Charles Holden's Tube Stations Mapped

M@
By M@ Last edited 13 months ago
Charles Holden's Tube Stations Mapped

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Ever seen a brown-brick tube station with large windows? Then you've probably clocked the work of Charles Holden.

Holden (1875-1960) designed dozens of stations for London Underground, including many of architectural distinction.

A typical 1920s Holden tube station at Colliers Wood. This station also happens to be opposite a fine pub named The Charles Holden.

His earliest designs from the mid-1920s are typified by those at the foot of the Northern line: neatly proportioned Portland stone structures with glazed screens and prominent roundels. Every station from Clapham South to Morden follows this template.

Sudbury Town was the first Holden station to use the familiar brown-brick and massive windows design.

Holden's practice designed many of the outer-London stations on the Piccadilly line during the 1930s. Brown brick, huge windows, spacious and welcoming, each one is different yet clearly of a family.

We've put together the map above to show just how many stations owe their appearance to Holden.

Images: The main photos are all by the author. Those in the map are by the author or are public domain with these exceptions, all published under creative commons licence:

Uxbridge, Eastcote: Ewan Munro. Boston Manor: David Hawgood. Osterley, Southgate, Bounds Green, Turnpike Lane, Balham, Tooting Bec, South Wimbledon, Morden, Gants Hill, Arnos Grove : Sunil060902. Holborn, Clapham Common: Diliff. Wood Green, Manor House: Oxyman. Clapham South: C Ford. Tooting Broadway: Paul the Archivist. 55 Broadway: Paul Farmer. Wanstead, Redbridge: George Rex. Piccadilly Circus: Iridescent.

Last Updated 03 March 2023