Burnt Oak Centenary Marks a Historic Milestone

Burnt Oak Tube Station Celebrates Centenary Milestone. This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The Burnt Oak centenary kicks off this year, honoring Stanley Heaps’ last tube station design. It blends history with a subtle architectural legacy.

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Burnt Oak joins four other stations in the Northern line extension north of Golders Green, and Stanley Heaps designed them all. He began his career assisting Leslie Green, who crafted central London’s iconic oxblood-tiled stations, but later forged his own path.

Heaps took over after Green’s death in 1908, and he initially mirrored his mentor’s style on the Bakerloo line. However, when tasked with the Northern line extension to Edgware, he abandoned tradition and embraced a fresh approach.

These stations sat in rural settings to spark urban growth, so Heaps aimed for designs matching aspirational middle-class estates. Critics argue they blended too seamlessly and lacked the standout flair tube stations typically need.

Ann Gavaghan, TfL’s Design and Communities Development Manager, noted at the centenary event that removing tube roundels could disguise Burnt Oak as a bank. Indeed, the restrained entrance cedes attention to the imposing electricity substation across the street.

That square brick substation, still standing today, reigned as the UK’s largest automatic facility when built for the railway. Its prominence even stole half the spotlight in a Railway Magazine feature on the extension.

Inside, Burnt Oak boasts a spacious layout with chessboard flooring, and large windows flood the high ceiling with light. This interior hints at early modernist design, foreshadowing styles that later defined Charles Holden’s fame.

Burnt Oak Centenary Unveils a Hidden Legacy

Ironically, Holden assisted with Burnt Oak’s internal tiles, and he soon eclipsed Heaps as the Northern line’s favored architect. Meanwhile, Heaps shifted focus to buses and trams, leaving Burnt Oak as his last tube station.

The Northern extension launched on August 18, 1924, but a builders’ strike delayed Burnt Oak’s debut until October 27. It opened with a basic brick shed, and full services ran only Monday through Saturday.

Naming the station stirred debate, as the area bore ties to Sheves Hill, Burntoak Farm, and Redhill Farm. Developers favored “Burnt Oak” to distance it from the notorious Redhill Workhouse nearby.

Early maps listed it as “Sheves Hill,” but later versions corrected it to “Burnt Oak” with a strikethrough. The shift reflects a deliberate rebrand to align with the emerging housing estate’s identity.

The shed entrance gave way to a proper ticket hall, though records vary between 1925 and 1929 for its completion. Ann Gavaghan uncovered a 1925 TfL archive photo, suggesting it opened shortly after August that year.

Weekly season tickets debuted in August 1925 between Edgware and Hampstead, yet Burnt Oak initially missed out. This gap hints the ticket hall neared completion later that year, refining the timeline.

Burnt Oak Centenary Celebrates a Modern Refresh

March 2025 marks a fitting celebration, bridging the shed opening and the ticket hall’s finish 100 years ago. A plaque unveiling on March 22 drew local leaders, Councillors Sara Conway and Charlotte Daus, and staff.

Today, Burnt Oak retains its original heavy wooden doors, and the footbridge clock dates back to 1924. Modern touches like a suspended ceiling coexist with pigeons unfazed by spikes and netting.

Plans to add step-free access stalled but may resume soon, promising a refresh for Heaps’ understated masterpiece. A deep clean could evict the pigeons, restoring the station’s modernist charm for its next century.

Source, photo: www.ianvisits.co.uk

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