Down Street, also known as Down Street (Mayfair), was a station of the London Underground's Piccadilly Line which closed in 1932. During World War II it was used as an air-raid shelter, notably by Winston Churchill and his War Cabinet. It is now disused. Image File history File links Map of Down Street tube station location, extracted from LONDONS GUIDING STAR MAP OF LONDON, 1912 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For more coverage on London, see the London Portal. ... The Piccadilly Line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Combatants Allies: • Soviet Union, • UK & Commonwealth, • USA, • France/Free France, • China, • Poland, • ...and others Axis: • Germany, • Japan, • Italy, • ...and others Commanders Strength Casualties Full list Full list World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a large scale military conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945. ... Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... A War Cabinet is committee formed by a government in time of war. ...

Down Street station lies between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner on the Piccadilly Line. Evidence of its presence can still be identified through the train windows between these stations by a change in the tunnel surface from black to a section of beige brickwork. It came into service in March 1907, a few months after the rest of the line. The surface building was on Down Street, just off Piccadilly in Mayfair. It was never a busy station, as the surrounding area was largely residential and its residents were too wealthy to be regular tube passengers. The neighbouring stations were also fairly close by. Jubilee Line platform, with train arriving, at Green Park underground station Unique tilework at this station represents the many trees in nearby Green Park Green Park tube station is a London Underground station located on the north side of Green Park itself, on Piccadilly close to its intersection with the... Hyde Park Corner is a London Underground station near Hyde Park Corner in Hyde Park. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Piccadilly is a major London street, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. ... Mayfair is an area in the City of Westminster London, named after the fortnight-long May Fair that took place there from 1686 until it was banned in that location in 1764. ...

Like Brompton Road, Down Street was often skipped by trains. In 1929 it was one of the stations mooted for closure in connection with the extension of the Piccadilly Line: the elimination of less-busy stations in the central area would improve both reliability and journey times for long-distance commuters. Additionally, the neighbouring stations were being rebuilt with escalators in place of lifts, and their new entrances were nearer to Down Street, further squeezing its small catchment area. The station closed on May 21, 1932. Brompton Road tube station is a disused station on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Escalators at Westminster tube station, London An escalator is a conveyor transport device for transporting people, consisting of a staircase whose steps move up or down on tracks that keep the surfaces of the individual steps horizontal. ... A modern elevator has buttons to allow passengers to select the desired floor. ... For the term related to television programmes, see watershed (television). ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ...

How Down Street might have appeared on the London Underground Map today if it remained open

After the station was closed it was immediately modified, with part of one platform tunnel becoming a junction providing access to a new siding between Down Street and Hyde Park Corner. In 1939 the platform faces were bricked up and the resulting space used as an underground bunker. The main wartime occupants of the station were the Emergency Railway Committee, but it was also used by Churchill and the war cabinet until the Cabinet War Rooms were ready for use. Since the end of the war the station has only been used as an emergency access point to the tube. The surface building is still standing. Image File history File links Down_Street_Map_Mockup. ... Image File history File links Down_Street_Map_Mockup. ... A siding, in general rail terminology, refers to a section of rail used to store stationary rolling stock perhaps whilst it is loaded or unloaded, or alternatively, a short length of rail that provides access to and from factories, mines, quarries, wharves, etc. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. ... A bunker is a defensive warfare fortification to protect personnel or equipment. ... A number of military citadels exist under central London, dating mostly from the Second World War and the Cold War. ...

Film & TV appearances

Part of the 2005 british horror film Creep was set in the Down Street tube station. The movie was actually filmed on disused Jubilee line platforms of Charing Cross tube station on the Northern and Bakerloo line. Movie poster for Creep Creep (2004) is a British slasher film directed by Christopher Smith, starring the German actress Franka Potente. ... The Jubilee Line is a line on the London Underground, coloured silver grey on the Tube map. ... Charing Cross London Underground station serves both the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at Charing Cross station. ...

A sequence in the James Bond film Die Another Day is set in an 'abandoned' Tube station near where Down Street existed. The station is used as a neutral ground for MI6 illegals (officially nonexistant agents) to be given missions by M. The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ... Die Another Day is the twentieth James Bond film made by EON Productions and the fourth and final film to star Pierce Brosnan as Ian Flemings James Bond. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... M is the title and code letter for James Bonds boss and fictional head of the British Secret Intelligence Service or MI6. ...

The TV series Neverwhere is mostly set in a medieval-fantasy world named for tube stations such as Blackfriars and Knightsbridge; the finale is located in an area known as Down Street, and one scene was filmed on the remaining platform at Down Street with real trains passing by in the background. Neverwhere is an urban fantasy television series by Neil Gaiman. ... Blackfriars station is a London Underground and National Rail station complex situated in the Blackfriars district of the City of London, in London, England. ... Knightsbridge tube station, Sloane Street entrance Knightsbridge is a London Underground station in Knightsbridge. ...

References

• J. E. Connor, London's Disused Underground Stations, Capital Transport, 2001, pp. 28-33.

External link

• Down Street on Hywel Williams's Underground History site.
• London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive Down Street station shortly after opening