Bounds Green tube station

Bounds Green station stands at the corner of Bounds Green Road and Brownlow Road in north London’s Haringey borough. It is a stop on the Piccadilly line, placed between Wood Green and Arnos Grove. The station sits across the boundary of London fare zones three and four. Charles Holden’s modernist design, executed by C. H. James, gives the building its distinctive eight-sided frontage and tall ventilation tower. Inside, the ticket hall is lit by four large windows and framed by concrete beams and original bronze signs. The sub-surface areas are lined with biscuit-coloured tiles and red friezes. During the Second World War the station served as an air-raid shelter. On 13 October 1940 a single bomb collapsed part of the westbound platform tunnel, killing sixteen people and injuring about twenty. A memorial plaque on the westbound platform now commemorates those who died. The station’s wartime role is recognised in its Grade II listing, granted in 2010. Architectural historians value it as a well-preserved example of 1930s London Transport modernism. The 2007 refurbishment restored heritage features and returned the colour scheme to its original red-tiled borders. Visitors enter through the eight-sided frontage and descend by two escalators or a central fixed stair. The platform tunnels are narrower than those at busier stations, measuring 6.4 metres across. Original “suicide pits” lie between the rails, with passageways beneath the platforms. The ticket hall retains its lattice of concrete beams and London Underground roundels. Outside, bus routes provide day and night connections across Haringey. Nearby Muswell Hill and Bowes Park offer further places to explore.