Inside A Ghost Tube Station: Brompton Road

M@
By M@ Last edited 89 months ago
Inside A Ghost Tube Station: Brompton Road

Every inch of the tunnels is covered in a thick layer of dust, and we'd later emerge looking like Dick van Dyke. Yet the station remains largely intact and free of debris.

We carefully descend the spiral stairway. An adjacent lift shaft is bisected with flooring, effectively creating a four-storey building for MoD use. It has long been abandoned, but signs remain here and there of its wartime past. The facility was used during the second world war to coordinate the city's air defences. In one room, a detailed map of south-east London is still pinned to the wall (see images).

We spent a good hour exploring the various rooms. The station retains plenty of period features including a distinctive brown and green tiling pattern and electrical switch gear. A set of oxygen scrubbers can also be seen, presumably a wartime leftover.

The MoD's jurisdiction ends at a locked gate. Beyond lies the two platforms of the Piccadilly Line. These were bricked up many years ago, but access to the trains is still possible, as this report shows. A gust of air wheezes through the tunnels whenever a train passes by. This is a dark, forbidding place, but a breath of life remains.

In 2014 the site was sold to a developer for flats

The station still sports its distinctive Leslie Green tiles on the outside.
The station still sports its distinctive Leslie Green tiles on the outside.
The air cadets' mess hall, above ground.
The air cadets' mess hall, above ground.
Love the use of the word 'only', as though there aren't tens of thousands of people who would love to see beyond this door.
Love the use of the word 'only', as though there aren't tens of thousands of people who would love to see beyond this door.
The stairs up to the (now vanished) ticket hall are well preserved.
The stairs up to the (now vanished) ticket hall are well preserved.
A shot from the spiral stair case. We can't remember exactly what this shows.
A shot from the spiral stair case. We can't remember exactly what this shows.
The facility contains many warning notices.
The facility contains many warning notices.
Danger Ammunition...have we infiltrated Torchwood?
Danger Ammunition...have we infiltrated Torchwood?
More original tiling.
More original tiling.
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The air defence map in all its glory.
The air defence map in all its glory.
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A lower chamber contains more electrical gear.
A lower chamber contains more electrical gear.
A fire escape.
A fire escape.
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Last Updated 06 October 2016