This photograph by Henry Flather shows Gloucester Road Station under
construction. The view looks toward South Kensington. The builders used
timber scaffolding to erect the metal arched ribs, which were assembled in
sections. The photograph was taken around 1870.
Beginnings of the Circle Line
Gloucester Road station is part of the Paddington to South Kensington
extension. The extension was created by the Metropolitan Railway in the
mid-1860s. It now forms the western curve of the Circle Line. The inner
circle was not completed until 1884.
Fine Victorian building
The building is one of the best surviving examples of a mid-Victorian
station with an Italianate exterior. In 1985, the station's important
architecture was given Grade II listed building status in order to
preserve it.
