History
The station opened on 13 March 1933 as part of the Cockfosters extension, its original name being Enfield West. The station did not appear on the original plans to extend the Piccadilly line beyond Finsbury Park, which only provided for seven additional stations, however it served as the line's terminus for a brief period before Cockfosters station was opened.
The station building is a fine example of the architecture Charles Holden built for the Piccadilly Line extensions, with a large and imposing box-shaped ticket hall surrounded by lower structures containing shops. The ceiling of the booking hall is particularly monumental and bold. The whole design mirror proportions found in classical architecture, albeit in a distinctly 20th century structure. The dimensions of the ticket hall are approximately a "double-cube" (its front elevation is roughly twice its height and width). The station is similar to Holden's slightly earlier designs for Sudbury Town and Acton Town stations at the western end of Piccadilly Line. Oakwood Station is a Grade II* listed building.
Like other extensions of the London Underground lines, the opening of the Cockfosters extension stimulated the rapid development of new suburbs and much of the open countryside that existed in 1930 when construction started was quickly covered by new housing developments.
Read more about this topic: Oakwood Tube Station
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Anything in history or nature that can be described as changing steadily can be seen as heading toward catastrophe.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“We know only a single science, the science of history. One can look at history from two sides and divide it into the history of nature and the history of men. However, the two sides are not to be divided off; as long as men exist the history of nature and the history of men are mutually conditioned.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“The history of reform is always identical; it is the comparison of the idea with the fact. Our modes of living are not agreeable to our imagination. We suspect they are unworthy. We arraign our daily employments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)