Baker Street Station: Main Entrance Building and Metropolitan, Circle and Hammersmith and London, England

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

TQ 2782 SE MARYLEBONE ROAD 1900/34/100 (North side) 26-MAR-87 BAKER STREET STATION: MAIN ENTRANCE BU ILDING AND METROPOLITAN, CIRCLE AND HA MMERSMITH AND CITY LINE PLATFORMS (Nos 1 -6), INCLUDING RETAINING WALL TO APPRO ACH ROAD MARYLEBONE ROAD Baker Street Station: Main entrance bu ilding and Metropolitan, Circle and Ha mmersmith and City Line platforms (Nos 1 -6) including retaining wall to approa ch road (Formerly listed as: BAKER STREET NW1 CIRCLE AND METROPOLITAN LINE PLATFORMS AND TICKET HALL, BAKER STREET STATION) (Formerly listed as: MARYLEBONE ROAD CIRCLE AND METROPOLITAN LINE PLATFORMS AND TICKET HALL, BAKER STREET STATION) (Formerly listed as: BAKER STREET NW1 CIRCLE AND METROPOLITAN LINE PLATFORMS , BAKER STREET STATION)

II* Underground railway station and terminus. First station erected 1863 by the Metropolitan Railway (MR) to the design of (Sir) John Fowler, Engineer in Chief of the MR, of which the pair of platforms and vault survive. Two platforms were added to the N serving the MR 'Extension' in 1868, subsequently extended to four. Station extensively remodelled 1911-13 by Charles W Clark, Chief Architectural Assistant to the Engineer of the MR, W Willox. Refurbished 1985.

Chiltern Court, the building above Baker Street Station, is not included in the listing.

MATERIALS: Steel-frame construction with reinforced concrete floors; facade clad in Portland stone.

PLAN: The station entrance building comprises the ground floor of the 3-bay centrepiece of Chiltern Court, plus the 4 adjacent bays to the E. One storey above basement with an upper mezzanine level. Entrance in W bay leads down stairs to large rectangular booking hall; to E of this are offices. Original (1863) sub-surface platforms, now serving the Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines (platforms 5 and 6), run E-W, parallel with the station frontage beneath Marylebone Road. A stair on the S side of the booking hall leads down through a lower concourse to the east-bound platform; the west-bound platform is accessed by a bridge to the left of the stair. Stairs to either side of W end of the platforms probably date from 1863; that on S side more altered; linking bridge between them added 1911; in front of this is a bridge built 1966-7; both bridges linked to modern ticket hall on S side of Marylebone Road. Platforms No 1-4, serving the Metropolitan Line (ML), are accessed by stairs on the N side of the booking hall.

EXTERIOR: Classical frontage of 7 tall arched bays with rusticated voussoirs. Central bay of the 3 projecting western bays has heavy keystone and cornucopian devices to left and right inscribed 'MR' and '1912', and paired narrow windows to either side. Door to left with shouldered architrave inscribed 'LUGGAGE'. Bay to right, originally an exit, is now infilled with a shop, as are the 4 bays to the E.

INTERIOR: Entrance stair lobby clad in biscuit-coloured faience with roundels. Secondary entrance arch with rusticated voussoirs and keystone bearing elaborate cornucopian device with MR insignia and date of 1912. Round-headed window above with moulded architrave. Booking hall ceiling is coffered with a grid of beams, some straight and others segmental, which are panelled on the faces and soffits, carried on square faience-clad piers with panelled faces and a dentilled cyma cornice. Faience signs on S wall for 'WH Smith and Son' and 'Luncheon and Tearoom', restored 1985. Walls clad in biscuit-coloured faience. Stairs down to east-bound platform have timber handrail and iron balustrade. Entrance to lower concourse has cast-iron screen with glazed overthrow bearing illuminated names of east-bound stations on the outer face and west-bound stations on the inner, surmounted by clock, installed 1925 to control passenger flow during the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, a distinctive feature of the London Underground. Inset in tall niche in wall to right is a marble WWI mem