Gardeners House in Soho Square
This building is actually not Tudor at all. It only dates back to 1925 — and was originally a cunning disguise for something the Tudors could only dream of. Beneath the hut was an electricity substation for the Charing Cross Electricity Company. It was necessary for the station to have a private, above-ground entrance and, as there had been a hut there before dating back to the 1870s, this design was thought a fitting piece of architectural camouflage.
During the second world war, the space under the hut took on a new role, as a bomb shelter. Leslie Hardcastle, president of the Soho Society explains what conditions were like inside: "It was lined with about 12 inches of brick and had concrete as a roof.
"It could take about 150 to 200 people initially although that became less when they put tiers of bunks in. The only facility was a toilet and it could get quite smelly with all the people down there."
Nowadays the hut is little more than a shed. It's filled with gardening tools, used to keep Soho Square prim and pretty.
But the hut's future might be somewhat different: in 2015, reports surfaced that Westminster Council was attempting to sell the space underneath. It's said the council wants a restaurant to move in — although that might be a hard sell, considering that any subterranean diners would have to contend with noise from the nearby tunnels, of both the Northern line and Crossrail. Maybe it could be marketed as an earthquake experience restaurant?
For now the hut remains a simple repository for spades and wheelbarrows.
Source: Londonist.com
Gardeners House in Soho Square
This building is actually not Tudor at all. It only dates back to 1925 — and was originally a cunning disguise for something the Tudors could only dream of. Beneath the hut was an electricity substation for the Charing Cross Electricity Company. It was necessary for the station to have a private, above-ground entrance and, as there had been a hut there before dating back to the 1870s, this design was thought a fitting piece of architectural camouflage.
During the second world war, the space under the hut took on a new role, as a bomb shelter. Leslie Hardcastle, president of the Soho Society explains what conditions were like inside: "It was lined with about 12 inches of brick and had concrete as a roof.
"It could take about 150 to 200 people initially although that became less when they put tiers of bunks in. The only facility was a toilet and it could get quite smelly with all the people down there."
Nowadays the hut is little more than a shed. It's filled with gardening tools, used to keep Soho Square prim and pretty.
But the hut's future might be somewhat different: in 2015, reports surfaced that Westminster Council was attempting to sell the space underneath. It's said the council wants a restaurant to move in — although that might be a hard sell, considering that any subterranean diners would have to contend with noise from the nearby tunnels, of both the Northern line and Crossrail. Maybe it could be marketed as an earthquake experience restaurant?
For now the hut remains a simple repository for spades and wheelbarrows.
Source: Londonist.com