More information : Belsize Park station was opened on 22nd June 1907 by the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway as an intermediate station on their line from Charing Cross to Hampstead: the line now forms the basis of the present Northern Line. The station was designed by Leslie Green and has his familiar facade of ox-blood faience with four round arched windows. It remained largely untouched until the late 1980s when a lift replacement and Underground Ticketing System installation project was undertaken. (1)
At the start of the bombing raids in the Second World War the government decided to construct deep shelters at existing underground stations. Each shelter comprised two parallel tubes 1,200 feet (approx. 365 metres) long with a 16.6 feet (approx. 5 metres) diameter. Each tunnel had two decks equipped with bunks, medical posts, kitchens and toilets and the shelters could accommodate 8,000 people. Construction on the deep shelters began in 1940 and were completed in 1942. Deep-level air raid shelters were constructed at Clapham South, Clapham Common, Clapham North, Stockwell, Goodge Street, Camden Town, Belsize Park and Chancery Lane underground stations. Belsize Park shelter was opened to the public on 23rd July 1944. (2) |