Sixteen London Underground stations have been granted Grade II listed status after Ministers accepted the advice of English Heritage to preserve the stations for future generations.
Aldwych, Belsize Park, Brent Cross, Caledonian Road, Chalk Farm, Chesham, Covent Garden, Hendon Central, Oxford Circus, Perivale, Redbridge, Russell Square, St John’s Wood, West Acton, and Wood Green have all been granted Grade II status while Arnos Grove, Oakwood, and Sudbury Town have had their listing upgraded from Grade II to Grade II*.
Heritage Minister John Penrose said “Tube stations are great examples of the capital’s hidden heritage. It’s testament to the forward thinking and creativity of the design of Leslie Green and Charles Tyson Yerkes who created the original Underground Electric Railways that the brand and image of the red facades remain iconic.”
“Although listing does not mean these stations will remain unchanged for all time, it does mean that any redevelopment plans will have to take the sites’ heritage value into account, which seems entirely right and will ensure the best of design is preserved for the future.”
English Heritage Chief Executive Simon Thurley added: “The stations awarded listed status today are as valuable to London’s architectural story as many more famous buildings like the Houses of Parliament.
“From the distinctive and instantly recognisable glazed red façades 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.”
