Mark Lane tube station

Mark Lane
Mark Lane
	265px
Location	City of London
Owner	Metropolitan Railway & District Railway
Number of platforms	2
Key dates
6 October 1884	Opened
4 February 1967	Closed
Replaced by	Tower Hill
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR; Underground; National Rail; Tramlink;
	London Transport portal

Mark Lane (latterly Tower Hill) is a disused station on the London Underground. It was served by the Circle and District lines.

It took its name from Mark Lane, the street on which it is located, slightly west of the current Tower Hill station that replaced it in 1967.^[1]

History

Location of Mark Lane station on an 1888 plan.

Mark Lane station was opened on 6 October 1884^[1] to replace the short-lived Tower of London station, which was closed when the Metropolitan Railway and District Railway were connected to form the Circle line and a larger station was required.^[2]

Mark Lane shown on part of a 1908 Tube map.

Mark Lane was planned to have been named Seething Lane, however the station was ultimately given the former name upon opening. 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 sub-surface 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 subway under the road, where large white grilles now cover the original stairways down to the platforms.

The offices above the station were called Mark Lane Station Buildings, and this sign can still be read above an entrance on Byward Street.

References

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Tower Hill towards Hammersmith		Circle line		Monument towards Edgware Road
Monument towards Wimbledon, Richmond or Ealing Broadway		District line		Tower Hill towards Upminster