Sloane Square () is a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

station in Chelsea, serving

Sloane Square Sloane Square is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the central London districts of Belgravia and Chelsea, London, Chelsea, located southwest of Charing Cross, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The area forms a ...

. It is served by the

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

and

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

lines, between

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

stations, and is in

Travelcard Zone 1 Fare zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used by the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and National Rail. For most tickets, travel through Zone 1 is more expensive than journeys o ...

. The entrance to the station is on the east side of Sloane Square ( A3217). It is adjacent to the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

and is the nearest station for

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

shopping, the Peter Jones department store and the

Cadogan Hall Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea, London, Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ( ...

History

The station was opened on 24 December 1868 by the

District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London, England, from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the ...

(DR, now the District line) when the company opened the first section of its line between

and

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

stations.

The construction of the station was complicated by the crossing of the site by the

River Westbourne The Westbourne or Kilburn, also known as the Ranelagh Sewer, is a culverted small Tributaries of the River Thames#Tributaries, River Thames tributary in London, rising in Hampstead and Brondesbury Park and which as a drain unites and flows so ...

which ran through Hyde Park as the Serpentine Lake and was originally crossed by the Knight's Bridge at

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

. The river was carried above the platform in a large iron pipe suspended from girders. This pipe remains in place today. The DR connected to the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

(MR, later the

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in London Borough of Hillingdon, Hillingdon. Printed in mage ...

) at South Kensington and, although the two companies were rivals, each company operated its trains over the other's tracks in a joint service known as the ''"Inner Circle"''. On 1 February 1872, the DR opened a northbound branch from its station at

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

to connect to the West London Extension Joint Railway (WLEJR, now the West London line) to which it connected at Addison Road (now Kensington (Olympia)). From that date the ''" Outer Circle"'' service began running over the DR's tracks. The service was run by the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

(LNWR) from Broad Street (now demolished) in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

via the North London line to

Willesden Junction Willesden Junction () is an interchange station located in Harlesden, north-west London. It is situated on the Bakerloo line of the London Underground and the Lioness and Mildmay lines of the London Overground. The station is located close to ...

, then the West London Line to Addison Road. From Addison Road it ran over DR tracks to Mansion House. From 1 August 1872, the ''"

Middle Circle The Middle Circle was a Great Western Railway service in London that operated from 1872 to 1905. The route was from the District Railway station at Mansion House to Earl's Court, then via the West London Railway to Latimer Road on to the Ham ...

"'' service also began operations through Sloane Square running from

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, but ...

along the MR's tracks on the north side of the Inner Circle to Paddington then over the Hammersmith & City Railway (H&CR) track to

Latimer Road Latimer Road () is a London Underground station in North Kensington, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is on the Circle line (London Underground), Circle and Hammersmith & City line, Hammersmith & City lines, between Wood Lane ...

then, via a now demolished link, to the West London line to Addison Road and the DR to Mansion House. The service was operated by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

. On 30 June 1900, the Middle Circle service was withdrawn between Earl's Court and Mansion House. On 31 December 1908, the Outer Circle service was also withdrawn. In the late 1930s, the station building was rebuilt in the modern style. Escalators were installed between the ticket hall and the platforms in early 1940, making the station the first on the sub-surface network to have escalators. The new station building did not last long as it was mostly destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A German bomb that fell in November 1940 killed 37 and injured 79 passengers on a train in the station and destroyed the ticket hall, escalators and the glazed roof over the tracks. In 1949, the Metropolitan line operated Inner Circle route was given its own identity on the

tube map The Tube map (sometimes called the London Underground map) is a schematic transport map of the lines, stations and services of the London Underground, known colloquially as "the Tube", hence the map's name. The first schematic Tube map was des ...

as the Circle line. By 1951 the station had been rebuilt again in a similar style to the 1930s building. The arched glass roof was not replaced and the current station does not have the light open atmosphere of the original. The office building above the station entrance is a later addition. The Hole in the Wall pub on the eastbound platform existed from 1868 to 1985.

Incidents and accidents

On 5 April 1960,

Peter Llewelyn Davies Peter Llewelyn Davies (25 February 1897 – 5 April 1960) was the middle of five sons of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, one of the Llewelyn Davies boys befriended and later informally adopted by J. M. Barrie. Barrie publicly identifie ...

, one of the

Llewelyn Davies boys The Davies boys were the inspiration for the stories of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, in which several of the characters were named after them. They were the sons of Sylvia (1866–1910) and Arthur Llewelyn Davies (1863–1907). Their mother w ...

who were the inspiration for the boy characters of

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

's ''

Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up ''Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'', often known simply as ''Peter Pan'', is a work by J. M. Barrie, in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel titled ''Peter and Wendy''. Both versions tell the story of Peter Pan, a mischievou ...

'', and who resented the public association with the character named after him, committed suicide by throwing himself under a train as it was pulling into the station. On 26 December 1973, a terrorist bomb exploded in the telephone kiosk in the booking office. No one was injured.

Former Chelsea-Hackney line proposal

Train_departing_Sloane_Square_tube_station

Sloane Square was considered as a potential station on the long-proposed ''Chelsea-Hackney line'' which has been absorbed into plans for

Crossrail 2 Crossrail 2 is a suspended proposal for a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit route in South East England, running from nine stations in Surrey to three in Hertfordshire, providing a new North–South rail link across Greater London. It wou ...

. The station is no longer on the planned route.

Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes 11, 19, 22,

137 137 may refer to: *137 (number) *137 BC *AD 137 *137 (album), an album by The Pineapple Thief *137 (MBTA bus) *137 (New Jersey bus) 137 may refer to: *137 (number) *137 BC *AD 137 *137 (album), an album by The Pineapple Thief *137 (MBTA bus) Th ...

170 Year 170 ( CLXX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Clarus and Cornelius (or, less frequently, year 923 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 170 for this yea ...

211 Year 211 ( CCXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, in the Roman Empire it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Terentius and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 964 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomin ...

319 __NOTOC__ Year 319 ( CCCXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinius (or, less frequently, year 1072 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

360 360 may refer to: * 360 (number) * 360 AD, a year * 360 BC, a year * 360 degrees, a turn Businesses and organizations * 360 Architecture, an American architectural design firm * Ngong Ping 360, a tourism project in Lantau Island, Hong Kong ...

452 __NOTOC__ Year 452 ( CDLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Herculanus and Sporacius (or, less frequently, year 1205 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

, C1 and night routes N11, N19, N22 and N137 serve the station.

In popular culture

Sloane Square is one of two tube stations (the other being

) mentioned in the song "When you're lying awake" from the operetta ''

Iolanthe ''Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri'' () is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, first performed in 1882. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert ...

'' by

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** ** ** ** {{Chelsea–Hackney line navbox Circle line (London Underground) stations District line stations Proposed Chelsea-Hackney Line stations Tube stations in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Former Metropolitan District Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1868