Venture down a narrow alley branching from the lively Piccadilly and you’ll discover one of London’s abandoned Underground stations—each with its own extraordinary story.
Down Street first opened its doors on March 15, 1907, originally serving the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, a line that would eventually evolve into what we now know as the Piccadilly line.
The station featured the distinctive architectural signature of Leslie Green, the designer behind many Underground stations from that period. His signature red glazed tiles and curved windows on the upper level became instantly recognizable.
During the Blitz, the abandoned facility served as a refuge for Winston Churchill and his ministers prior to the completion of the Cabinet War Rooms. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
The station boasted two lifts descending 22 metres to platform level, yet its placement—situated a brief walk from Green Park, originally operating as Dover Street station, and Hyde Park Corner—meant passenger numbers remained consistently low.
Wealthier residents of the neighboring Mayfair district favored more prestigious methods of transportation, while the adjacent stations lay just 500 metres apart.
Trains soon began passing Down Street without stopping. By 1918, Sunday service ceased entirely, and by 1929, officials had marked it for potential closure to reduce travel times along the newly extended Piccadilly line.
The deserted tunnels at Down Street provided source material for both literature and a video game. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
When neighboring Underground stations received the modern convenience of escalators, Down Street shuttered its doors in 1932.
The lifts were dismantled, and a new section of track was constructed between Down Street and Hyde Park Corner, allowing westbound trains to turn around or undergo maintenance.
In 1939, this disused station became one of several underground facilities transformed into command centers meant to sustain essential government functions during wartime.
The platform areas and corridors were reorganized into conference rooms, administrative offices, and sleeping quarters, complete with a telephone exchange, restroom facilities, and washrooms.
Sir Winston Churchill (Image: PA)
A two-person elevator was added to the emergency staircase, and as bombs from the Luftwaffe fell across the capital, it provided a secure location for the Railway Executive Committee.
However, Prime Minister Winston Churchill also utilized it as both refuge and meeting location for cabinet members until the Cabinet War Rooms became operational, referring to it as ‘the barn’.
Following the conflict, Down Street returned to abandonment until 2016 when the London Transport Museum began conducting visits through its Hidden London initiative.
The station holds another distinction. Its eerie abandoned passages served as inspiration for the television series and novel Neverwhere as a fictional gateway to an underground maze, while in the video game Shadow Man it appears as the lair of Jack The Ripper.