History
The station was opened by the Central London Railway (CLR) on 30 July 1900. The current station entrance is not the original. The original, disused station building is on the north side of High Holborn at nos. 31–33, approximately 400 feet (122 m) to the west, closer to High Holborn's junction with Chancery Lane. Originally, provided with four lifts between ground and platform levels, the station was rebuilt in the early 1930s to operate with escalators. It was not possible to construct the inclined escalator shaft between the platforms and the existing entrance and so a new sub-surface ticket hall was constructed below the road junction. The new station entrance came into use on 25 June 1934. The old entrance building became redundant and, in recognition of the location of the new entrance, the station was renamed Chancery Lane (Gray's Inn), although the suffix subsequently fell out of use.
When the CLR excavated the running tunnels it routed them to avoid passing under surface buildings in order to limit the risk to surface buildings from vibration. At Chancery Lane, the tunnels are placed with the eastbound tunnel above the westbound.
It is one of eight London Underground stations which has a deep-level air-raid shelter underneath it. After World War II this was turned into Kingsway telephone exchange. Access to the shelter was via the original station building and lift shaft as well as subsidiary entrances in Furnival Street and Took's Court.
Read more about this topic: Chancery Lane Tube Station
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