Ealing Common Depot
London Underground railway depot on the District Line
Ealing Common Depot is a London Underground railway depot on the District line, located between Acton Town and Ealing Common stations in west London, England. It is one of the oldest main depots on the Underground, having been built in 1905, when the District Railway was upgraded for electric traction. All depot facilities were moved there from Lillie Bridge Depot, and it was known as Mill Hill Park Works. It subsequently became Ealing Common Works, and its status was reduced to that of a depot in 1922, when Acton Works was opened, and took over responsibility for all major overhauls. Most of the functions of Acton Works were devolved back to the depots, including Ealing Common, in 1985.
Extensive remodelling of the tracks around the depot took place in the 1930s, when the route from Acton Town to Northfields was quadrupled, and the local eastbound track from South Ealing station tunnels under some of the sidings in the depot. In 1990, a heavy repair shop was built at the southern end of the depot, but this function was transferred back to Acton Works, and the building is now used for storage of artefacts for the London Transport Museum. Access to the depot by rail can be gained from both tracks at Ealing Common station, where the junction is to the south of the platforms. At the southern end of the depot, a steep incline leads down to the two eastbound platforms at Acton Town station. Road access is from the A4020 Uxbridge Road at the north end, and a service road from the A4000 Gunnersbury Lane leads to the museum depot.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ealing Common Depot” as london Underground railway depot on the District Line. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as london Underground railway depot on the District Line. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5325476. Authority coordinates are 51.507, -0.285. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1905, 1922, 1985 and 1990.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ealing Common Depot”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ealing Common Depot primary sources, Ealing Common Depot archive and Ealing research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ealing Common Depot”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ealing Common Depot” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.