| Summary : The joint Metropolitan and District South Kensington station was opened on Christmas Eve 1868. It stood on the site of Harrison and Bristow's nursery as much of the land stretching from the village of Old Brompton up to Hyde park was used for the growing of fruit, vegetables and flowers. The area had been renamed in the 1860s when it was felt that an association with Kensington might be beneficial to housing development then spreading into the locality; it is now known chiefly for its museums. District trains used the Metropolitan platforms at South Kensington until additional platforms to the south came into use on 10th July 1871, after thirty houses in Pelham Street had been demolished for the enlargement; the District station (shown on early plans as 'Cromwell Road') was completed on 19th July the same year. The Metropolitan used a side platform and island with a bay line accessed from the west; two further islands and another side platform were served by District trains. In all there were three tracks and four platform faces for Metropolitan trains, and three tracks with three platform faces for District trains. A 443 metre long subway was opened on 4th May 1885 to provide a covered route for the passengers to the exhibition grounds south of the Albert Hall, and was later rebuilt to serve the museums along exhibition road. In 1907 South Kensington was both rebuilt and opened to trains serving the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway. Increasing property values prompted the Metropolitan And District railway to capitalise on its street frontage by relocating station facilities below ground. At South Kensington a new basement ticket hall was constructed, entered through an arcade with stucco facades flanked by Ionic columns and with decorative iron grilles in the archways at each end. |