Tube station: Secret command centre used by Winston Churchill goes up for sale
- Brompton Road Underground station up for sale to raise funds for troops
- The Royal Artillery ran its anti-aircraft operations room there
- Winston Churchill used command centre to watch over Luftwaffe battle
It was a top secret command centre set up by Winston Churchill to defend London from German aircraft during the Second World War.
Deep inside Brompton Road Underground station, the Royal Artillery ran its anti-aircraft operations room tasked with blasting enemy bombers from the skies in the Blitz.
The bunker is also thought to be where Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party, was brought to be interrogated after being captured in Scotland in 1941.
The disused London Underground Brompton Road Station contains a drill hall, garages, offices and mess as well as underground rooms, staircases and tunnels.
Landmark: The building features the oxblood-red tiled facade and semi-circular windows typical of architect Leslie Green's style
But now the Ministry of Defence is selling off the 28,000 sq ft 'ghost station' in a bid to raise up to £60million for frontline troops.
The property at 206 Brompton Road in central London is currently occupied by the London University Air Squadron, the London University Royal Naval Unit and 46F Squadron Air Training Corps.
The property - close to the world-famous Harrods department store in Knightsbridge - contains a drill hall, garages, offices and mess as well as underground rooms, staircases and tunnels that were part of the former Brompton Road Underground.
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), responsible for the management and maintenance of Ministry of Defence land and property, is selling the building having deemed it 'surplus to military requirement'.
Secretive: Churchill is believed to have visited the command centre to watch over the command of the battle against the Luftwaffe
Ghost station: The historic 28,000 sq ft building is being sold off by the MoD in a bid to help raise £60m for frontline troops
Developers have expressed interest in turning the Tube station into a tourist attraction with restaurants and bars.
Brompton Road Tube opened in 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR) on the Piccadilly Line, positioned between Knightsbridge and South Kensington.
The building was designed by English architect Leslie Green and features his distinctive oxblood-red tiled facade and semi-circular first floor windows.
New life: 'Boris bikes' are seen lined up outside the Leslie Green-designed station in Knightsbridge as it looks today
Historic links: The former Underground station and WWII command centre could be transformed into a tourist attraction
Located at the junction of Brompton Road and Cottage Place, the station was convenient for the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Brompton Oratory, but still saw little traffic.
It was permanently closed in 1934 after it was finally deemed to be too close to the neighbouring stations to be economically viable.
The station was taken over by the War Office to be used as a command centre for the defence of London.
Not viable: The station was conveniently located for Brompton Oratory (pictured), but did not see a lot of traffic through its doors
Attractions: Brompton Road was also close to the Victoria & Albert Museum (pictured), and Harrods, but was closed permanently as a station in 1934 because it was too close to neighbouring Tube stops
Piece of history: Churchill is believed to have visited the command centre to watch over the command of the battle against the Luftwaffe
It was from here that the gun batteries dotted around London were coordinated as they tried to shoot down enemy planes during World War Two.
HIDDEN HISTORY: LONDON'S UNDERGROUND GHOST STATIONS
There are understood to be 32 ghost stations across London's underground network, abandoned over the years as lines were diverted or the number of passengers passing through dwindled.
Like Brompton Road, many of the stations have links to the Second World War. Down Street - last used as a station in May 1932, became an air raid shelter after the war broke out, and Aldwych was used by thousands of Londoners during the Blitz.
The empty station in Westminster has been used as a location for films including Atonement, V for Vendetta, Superman 4 and 28 Weeks Later.
Other abandoned stations still remain at City Road, which was on the Northern Line until it closed its doors in 1922, Marlborough Road, which was on the Metropolitan Line, and South Kentish Town, which closed in 1924.
Churchill is believed to have visited the command centre to watch over the command of the battle against the Luftwaffe.
It was vacated by the War Office in the 1950s but seventy years on the Ministry of Defence still owns it to a depth of about 60ft underground.
The MoD’s jurisdiction ends at a locked gate and beyond this Tube trains still run on the Piccadilly Line.
But evidence of the Royal Artillery's operations centre remains in remarkable condition. Maps of London still hang from the walls of the war room.
The station retains period features including a distinctive brown and green tiling pattern and electrical switch gear.
John Taylor, estates surveyor for DIO, said: 'The MOD keeps the size and location of its bases under constant review to ensure the defence estate is no larger than necessary to meet operational needs and provides value for money for the taxpayer.'
Simon Hodson, of Jones Lang LaSalle estate agents, which is marketing the building, said: 'This site provides an excellent redevelopment opportunity and we are expecting a high level of interest from a variety of purchasers when we bring this to the market in September.'
Daily Mail
