Mark Lane tube station
Disused station on the London Underground
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mark Lane is a disused station on the London Underground. It was served by the Circle and District lines. In 1946 it was renamed Tower Hill. It was closed in 1967 and the present Tower Hill station was opened as its replacement, located on the same site as the Tower of London station that had closed in 1884. It was named after Mark Lane, the street on which it is located, slightly west of the current Tower Hill station that replaced it in 1967.
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| Mark Lane | |
|---|---|
Mark Lane Station Buildings | |
  Mark Lane Location of Mark Lane in Central London | |
| Location | City of London |
| Owner | |
| Number of platforms | 2 |
| Railway companies | |
| Original company | Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Joint Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 6 October 1884 | Opened |
| 1 September 1946 | Renamed Tower Hill |
| 4 February 1967 | Closed |
| Replaced by | Tower Hill |
| Other information | |
| Coordinates | 51°30′35″N 0°4′45″W |
 London transport portal | |
History
Mark Lane station was opened on 6 October 1884.[1] It was located on the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Joint Railway (also known as the City Lines) that connected the eastern end of the District Railway (DR) at Mansion House to the Metropolitan Railway (the Met) at Aldgate and completed the Circle line.[2][a] During planning for the station, the name "Seething Lane" was considered.[4] The next station to the west was Monument.[5] The next station to the east was Tower of London, that had been opened by the Met on 25 September 1882 as the temporary terminus of a short extension from Aldgate.[6] The DR refused to sell tickets to this station and it closed on 13 October 1884.[7] Thereafter the next stations to the east were Aldgate and Aldgate East.[2] Electric services commenced on 1 July 1905 and all services were electric by 24 September 1905.[8] The above-ground part of the station was rebuilt in 1911 within an office block named Mark Lane Station Buildings.[9]
The station was referred to in early plans as Trinity Square,[10] and later named Seething Lane, but it was ultimately given the more recognisable name Mark Lane (the street on which London's Corn Exchanges were located). On 1 September 1946, the station was renamed Tower Hill.[1] The station was earmarked for closure due to overwhelming passenger numbers and little space available for expansion. It was closed on 4 February 1967 and the present Tower Hill station was opened as its replacement, located on the same site as the Tower of London station that had closed in 1884.[1] The underground section of Mark Lane station can still be seen between Monument and Tower Hill, though only one platform on the eastbound track now remains due to redevelopment of the track. The surface station, sited in Seething Lane, can be seen in the form of a pedestrian subway under the road converted from the old station overbridge, where large white grilles now cover the original stairways down to the platforms.
In literature
The station is referenced by H. V. Morton on page 134 of his 1925 travel book The Heart of London (Methuen and Co) when he sits in the cab of an underground train travelling from Bow to Ealing.
The disused station features in the 2017 novel Who Sent Clement by Keith A. Pearson[11] as the fictional hiding place for a gold bar from the 1971 Baker Street robbery. The loot is made as a pay-off to a look-out from the robbery, a former ticket office manager of the then recently closed station.
