Royal Oak

Underground station, existing between 1871 and now.

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Underground station · * · ·
November
26
2017
Royal Oak is a station on the Hammersmith and City Line, between Westbourne Park and Paddington stations, and is the least used station on the Hammersmith and City line.

Royal Oak station is close to the elevated Westway section of the A40 road. It was named after a nearby public house, the Royal Oak (later the Railway Tap and even later than that, the Porchester). It is one of a number of Underground stations named after a local pub.

The Royal Oak public house stood at the southern end of what is now Porchester Road from at least the 18th century. The junction of Blackman Lane (only later Porchester Road) and the Harrow Road was marked by a tollbooth beside a large house known as 'Westbourne Park'.

But in the late 1830s the Great Western Railway line split this part of the Paddington district into two. The land here was owned at that time by one William Penney, who made a high compensation claim for his loss.

There were pleasure gardens at the Royal Oak in the 1840s and most of the neigh­bouring locality was built up around this time. Badly served but with a line already running through the area - the Metropolitan Railway extension to Hammersmith had opened in 1864 -  there was pressure for a station.

The station finally opened on 30 October 1871. Royal Oak station was built on the site of William Penney’s house on what was known in 1900 as Lord Hill's Bridge across the railway.


1900westbournelodge


This photo from 6 August 1857 shows guests at the wedding of the Reverend Frederick Manners Stopford to Florence Augusta Saunders, daughter of Charles Saunders, first general secretary of the Great Western Railway. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was amongst the guests. The house was built before the railway was built but, at the time of the wedding, ran just beside the Lodge.

During the wedding, both Brunel and Saunders were able to experience trains running beside the wedding party along the railway which they had built. Comparing the 1857 photo with the mapping from 1900 map, you can clearly see the conservatory featured.

Railway history is a continuous process - these days the Royal Oak Portal is the western tunnel entrance for the Crossrail scheme (Elizabeth line). The station itself is not part of the Crossrail scheme.

In passing we must mention that there are a few Underground stations that take their names from a public house. The two most obvious ones are Swiss Cottage and Elephant and Castle. Royal Oak is less obvious and perhaps the most obscure is Manor House.




Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY


Lady Townshend   
Added: 8 Sep 2023 16:02 GMT   

Tenant at Westbourne (1807 - 1811)
I think that the 3rd Marquess Townshend - at that time Lord Chartley - was a tenant living either at Westbourne Manor or at Bridge House. He undertook considerable building work there as well as creating gardens. I am trying to trace which house it was. Any ideas gratefully received

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Comment
PETER FAIRCLOUGH   
Added: 10 May 2021 14:46 GMT   

We once lived here
My family resided at number 53 Brindley Street Paddington.
My grandparents George and Elizabeth Jenkinson (ne Fowler) had four children with my Mother Olive Fairclough (ne Jenkinson) being born in the house on 30/09/1935.
She died on 29/04/2021 aged 85 being the last surviving of the four siblings

Reply
Lived here
   
Added: 22 Aug 2023 12:31 GMT   

Hampden Street, W2
My great great grandparents William and Hannah Playford lived at 60 Hampden Street from the mid 1880s when they moved from rural poverty in Norfolk to inner city hardship in Paddington and where all their children were born. My great grandfather was a road sweeper and sold cat meat. They had seven children in all, of whom five survived infancy: three boys who all volunteered for the army at the outbreak of WW1 and miraculously returned via Salonika, France and a German POW camp; and two daughters, the eldest of whom was my great grandmother, Annie Playford b 1888. She had an illegitimate daughter in 1910, my grandmother Hilda Sarah Catherine. She brought her up singlehandedly and assumed a false married name to conceal her (then socially unacceptable) status as a single mother. In fact she never married and would never tell my grandmother anything about her father. Because of her longevity (she died in 1986) I remember Annie very well. As a child I perceived her as grumpy, uncommunicative, unsocial and a voracious eater. Of course as an adult I realised this was borne from pride loneliness, ill health, a grim determination to survive, and hunger. Somehow she did survive on her own as a single parent, despite lack of family support and serious deprivation. She worked three back breaking menial cleaning jobs over many years to make ends meet. With the advent of DNA I now know the identity of my grandmother’s father which she always dearly wished to know herself. She used to ask her mother if she loved her. The answer: "I kept you, didn’t I?" In the context of the times, I think that says it all. I only wish nanny was still here so that I could tell her all about her father.

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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Comment
Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

Reply

NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

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Comment
Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

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Comment
Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

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Comment
Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

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Comment
Gillian   
Added: 17 Feb 2024 00:08 GMT   

No 36 Upper East Smithfield
My great great grandfather was born at No 36 Upper East Smithfield and spent his early years staring out at a "dead wall" of St Katharine’s Docks. His father was an outfitter and sold clothing for sailors. He describes the place as being backed by tenements in terrible condition and most of the people living there were Irish.

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Kevin Pont   
Added: 16 Feb 2024 20:32 GMT   

Name origin
Interestingly South Lambeth derives its name from the same source as Lambeth itself - a landing place for lambs.

But South Lambeth has no landing place - it is not on the River Thames

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C Hobbs   
Added: 31 Jan 2024 23:53 GMT   

George Gut (1853 - 1861)
George Gut, Master Baker lived with his family in Long Lane.
George was born in Bernbach, Hesse, Germany and came to the UK sometime in the 1840s. In 1849, George married an Englishwoman called Matilda Baker and became a nauralized Englishman. He was given the Freedom of the City of London (by Redemption in the Company of Bakers), in 1853 and was at that time, recorded as living at 3 Long Lane. In the 1861 census, George Gut was living at 11 Long Lane.

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NEARBY LOCATIONS OF NOTE
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Desborough Lodge Desborough Lodge was a house which was one of five grand houses in the village of Westbourne Green.
Harrow Road bridge Harrow Road once spanned the River Westbourne at this point.
Kilburn Aqueduct Some way from the area now called Kilburn, the Kilburn Aqueduct of the Grand Union Canal spanned the River Westbourne.
Queen’s Cinema This cinema was situated at the top of Queensway, on the corner of Bishop’s Bridge Road.
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Royal Oak Royal Oak is a station on the Hammersmith and City Line, between Westbourne Park and Paddington stations, and is the least used station on the Hammersmith and City line.
Spotted Dog The Spotted Dog public house was one of the earliest buildings in Westbourne Green.
Westbourne Farm Westbourne Farm - an old farm with a theatrical connection.
Westbourne Green The story of the building of a suburb.
Westbourne House Two hundred years ago, the biggest house hereabouts...
Westbourne Lodge Westbourne Lodge appeared in one of the earliest photographs in London.

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