Hammersmith Creek

Last updated

Hammersmith Creek
Hammersmith and Fulham London UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Hammersmith Creek (London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham)
Location
Country England
County Middlesex
City London
Area Hammersmith
Physical characteristics
Source King Street, Hammersmith
Mouth Furnivall Gardens, Hammersmith
 • location
 Furnivall Gardens, Hammersmith
 • coordinates
 51°29′25″N0°14′02″W / 51.490388°N 0.233877°W / 51.490388; -0.233877

Hammersmith Creek was an outflow river of the Stamford Brook, and used to run through what is now King Street, into the River Thames at the present-day site of Furnivall Gardens in Hammersmith.

Contents

In 1936, after the decline of the creek habour, the creek was filled in and the water channelled through an underground culvert.

History

Origins

Hammersmith Creek was once the mouth of Stamford Brook, running from King Street into the River Thames, separating the Lower Mall and Upper Mall. [1]

In 1677, the Hammersmith Quaker Meeting House was built on the eastern bank of the creek on 28 Lower Mall. The house was later rebuilt in 1765. [2]

High Bridge

In 1751, a wooden foot-bridge spanning the creek named the High Bridge (also known as the Bishop's Bridge) was built by Bishop Thomas Sherlock. [3] The bridge was rebuilt several times, by Bishop William Howley in 1820 and Bishop Charles Blomfield in 1837. [4] By 1915, The bridge converged four old footpaths or bridle paths (Lower Mall and Aspen Place on the east and Upper Mall and Bridge Street on the west). [4]

Hammersmith Creek Ordnance Survey 1866 Hammersmith Creek Ordnance Survey 1866.png
Hammersmith Creek Ordnance Survey 1866

Riverside development

Until the early 19th century the creek was navigable for nearly a mile northward and was used for cargo transportation and a growing fishing industry, but successive embankment of the river contracted this length. [5] The western bank was occupied by kilns, stables and malt houses which formed part of the Hammersmith Brewery (also known as Cromwell’s Brewery) founded by Joseph Cromwell in 1780. [6] The eastern bank was occupied by wharves, warehouses and the Phoenix Lead Mills. [6]

The creek was the scene of much industry in an area or slum known as Little Wapping, after Wapping, Tower Hamlets. Writing in 1839, English topographer Thomas Faulkner described the area: [5]

"Nearly in the centre of this Mall are several fishermen's huts, called Little Wapping, which detracts much from the respectability of this part of the village"

Writing in 1876, English antiquary James Thorne described the creek: [7]

"a dirty little inlet of the Thames, which is crossed by a wooden footbridge, built originally by Bishop Sherlock in 1751 … the region of squalid tenements bordering the Creek having acquired the cognomen of Little Wapping, probably from its confined and dirty character."

Writing in 1881, English textile designer and poet William Morris described Little Wapping: [8]

“"As I sit at my work at home, which is at Hammersmith, close to the river, I often hear go past the window some of that ruffianism of which a good deal has been said in the papers of late. As I hear the yells and shrieks, and all the degradation cast on the glorious tongue of Shakespeare and Milton, as I see the brutal, reckless faces and figures go past me, it rouses the recklessness and brutality in me also, and fierce wrath takes possession of me, till I remember, as I hope I mostly do, that it was my good luck only of being born respectable and rich that has put me on this side of the window among delightful books and lovely works of art, and not on the other side and the empty street, the drink-steeped liquor-shops, the foul and degraded lodgings.”

Culverting

In the early 20th century, the area suffered after the decline of the fishing industry in the creek harbour. The 1913 annual report of the Hampshire House Trust described the area: [9]

"‘One of London’s poorer and apparently more hopeless districts is situated in the alleys, unpenetrated by any road, which lie between King Street and the river…and Hog Lane and Waterloo Street…The inhabitants are costers, flowersellers, casual labourers, chronic invalids; mothers habitually tired; and children, children, children…The housing accommodation is what you might expect. In one street there is one water-closet to four houses…in another the costers’ donkeys are led through the houses entering at the front door, and going along the passages, to the hovels in the yards at the back."

