Stainer Street, London Bridge

Stainer Street was once a traffic tunnel, that was dimly lit and where few pedestrians would dare to linger.

It was closed during the refurbishment and enlargement of London Bridge station and reopened as a pedestrianised thoroughfare, still linking St Thomas Street with Tooley Street, but also allowing for passengers to traverse from the mainline station to the London Underground.

Three glass cups, etched with abstract patterns and containing messages, now hang above the pathway, and are entitled 'Me. Here. Now.' by Mark Titchner. The messages read:

"One foot in front of the other"

"The distance means nothing"

"Only the first step is difficult"

But, you could reverse this, depending on which way through the tunnel you are walking.

The walls are adorned with four plaques charting the history of London Bridge station, from its opening in 1836 when it was known as Tooley Street, through to the refurbishment of 2018.

There is also a blue plaque commemorating the night of February 17, 1941, when a bomb was dropped during an air raid onto the Stainer Street Arch. Below the arch Londoners had taken shelter, resulting in 68 deaths and another 175 sustaining injuries.

In 2022, a Victorian pipe organ was installed as part of a project to bring musical instruments into public spaces. The organ had been rescued from a church in Whetstone, London, by the charity 'Pipe Up for Pipe Organs'.

The pipe organ was built by Henry Jones, in 1880, and is a one-manual, eight-stop instrument that is available for anyone to play whenever the station is open. 

Stainer Street usually closes between 01.30 and 04.30 for reasons of security and maintenance.