If you’ve ever dreamt of owning a London landmark, then it can’t get much better than having the opportunity to buy a Tube station. Yes, you read that right.
The Ministry of Defence has put up Brompton Road Underground station for sale to raise up to £60m for frontline troops.
The 28,000-sq-foot station was used as a secret command centre by Winston Churchill to defend London from German aircrafts during the Second World War.
The Royal Artillery is known to have run its anti-aircraft operations room that blasted enemy bombers from the underground station. The bunker is also believed to be where Adolf Hitler’s deputyRudolf Hess was interrogated after being captured in Scotland in 1941.
Popularly known as a ‘ghost tube station’, the property might be turned into a tourist attraction – with Ajit Chambers, CEO, The Old London Underground Company, heading the plans.
Video: Inside London’s ghost tube stations
The station on Brompton Road has underground rooms, staircases, tunnels, garages, offices and a mess. Maps of London still hang from the walls of the war room.
Opened in 1906, it is a stone’s throw away from Harrods. It was permanently closed in 1934 after authorities found it to be too close to Knightsbridge and South Kensington stations.
The station then became the command centre for defence in London from where gun batteries dotted around the capital were coordinated during World War Two.
John Taylor, estates surveyor for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (responsible for MoD property), 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.”
You need to read:
London’s ghost tube stations
The best bogus London Underground signs
In pictures: Old London Underground posters
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