Hammersmith Park

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Hammersmith Park
Hammersmith Park.jpg
Hammersmith Park
Hammersmith and Fulham London UK location map.svg
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Location in Hammersmith and Fulham, London
Location Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England
OS grid TQ 23068049
Coordinates 51°30′36″N0°13′41″W / 51.51°N 0.228°W / 51.51; -0.228 Coordinates: 51°30′36″N0°13′41″W / 51.51°N 0.228°W / 51.51; -0.228

Hammersmith Park, known to many locals as "The BBC Park"[ citation needed ] is a public park in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It includes a Japanese Garden, a gated children's play area, tennis courts and football pitches run by Play Football. Despite its name, it is located in Shepherd's Bush, not Hammersmith.

Contents

History

Origins

Postcard from the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 Japan-British-Exhibition-1910-Guidebook.png
Postcard from the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910

Hammersmith Park is sited on the remains of an original Japanese garden designed for the Japan–British Exhibition in 1910. The area, known as the Great White City, was initially developed for 1908 Summer Olympics and was subsequently used for a series of international exhibitions until World War I. [1]

Little sign of the 1910 Japan–British Exhibition remains today, but the Chokushimon (Gateway of the Imperial Messenger, a four-fifths replica of the Karamon of Nishi Hongan-ji in Kyoto) was moved to Kew Gardens in 1911, where it still can be seen.

1950s

In November 1954 tennis courts and a playground were added. The remainder of the park opened in September 1955. [1]

Hammersmith Park today

The Garden of Peace remains intact within Hammersmith Park; it was restored in 2008. The garden is set among bamboo and pagoda trees, and consists of two large ponds which are linked by a stone bridge. Rocks surround the garden, forming a small waterfall. A number of the original plants and trees brought from Japan in 1909 still survive.

In 2013 the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham announced plans, initially proposed in 2011, [2] to demolish the existing sports facilities and replace them with football pitches, run by the privately owned company Play Football. [3] [4] [5] Despite opposition from some local residents, led local author and journalist Virginia Ironside, seeking judicial review of the decision on the basis of inadequate public consultation, the plans went ahead. [6]

In 2018, the Japan Society and Embassy of Japan, with support of local and Japanese businesses, added an authentic Japanese gateway and avenue of traditional Japanese stone lanterns to the park. [7] [1] [8]

In 2020 Hammersmith Park's Japanese Garden ranked No 9 in a "Tranquility Index" of London. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wormwood Scrubs</span>

Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs, is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, at 67 hectares, and one of the largest areas of common in London. The eastern part, known as Little Wormwood Scrubs, is cut off by Scrubs Lane and the West London line railway. It has been an open public space since the Wormwood Scrubs Act 1879.

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shepherd's Bush</span> District of West London, England

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

Parsons Green is a mainly residential district in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The Green itself, which is roughly triangular, is bounded on two of its three sides by the New King's Road section of the King's Road, A308 road and Parsons Green Lane. The wider neighbourhood is bounded by the Harwood and Wandsworth Bridge Roads, A217 road to the East and Munster Road to the West, while the Fulham Road, A3219 road may be said to define its northern boundary. Its southern boundary is less clearly defined as it merges quickly and imperceptibly with the Peterborough estate and Hurlingham.

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

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

Brook Green is an affluent London neighbourhood in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It is located approximately 3.6 miles (5.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Kensington, Holland Park, Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith and Brackenbury Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council election</span> 2006 local election in England, UK

Elections to Hammersmith and Fulham Council were held on 4 May 2006. The whole council was up for election for the first time since the 2002 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Shepherd's Bush</span>

Shepherd's Bush is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham centred on Shepherd's Bush Green. Originally a pasture for shepherds on their way to Smithfield market, it was largely developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1844 the West London Railway officially opened, followed in 1864 by the Metropolitan Railway who built the original Shepherd's Bush station, opening up the area to residential development. Businesses soon followed, and in 1903 the west side of Shepherd's Bush Green became the home of the Shepherd's Bush Empire, a music hall whose early performers included Charlie Chaplin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shepherd's Bush Conservation Area</span>

The Shepherd's Bush Conservation Area is a part of Shepherd's Bush, London, that has been established by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in order to promote the protection of local buildings of historic interest, and improve the character of the neighbourhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West 12</span> Shopping mall in London, England

W12 is a shopping centre in Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham that is open from 06:00-23:30 daily and includes shops like Lidl, One Below and Poundland The modern development borders the south side of Shepherd's Bush Green and was designed in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodford Court</span>

Woodford Court is a large public housing project completed in 1974 in Shepherd's Bush, London. It is located on the south side of Shepherd's Bush Green and falls just outside the Shepherd's Bush Conservation Area.

The Parks Police Service was a small constabulary responsible for policing 87 parks and open spaces in the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham. The police force was created through the merger of Hammersmith and Fulham Parks Constabulary and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Parks Police in 2013. In 2019, the respective councils of Hammersmith & Fulham and Kengsinton & Chelsea disaggregated their shared some of their services, including the Parks Police. As such, the Parks Police Service ceased to exist and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Parks Police and the Hammersmith and Fulham Parks Constabulary came back into existence.

Nicholas Byron "Nick" Botterill is a British business man, company director, and Conservative politician.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 www.londongardensonline.org.uk Retrieved January 2014
  2. ↑ www.lbhf.gov.uk 8 July 2011 Archived 19 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 2014
  3. ↑ Private Eye, Nooks and Corners, Issue no. 1356
  4. ↑ www.lbhf.gov.uk August 2013 Archived 2014-02-19 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 2014
  5. ↑ www.lbhf.gov.uk Archived 2014-02-02 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 2014
  6. ↑ Hammersmith and Fulhan Chronicle, 31 January 2014
  7. ↑ "Japanese Garden Party - Sat 4 August 2018".
  8. ↑ Shepherd's Bush Blog 25 June 2018 Retrieved 13 January 2020
  9. ↑ Shepherd's Bush Blog Retrieved 2 January 2020
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