As part of the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919, the Hammersmith Borough Council aimed to clear the area for new housing through the Southern Improvement Scheme, conceived in 1919. [10] In 1927, the council bought the area around the creek for £8,000. [11] In 1936, the creek was filled in and the water channelled through an underground culvert, partly beneath the present location of Hammersmith Town Hall. [10]

When Hammersmith Town Hall was built in 1938–9, architect Ernest Berry Webber incorporated two colossal heads of Father Thames in commemoration that the building stands astride the old creek. [12]

On 5 May 1951, Furnivall Gardens and the nearby Hammersmith Pier opened on the site. Today, only a small drainage tunnel, visible from the Dove Pier, remains as evidence of the creek. [13] The High Bridge is still marked by a raised hump in the gardens and a flowerbed. [1]

Course

Hammersmith Creek documented by John Rocque in 1746 Hammersmith Creek John Rocque 1746.png
Hammersmith Creek documented by John Rocque in 1746

John Rocque's maps of London, produced in 1746, shows the creek running south from what is now North Acton Playing Fields towards Gunnersbury House, directly east past Berrymead Priory, belonging to the Duke of Kingston, towards Ravenscourt House in Ravenscourt Park and then south through King Street to meet the River Thames at what is now Furnivall Gardens. [14]

Toponymy

In 1839, Thomas Faulkner proposed that Hammersmith Creek gave name to the parish of Hammersmith, originating from two Saxon words: the creek constituting the ancient Hyth, or harbour, with the additional cognomen of Ham or Hame. [5] However, others have suggested Hammersmith may mean "(Place with) a hammer smithy or forge". [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Borough of Hounslow</span> London borough in United Kingdom

The London Borough of Hounslow is a London borough in west London, England, forming part of Outer London. It is governed by Hounslow London Borough Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham</span> London borough in United Kingdom

The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 as the London Borough of Hammersmith from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Fulham and Hammersmith. The name was changed to Hammersmith and Fulham in 1979. The borough borders Brent to the north, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the east, Wandsworth to the south, Richmond upon Thames to the south west, and Hounslow and Ealing to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulham</span> Area of west London, England

Fulham is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, 3.6 miles (5.8 km) southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth, Putney, Barn Elms and the London Wetland Centre in Barnes. on the far side of the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hammersmith</span> District of London

Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsea, London</span> District in west London, England

Chelsea is an affluent area in West London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hammersmith Bridge</span> Suspension bridge in London, England

Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, with Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, on the south side of the river. The current bridge, which is Grade II* listed and was designed by civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette, is the second permanent bridge on the site, and has been attacked three times by Irish republicans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Putney Bridge</span> Bridge in London, England

Putney Bridge is a Grade II listed bridge over the River Thames in west London, linking Putney on the south side with Fulham to the north. Before the first bridge was built in 1729, a ferry had shuttled between the two banks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stamford Brook</span> Subterranean river in London, England

Stamford Brook was a tributary of the Tideway stretch of the River Thames in west London supplied by three headwaters. Historically used as an irrigation ditch or dyke, the network of small watercourses had four lower courses and mouths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furnivall Sculling Club</span> British rowing club

Furnivall Sculling Club is a rowing club based on the Tideway in Hammersmith, London. It was called Hammersmith Sculling Club until 1946. It was founded in 1896 by Frederick Furnivall, after whom the riverside Furnivall Gardens a few metres away are named. For its initial five years, in the reign of Queen Victoria, the club was for females only and is widely considered to have had the world's first female rowing team (crew). Furnivall has also admitted males since 1901. The club colours are a precise pallette: myrtle and old gold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham</span>

The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, an Inner London borough, has 231 hectares of parks and open spaces that are accessible to the general public, 159 hectares being within parks and 52.5 hectares within cemeteries and churchyards. Wormwood Scrubs and Scrubs Wood, located in the north of the Borough account for 42 hectares and Fulham Palace and Bishop's Park grounds contain another 14 hectares of open space. Private open space includes Hurlingham, Fulham and Queen's Club in West Kensington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tideway</span> Part of the River Thames subject to tides

The Tideway is the part of the River Thames in England which is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock. The Tideway comprises the upper Thames Estuary including the Pool of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Brompton</span> Human settlement in England

