London Underground stations get listed status

[John Ashworth]

Sixteen London Underground stations get listed status

Edwardian and 1930s buildings among 16 stations newly listed on English Heritage advice, taking total on network to 72

* Robert Booth
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 26 July 2011 16.07 BST

A group of London Underground stations clad in eye-catching ox blood red blocks that gave the tube its first corporate identity have been granted listed status by John Penrose, the culture minister.

The Edwardian baroque buildings, granted grade II protection on the advice of English Heritage, include Oxford Circus, Covent Garden and Russell Square and have become familiar around the world to millions of visitors to the capital. In all 16 stations, including a group of later 1930s stations in an art deco style at St John's Wood, Perivale and Wood Green, were protected. Arnos Grove, Oakwood and Sudbury Town, designed by Charles Holden also in the 1930s for an extension to the Piccadilly line, were given the greater protection of Grade II* status. The moves mean 72 stations on the network are now listed.

"Millions of people pass through London's underground system every day, with little thought for the historic design and architectural features that are right under their nose as they hurry to catch their trains," said Penrose. "Tube stations are great examples of the capital's hidden heritage."

Opening in 1907, before the underground acquired its famous logo and its current burden of 1 billion passengers a year, the red-clad stations were among 40 designed by young architect Leslie Jones with a brief to create a recognisable identity for three new railways thrusting out into the suburbs that would become today's Northern, Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines.

His solution was to clad a relatively cheap steel frame, then a new technology from America, in distinctive deep red glazed blocks. For the interiors he chose bottle green tiles up to a decorative dado of acanthus leaves or pomegranate, details which remain in many of his stations today. The burden of his commission at such a young age affected his health and he died a year after the stations opened from tuberculosis, aged 33.

In the recommendation for listing, English Heritage inspectors said: "The distinctive red faience facades are instantly recognisable and count among the most iconic of London building types."

The deep red of some of the facades is now joined by the brighter red Coca-Cola facias above convenience shops, while others, such as the Argyll Street station entrance to Oxford Circus often go unnoticed by passengers focused on escaping the crush of shoppers on Oxford Street.

Any redevelopment plans in Transport for London's £10bn refurbishment programme will have to take the sites' heritage value into account, which London Underground indicated should not be a problem.

"Heritage is a very important part of our identity," said Richard Parry, commercial and strategy director at LUL. "The tube is undergoing a huge upgrade to its ageing infrastructure to cope with increasing demand, however, whenever we modernise a station we make sure to take care of the historical features."

Simon Thurley, chief executive of English heritage, said : "The London Underground not only set the standard for progressive transport systems, but has displayed a remarkable commitment to quality and consistency of design. From the distinctive and instantly recognisable glazed red facades of the early 20th century stations such as Belsize Park and Russell Square, to the modernist designs embodied in Arnos Grove and Sudbury Town, we have been left an amazing architectural inheritance. It is absolutely right that these stations be afforded the recognition and protection provided by listing."

The stations given Grade II status are: Aldwych, Belsize Park, Brent Cross, Caledonian Road, Chalk Farm, Chesham, Covent Garden, Hendon Central, Oxford Circus - originally two separate stations, Perivale, Redbridge, Russell Square, St John's Wood, West Acton, and Wood Green. Three other stations - Arnos Grove, Oakwood, and Sudbury Town - have been upgraded from Grade II to Grade II*.