Stanhope Gardens, Kensington

You are standing near the central communal garden of Stanhope Gardens, a space that serves as a literal roof for the city beneath your feet. While the mature trees and flower beds create a quiet residential enclave, the London Underground District line runs directly through a tunnel constructed immediately beneath the garden. Builders had to carefully integrate this subterranean transit route during the development of the square in the mid-eighteen hundreds, forcing them to incorporate structural reinforcements to accommodate the railway passing through the very heart of the Harrington estate.