Mornington Crescent tube station

Mornington Crescent
Entrance on Hampstead Road
Mornington Crescent Location of Mornington Crescent in Central London
Location	Mornington Crescent
Local authority	London Borough of Camden
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	2
London Underground annual entry and exit
2019	4.00 million
2020	1.33 million
2021	1.43 million
2022	2.67 million
2023	2.97 million
Key dates
22 June 1907	Opened (CCE&HR)
23 October 1992	Closed for refurbishment
27 April 1998	Reopened
Listed status
Listing grade	II
Entry number	1378713
Added to list	24 April 1987 (1987-04-24)
Other information
External links	TfL station info page
Coordinates	51.5344°N 0.1386°W / 51.5344; -0.1386
London transport portal

Mornington Crescent is a London Underground station in Somers Town in north west London, named after the nearby street. The station is on the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line, between Camden Town and Euston stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 2.

The station was opened as part of the original route of the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (now the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line) on 22 June 1907. The surface building was designed by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's (UERL's) architect Leslie Green in the Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style). Prior to the station's opening, the name of "Seymour Street" had been proposed. After opening, it was little used. For many years it was open only on weekdays, and before 1966 Edgware-bound trains passed through without stopping.

Location

The station is situated at the southern end of Camden High Street, where it meets Hampstead Road and Eversholt Street. This junction forms the north-western corner of the boundary of Somers Town, with Camden Town situated to the north and Regent's Park Estate to the south of the station.

The station's location on the Northern line is unusual due to the dual-branch nature of that line. On the Charing Cross branch, Mornington Crescent is between Camden Town and Euston. The Bank branch also runs from Camden Town to Euston, but via tunnels which take an entirely different route to the Charing Cross branch and which do not pass through Mornington Crescent. Although modern-day tube maps show Mornington Crescent to the west of the Bank branch tunnels, it is actually to the east of them: the two branches cross over each other at Euston, so that between Euston and Camden Town, the Bank branch tunnels run to the west of the Charing Cross branch on which Mornington Crescent is situated. Harry Beck's 1933 tube map represented this correctly.

There is a northwards facing crossover to the north of the station to enable trains from Camden Town to terminate and head back north.

Closure and reopening

On 23 October 1992, the station was shut so that the then 85-year-old lifts could be replaced. The intention was to open it within one year. However, due to lack of funding and the state of neglect, the station remained closed for 6 years.

A concerted campaign to reopen the station was launched, with pressure from Camden Council, and assistance from the popular BBC Radio 4 panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. The show frequently features the game Mornington Crescent, which takes its name from the station.

During the station's rebuilding, the original distinctive light blue tiling pattern was restored to the station (though taking into account modern fire safety requirements). The ticket hall was reconstructed and the original emergency stairs closed. A second lift shaft was converted (losing the unnecessary extra two lifts) into a staircase on one side and a series of station facilities on the other.

After substantial refurbishment, the station was reopened on 27 April 1998 by the regular cast of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (Humphrey Lyttelton, Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden). A memorial plaque to the late Willie Rushton, one of the longest-serving panelists, was installed at the station in 2002.

Since its 1998 reopening, the station has been open at the same times as most other stations, including weekends, in an attempt to relieve the pressure on the increasingly busy nearby Camden Town station.

Services

The typical offpeak service in trains per hour (tph) is as follows:

• 20 tph Southbound to Kennington, of which 10 continue to Battersea power station
• 10 tph Northbound to Edgware
• 8 tph Northbound to High Barnet
• 2 tph Northbound to Mill Hill East

The peak services differ between the morning and evening peaks, but generally the typical peak service in trains per hour (tph) is as follows:

• 22 tph Southbound to Kennington, of which 6 continue to Morden and 12 continue to Battersea power station
• 12 tph Northbound to Edgware
• 10 tph Northbound to High Barnet
• 2 tph Northbound to Mill Hill East

In popular culture

In film

• The station was used as a location for the anthology film Tube Tales (1999).
• It was portrayed in the film Honest (2000), although the station actually used was Aldwych.
• In Allt flyter (2008), Sara meets her mother (who has moved there from Sweden for a sportscasting job) outside the station during a Christmas trip to London.

In radio

• Mornington Crescent is a spoof game, featured since the 1970s in the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, which satirises complicated strategy games. A Comic Heritage blue plaque honouring Willie Rushton, one of the show's longest-serving panelists, was installed within the station in 2002. It is located behind the ticket barrier at the top of the stairs to the platform.

In literature

• China Miéville mentions this station and its long state of disuse during the 1990s in his novel King Rat (1998), also using it as scene of a brutal murder by dismemberment via a passing train.
• In The Atrocity Archives (2004) by Charles Stross, the secret main entrance to the extremely secret Government establishment (the "Laundry") which the protagonist Bob Howard works for is situated in the gentlemen's toilets of Mornington Crescent tube station.
• In Christopher Fowler's "Bryant & May" mysteries, the offices of the Peculiar Crimes Unit are above Mornington Crescent tube station.
• Mornington Crescent is used by Robert Rankin in many of his novels as the home of the Ministry of Serendipity, a fictional agency whose main activity is to ensure the British Empire rules the globe, the top secret nature of the ministry being the main reason why the station was only open on weekdays and closed for "repairs" for much of the 1990s.

In music

• Belle & Sebastian released a song entitled "Mornington Crescent" on their 2006 album, The Life Pursuit.
• My Life Story's 1995 album Mornington Crescent takes its name from the station, featuring photos in its sleeve notes.
• The promotional video for "Be There" by Unkle was filmed in this station.

Connections

London Buses routes 1, 24, 27, 29, 46, 134, 214, 253 and 274 and night routes N5, N20, N28, N29, N31, N253 and N279 serve the station.

Gallery

• 
  Southbound platform looking south
• 
  Northbound platform looking north
• 
  Tiling on the platform
• 
  Roundel on the platform
• 
  Willie Rushton blue plaque in station

See also

• Mornington Crescent (street), the 1820s terrace after which the tube station is named

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Station exterior, 1925
  • Station exterior, 1955
  • Ticket hall, 1955

Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Camden Town towards Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet		Northern line Charing Cross Branch		Euston towards Battersea Power Station, Morden or Kennington