Summary : Barkingside opened on 1st May 1903 on the Great Eastern's Ilford-Woodford loop. Segmental windows in walls of smooth red pressed bricks above a rough-hewn granite plinth set Barkingside apart from other stations on the Hainault loop. In the centre of the one storey building is a small domed cupola. The grand style of the station is accounted for by the fact that Barkingside served as a transfer point for the nobility travelling to the nearby Dr Barnardo's Home for Children. The station has been accredited to William Burgess, but it is likely that the design was prepared under the direction of WN Ashbee, Chief Architect to the Great Eastern Railway at this time. When Barkingside was taken over as a station on the Central line extension on 31st May 1948 the station was little changed apart from the retiling of the ticket hall and the extension on the platforms. |