| Summary : Bayswater station opened on 1st October 1868 as one of four intermediate stations on the Metropolitan Railway's extension from Praed Street Junction (west of Edgware Road) to Gloucester Road which now forms a western segment of the Circle Line. Designed under the supervision of Sir John Fowler, the station was built from white Halsey perforated brick with stone dressings. The windows and doorways were set within high arches, and entrances were sheltered by iron and glass verandahs. Platforms were built in an open cutting adjoining the road, protected by a semi-elliptical overall roof with decorative ends and windscreens and supported on cast iron brackets. The windscreens were never fitted with glass, and were later removed. In 1926 the station was first served by District trains when it extended its service north of High Street Kensington using the Metropolitan's tracks to Edgware Road. Bayswater survives in essentially its original condition and is a good example of one of the earliest underground stations in London. |