Despite being the butt of many a joke, ‘Cock Fosters’ as it once was, is a real place and noted for being the northern terminus of the Piccadilly Line. The location itself prior to the opening of the tube was not even a major settlement of any sort, just a small school and a vicarage. The location itself was both in deepest Middlesex and Hertfordshire. The destination was not on the original plans, however the need for a large train depot pushed the line further north to where more land was available for this.
The eight stations on the new extension from Finsbury Park were opened in three stages during 1932 and 1933, with Cockfosters being right at the end and inf act the last bit of the Piccadilly Line in North London to open, This was on 31st July 1933.
Cockfosters station is colloquially known along with Uxbridge, as a ‘concrete cathedral.’ Charles Holden did not just design railway stations. As a noted architect he was much in demand and some of his earlier work such as Bristol Central Library certainly evoked the sense of being a cathedral. Yet Holden had never designed one. The nearest he got to any sense of a cathedral were the large chapels he was able to design.
The Piccadilly Line’s terminus station was in essence a prototype. Each Holden era was replaced by something more stupendous. From the early stations such as Piccadilly Circus, this morphed to substantial stations such as those down to Morden, then a couple more on the Piccadilly at Ealing and Hounslow. Then we had Sudbury Town. Voila! All pretence had been done away and here was a new brutal design, pure and simple.
One of Holden’s quotes was: “Eliminate everything which does not fulfil a definite and necessary function.” Hence they had to be free from fads and conceits. This was carried through to other stations such as Northfields, then those along the Cockfosters extension. Southgate was the first inkling the current early 1930s phase was in demise, and Oakwood the last gasp before Holden once again changed direction completely.
The concept of a brick box with concrete lids was virtually forsaken. The cantilevered styling and airy spaces may have been something Holden hoped would be used elsewhere. In the event the design was reused at Uxbridge, and as I have mentioned before, elements of the design were used at Oakwood (or the other way round perhaps.)
This begs the question, was Oakwood a prototype of sorts for Cockfosters? One can say Oakwood was the original design and then Holden or his associates split the Oakwood canopy style into two and put in this vacant space the now iconic train shed. On the other hand, the reverse could have occurred, being that Oakwood used elements of Cockfosters station. There’s nothing to show this was done either way, but compare pictures of both stations and you will find they have a commonality.
The big difference is at Cockfosters the exits from the platforms were well beyond the train operating areas, and this gave Holden the chance to create a huge train shed that was unbroken by stairwells or station entrances.
On another level, if one thinks about it, there are no Holden ‘boxes’ used anywhere as a tube terminus! Hounslow West (formerly a terminus and similar to Ealing Common) uses a hexagonal design. And yes, it can be claimed that Morden on the Northern Line is a Holden ‘box’ – but its not in the strictest sense a terminus as the Northern line continues through the station to the depot. Thus Cockfosters, as a true terminus, would follow the ‘rules’ by once again not utilising a Holden box.
What could Holden build at Cockfosters rather than yet another version of his brick box/concrete lid design? These were quite a few by now, and Enfield West (Oakwood) was just down the road. Holden’s early plans for Cockfosters do however show a new styling version of the box/lid concept. yet those plans got thrown out. In my view Cockfosters is possibly the ultimate Quaker building, something Holden had ironically never been asked to design. The station site embraced the counties of Hertfordshire and Middlesex, both of which were early pioneers of Quaker thought.
Holden was clearly knowledgeable in these counties’ history of the Quaker movement and without a doubt had visited many of the local friends centres, some of which had been designed by fellow RIBA architects who were also Quakers.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt is evident the station gave a nod to rural buildings, for example barns and mills. Perhaps more so the Friends Meeting House in Hertford. As the oldest Quaker building in the world it too has cross beams and trusses. And this concept is used at the country end of Cockfosters station.
From that end of the station one would enter the station’s cathedral like aspect. But I don’t think it was meant to be such. It was a place where people could meet. Where friends could gather together and stand in awe of this impressive structure before going on to do their own thing. Rambles in the countryside, going to the local church, playing cricket in the nearby field, whatever. In other words it was a friends meeting place 🙂
That is still true of the station these days. Countless people travel to Cockfosters and meet there in order to go on local rambles around the area, perhaps visit Trent Park or attend any one of the festivals held in the locality. And yes they still gather here for cricket in the sports field opposite the station.
The 1931 plans for Cockfosters station show it was intended to look very different. These plans show the original design of two large towers and substantial street entrances. Two much smaller towers were used and the station itself considerably expanded.
