150 years of Blackfriars, Embankment and Temple stations

Today marks the 150th Birthday of three zone-1 stations. On 30th May 1870 the Metropolitan District Railway extended their route from Westminster to Blackfriars, with stations in between at Embankment and Temple. The construction of this section of the railway was in conjunction with the building of the Victoria Embankment. Now served by the Circle and District lines, these three stations are busy stations used by commuters and tourists alike. Embankment station also joined deep level railways of the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway in 1906 and the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway in 1914, now part of the Bakerloo and Northern lines respectively.

Embankment

The first station east of the former Metropolitan District Railway (DR) terminus of Westminster is Embankment. When the new DR station opened in May 1870 it was the closest underground station to Charing Cross mainline railway station, which opened in 1864 and to this day links central London to many areas of the South East of England. Due to this proximity, the new DR station we know today as Embankment opened as Charing Cross. In 1906 the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (BS&WR) opened its deep-level tube line and named its station as Embankment despite the platforms being almost directly below the DR platforms.

The naming of the now Embankment station as Charing Cross back in 1870 became confusing when the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR), now part of the Northern line, terminated at a station which at the time was called, you guessed it, Charing Cross. The CCE&HR station called Charing Cross is now the station we know today as Charing Cross. When the CCE&HR extended south to connect with the BS&WR Embankment station in 1914 a new station was built to accommodate both the deep-tube lines and this was called Embankment (Charing Cross), but the DR sub-surface station was still called Charing Cross. Things finally became clearer in 1974 when the complex with the now District and Circle lines, Bakerloo and Northern lines became named Embankment. This was also the year that the separate Trafalgar Square Bakerloo line station and Charing Cross northern line station merged to form one station complex under the name Charing Cross. 

I cannot talk about Embankment station without mentioning Oswald Lawrence and Dr Margaret McCollum. Oswald Lawrence is one of the voices behind the famous "mind the gap" announcements that has become synonymous around the world. Oswald's announcement was used on the northern line, but like most things, was gradually replaced or removed, Embankment was the last station to continue using his voice until 2012. Oswald died in 2007, however, when his widow noticed her husbands voice was not being used at Embankment she inquired if Transport for London could provide her with a recording. TfL not only provided a recording but were able to upload the old 40 year old recording to the new system. Once restrictions have been lifted regarding COVID-19 and you visit Embankment station you will now here Oswald Lawrence's voice. 

Temple

The next station travelling east to open on 30th May 1870 is Temple, or as it was called at the time, The Temple. The station name takes its name from the nearby Temple Church, built by the Knights Templar in 1185. The church is believed to be on the site of a former Roman Temple of Londinium. It is also thought that the definite article was rarely used and it is therefore difficult to find a date that the station became Temple as it is known today.

There were plans in the 20th Century for the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway, which is now the Piccadilly line, to extend from Holborn to Temple via. Strand. The only part of this that opened was the branch to Strand, or Aldwych as it was named in 1915, however the branch closed in 1994. Today on the station building you can find a map preserved from 1932 that displays the message "an up-to-date Journey Planner is located inside the station". 

Blackfriars

The final station that has its 150th Birthday today is Blackfriars. When the station opened in 1870 it was named St Paul's, however, this was renamed to Blackfriars in 1937 to avoid confusion with the Central London Railway's station that is closer to St Paul's Cathedral. The Central London Railway station opened in July 1900 as Post Office due to the nearby headquarters of the General Post Office. The mainline station that we know today as Blackfriars opened in 1886 and was also named St Paul's. In 2009 both the underground and mainline stations underwent major refurbishments that were completed in 2012. 

The three stations by being located close to the West End and the river Thames, as well as proximity to office buildings, mean in the 21st Century they are busy for commuting and tourists. 150 years on, the London Underground is currently perhaps more familiar to life as it was constructed, due to amazing heritage preservation, than 2019. As London shut down in spring 2020, Temple station was one of the many stations to temporarily close in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.