Barons Court tube station

Barons Court is a London Underground station in West Kensington, Greater London. This station services the District Line and the Piccadilly Line. The station is located on Gliddon Road, a short distance from Talgarth Road (A4) in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Barons Court is between West Kensington and Hammersmith on the District Line, and between Earl's Court and Hammersmith on the Piccadilly Line. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. East of the station, the Piccadilly line descends into tunnel towards Earl's Court and the District line continues on the surface to West Kensington. The station is the last overground stop for eastbound trains on the Piccadilly line and has a Cross-platform interchange with the District line.

History
The tracks through Barons Court were first opened on 9 September 1874 when the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR, now the District Line) opened an extension from Earl's Court to Hammersmith. When the line was constructed the area now known as Barons Court was open fields and market gardens to the west of the settlement of North End and there was no call for a station between West Kensington and Hammersmith. By the beginning of the 20th century; however, the area had been developed for housing and, on 10 October 1905, the District Railway (DR) opened the station to serve these new developments and in preparation for the opening of the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly Line), then under construction.

The GNP&BR began operations on 15 December 1906, running between Hammersmith and Finsbury Park. The GNP&BR tracks come to the surface east of Barons Court and the station has two island platforms to provide an interchange between the two lines - the inner pair of tracks is used by the Piccadilly Line and the outer tracks by the District Line.

The station building was constructed to a design by Harry Ford in a style similar to that used at Earl's Court and Hammersmith and is now a Grade II listed building as it retains many of its original features, including terracotta facing and Art Nouveau lettering. The wooden benches on the platform with the station name along the back on enamelled metal panels are a unique feature on the entire London Underground.

Name
Many people mistakenly believe that name Barons Court is inspired by Earl's Court to the east and the association of the area in the early 19th century with the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (died 1806) and his English wife Elizabeth (the Margravine, the widow of the 6th Baron Craven). They had a home at Brandenburg House immediately to the west of the site of Charing Cross Hospital. The Margravine died in 1828 and is commemorated by a number of roads in the area (Margravine Road and Margravine Gardens) and the Margrave possibly by Barons Court Road although the approximate equivalent rank in the British peerage to Margrave is a Marquess.

The name Barons Court is probably inspired by the Baronscourt estate in Ireland, where Sir William Palliser, who built the entire area, had connections. As well as Palliser Road itself, all the roads in the area are named after members of his family.

Perham Road - his wife

Charleville Road - his cousins, the Earls of Charleville

Gledstanes Road - his mother

Barton Road - his grandmother

Challoner Street - his great-grandmother

Fairholme Road - his married sister

Vereker Road - his married aunt, wife of Viscount Gort

Comeragh Road - after the family estate in Ireland

Castletown Road - after the Baronets Pallisers' estate in Ireland

Sir William's brother, John Palliser (the explorer) inherited the Comeragh estate in County Waterford. Sir William did not have an Irish estate of his own. Instead, he tried to develop this London estate. He died very suddenly on 4 February 1882, and the lawyers had a field day, selling everything off, including the 11 acre which would become the Queen's Club. Sir William was heavily in debt, though if he had not died so suddenly and had managed to sell many of the houses he could have been a wealthy man. As it was, the family ended up with nothing.

A book in the Society of Genealogists, annotated in pencil by R. Burnet Morris who knew Sir William personally, provides a history of the area. Morris declared Barons Court was named "after Sir William's Irish Estates". As a result, unlike its neighbouring station, Earl's Court, Barons Court is written without an apostrophe.

Services
The typical off-peak service from this station is as follows:
 * 12 tph to Heathrow Airport via Acton Town (Piccadilly Line)
 * 3 tph to Rayners Lane via Acton Town (Piccadilly Line)
 * 3 tph to Uxbridge via Acton Town and Rayners Lane (Piccadilly Line)
 * 3 tph to Northfields via Acton Town (Piccadilly Line)
 * 6 tph to Ealing Broadway via Acton Town (District Line)
 * 6 tph to Richmond (District Line)
 * 18 tph to Cockfosters via Central London (Piccadilly Line)
 * 3 tph to Arnos Grove via Central London (Piccadilly Line)
 * 6 tph to Tower Hill (District Line)
 * 6 tph to Upminster via Tower Hill (District Line)

Nearby places

 * Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College's Hammersmith site is across Talgarth Road on Gliddon Road.
 * The Queen's Club, location of the Stella Artois Championships tennis championship, is at the end of Palliser Road.
 * The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, (LAMDA), is on the Talgarth Road.
 * Margravine Cemetery http://www.margravinecemetery.org.uk