little since their construction, although lengthened and partially rebuilt in the early 1930s. The three long timber benches on each platform are unique on the London Underground in incorporating the station name on a blue vitreous enamel panel

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The sign with the history of the station was photographed by the same photographer in enlarged form Click for a larger image

The station building was photographed by the same photographer a few days later Click for a larger image