As these plans are from 1931 its clear Holden made the changes to Cockfosters at a very late stage. In some ways it was fortunate the extension from Enfield West to the new terminus would not be opening until 31st July 1933. The opening had been originally mooted for early 1933 as some tube maps show, but was then pushed back twice during 1933. This indecision must be attributed to the late design changes that were made to the station.
There is one other thing that tells us Cockfosters was most definitely not going to be like any of the other new stations on the Piccadilly Line is the clock. Instead of a modernist style of clock, Holden went for a traditional clock suspended above the ticket barriers. This, along with the lengthy drop lights (modern chandeliers so to say) is further evidence of the desire for a totally different approach to tube station design. The brick box with concrete lid concept didn’t get totally left out as its used for the signal box at the end of the platforms.
Cockfosters is a station with more considerable country feel than say, Epping or Amersham. Its probably helped by the terminus buildings being set in a cutting (whereas the others are not) thus retaining some element of rural sense to the site as well as the smaller entrance buildings that were ultimately employed. The station only just beats High Barnet as the most northernmost terminus tube station in Greater London.
Cockfosters station today
Here we look at the station itself as it is today, the possible reasons for the design that was finally implemented and the many different variations in style. Plus a look around the station area before going on to its exterior, the bus parade and the many station entrances about the site.
73 tube stock in the centre platform at Cockfosters station.
The first impression upon a traveller arriving at Cockfosters is of course seeing the large overall roof. It is in many ways evocative of country stations that had, or still have these. One could easily be arriving at Frome or Wick and Thurso!
Night shot of the train shed at Cockfosters during summer 2017
Its clear the station is very different from any other seen on the tube system, even that at Uxbridge, built in similar style. Many consider both Cockfosters and Uxbridge stations to be twins. They do look like they share the same exact design but that is not true. Holden used a different design for both and whilst there are similarities, the means of construction and styling was very different.
There are the seats, the station roundels, the lawn area (this is recent however it adds to the station’s character) the ticket barriers clocks and the now defunct train indicators.
The impressive architecture, which shares similarities with Uxbridge station.
The entrance hall with its pointed roof is like a ship’s prow as some say. Here we see early examples of using the wood slats as a pattern maker for the concrete beams. Previously what would have happened is that these would have been smoothed out. That indeed was on some parts of the station however the beams and supports were left unsmoothed.
This bit is what makes Cockfosters different from Uxbridge. Similar design but employed in different ways. Here we have this unusual arrangement (like a prow as has been said.) At Uxbridge there was just a flat, plain, end above the ticket hall area. The now noted stained glass windows improved on that.
The end of the train shed above the ticket hall, said to be shaped like a ship’s prow.
Concrete formwork was employed at Holden’s other stations, but by the time work reached Oakwood, the brutalist straight lines and aright angles were being replaced by supports and canopies with a certain amount of angular work, which again, shows Holden’s desire to move away from the brick box/concrete lid style.
It was also used at Oakwood and Turnpike Lane, but not in such a way that detracted from the spectacular ticket halls. The concrete at both Wood Green and Southgate is totally smoothed, whilst the ticket hall at Bounds Green ticket hall had its exposed concrete simply tiled over!
Brass station name on notice board that’s partially obscured by a TfL Help Point.
Conversely, at Arnos Grove, formed concrete was employed to highlight the one vertical pillar holding the circular roof up. These vertical lines make it much more dramatic. By the time the construction of Cockfosters station was actually begun, its likely they realised just how much work/cost would be involved in smoothing the huge structure out, and so it was mostly was left untreated. One could say Cockfosters station was the first structure on London’s tube to fully employ this kind of styling, yet it wasn’t employed to any great extent at Holden’s other similarly designed station at Uxbridge.
Old telephone booths at the station, preserved for prosperity with exits either side.
The many kiosks, telephone kiosks, the different entrances (five lead off from here) that go to either the main bus station area, or the car parks, as well as the main station entrance on Cockfosters Road. This is a very unusual touch. Most tube stations have at the most only two or three exits. Those such as King’s Cross have many however these are incremental.
The amazing thing about these exits is from the ticket hall they all look more or less the same style (apart from the one leading underneath the road.) At their far ends where they finally emerge into the open, each one is almost totally different to how they started out!
Although Holden had dropped his original plans for a huge terminus building, he made up for it in other ways, and quite well within the constraints of the budget ultimately permitted for the construction of the station.
Five exits can be seen here. Some of these split up into further exits.