West Brompton is an area of west London, England, that straddles the boundary between the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The centuries-old boundary traced by Counter's Creek, probably marked the eastern edge of Fulham Manor since Saxon times and is now partly lost beneath the West London Line railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravenscourt Park</span> Park in Hammersmith, London

Ravenscourt Park or RCP is an 8.3 hectares public park and garden located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England. It is one of the Borough's flagship parks, having won a Green Flag Award. Stamford Brook and Ravenscourt Park tube stations are close by.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walham Green</span> Area located on the border of Fulham and Chelsea, south-west London

Walham Green is the historic name of an English village, now part of inner London, in the parish of Fulham in the County of Middlesex. It was located between the hamlet of North End to the north, and Parsons Green to the south. To the east it was bounded by Counter's Creek, the historical boundary with the parish of Chelsea, and to the south-east is Sands End.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Peter's Church, Hammersmith</span> Church in London, England

St Peter's, Hammersmith, is a Church of England parish church. It is a Grade II* listed church, and the oldest church in Hammersmith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Street, Hammersmith</span>

King Street, Hammersmith is the main shopping street in Hammersmith, London. It runs west–east, and forms part of the A315, and is the eastern continuation of Chiswick High Road, where it meets Goldhawk Road, close to Stamford Brook tube station. At the eastern end it meets Hammersmith Broadway and continues east as Hammersmith Road where it forms a crossroads with the A219, the Shepherd's Bush Road running northwards, and the Fulham Palace Road running south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furnival Gardens</span>

Furnivall Gardens is a park in Hammersmith alongside the river Thames.

High Bridge was a footbridge that crossed Hammersmith Creek in Hammersmith, London. First referenced in 1541, the bridge was rebuilt several times, notably in 1712, 1751, 1820 and 1837. The bridge was destroyed in 1944 by a flying bomb.

References

  1. 1 2 adrianprockter (12 July 2017). "Hammersmith Creek". Know Your London. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "Local Quaker History | Hammersmith Quaker Meeting". hammersmithquakers.org.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  3. ↑ Thorne, James (1983). Handbook of the environs of London ; containing an account of Levery town and village and of all places of interest within a circle of miles round London (Reprint, 1876 ed.). London: Cave. ISBN   978-0-906223-90-1.
  4. 1 2 "The High Bridge and Creek | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Faulkner, Thomas (1839). The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Hammersmith: Interspersed with Biographical Notices of Illustrious and Eminent Persons, who Have Been Born, Or who Have Resided in the Parish, During the Three Preceding Centuries (1st ed.). Hammersmith: Nichols & Son. pp. 320–321. ISBN   9780282794118 . Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  6. 1 2 "London's Lost Rivers - Stamford Brook". London's Lost Rivers - Book and Walking Tours by Paul Talling. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  7. ↑ Thorne, James (1983). Handbook of the environs of London ; containing an account of Levery town and village and of all places of interest within a circle of miles round London (Reprint, 1876 ed.). London: Cave. ISBN   978-0-906223-90-1.
  8. ↑ Gladstone, Ewart (1912). The garden city movement up-to-date (1st ed.). London: Creative Media Partners, LLC. p. 3. ISBN   9781015852099.
  9. ↑ "Hammersmith and Fulham Historic Buildings Group Newsletter No. 21 Autumn 2009" (PDF). Hammersmith and Fulham Historic Buildings Group. 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Hammersmith Town Hall Conservation Area | London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham". www.lbhf.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "Our Patch Issue No. 1" (PDF). Horton & Garton. February 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  12. ↑ "HAMMERSMITH TOWN HALL, Non Civil Parish - 1079785 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  13. ↑ "ART AND ALE: A WALK BESIDE THE THAMES". LONDON. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  14. ↑ "Layers of London". www.layersoflondon.org. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  15. ↑ Mills, A. D.; Mills, Anthony D. (1993). A dictionary of English place names (1. paperback [ed.] ed.). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN   978-0-19-283131-6.

51°29′26″N0°13′59″W / 51.49056°N 0.23298°W / 51.49056; -0.23298

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.