The area is first mentioned in 1189 as Wormhold Scrubs (lit.'shrubland [by] snake-forest'),[2] the area was cleared woodland used for pasture for the cattle and pigs of the local manor. In 1801, the northern section was cut off by the building of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Junction Canal.[3]:35–36 In 1812 an area of 77 hectares (190 acres) known as Wormholt Scrubs was leased by the War Office from the Manor of Fulham.[1] This was in order to exercise cavalry horses, which until then had been exercised in Hyde Park, Belgrave Square and Regent's Park – then known as St. Marylebone's Park. This common land became known as Wormwood Scrubs. The London and Birmingham Railway removed a section north of the canal in 1837, followed by the Great Western line removing a section to the south of the canal in 1838. 1844 saw the Birmingham, Bristol and Thames Junction Railway slice off a sizable section of the eastern half, becoming The Little Scrubs. In 1872, the manorial rights were purchased under the Military Forces Localisation Act 1872 with a view to creating a military exercise ground.[3]:36–37 The Wormwood Scrubs Act 1879, which aimed to create a "metropolitan exercising ground" for the military and to provide the Scrubs for "the perpetual use by the inhabitants of the metropolis for exercise and recreation". Under this Act, the military were empowered to expel civilians from the area whenever they were training, but they allowed civilians free use of it when they were not. To ensure that it was kept as open land for all to enjoy, the act banned the military from building any permanent structures other than rifle butts,[3]:37 one of which survives today as a wall in the Linford Christie Stadium. 1873 saw the purchase of the southern part of the Scrubs for the building of Wormwood Scrubs Prison, and in 1889 an area adjacent to the prison for the building of Hammersmith hospital.[3]:40–41
In 1908, the Olympic Marathon route from Windsor Castle to the Olympic Stadium at White City went across the Scrubs. In 1910 Wormwood Scrubs became part of aviation history when a pioneer airship took flight from an improvised landing ground; The Daily MailAirship Garage was built shortly afterwards—the site is now occupied by the Linford Christie Stadium. In 1914 all air-related activities on the Scrubs passed to the authority of the Admiralty, and there are records in the National Archives at Kew of a base here called Wormwood Scrubs Naval Air Station. The airship shed was used to train RNAS armoured car crews.[4] It remained as an emergency landing ground until the 1930s. In 1939 with the onset of World War II, Wormwood Scrubs again played host to an innovative military department—the Chief Cable Censorship Department, an outstation of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. In 1928 St.Clement Danes Grammar School moved from Holborn to a newly built school on Du Cane Road next to Hammersmith Hospital; the school buildings were demolished in 1975, when the school moved out of London.
The prison is located just yards from the scene of the Massacre of Braybrook Street in 1966, in which three policemen were shot dead by three armed men after stopping their suspicious car.[6]
In 1986 local birdwatcher Lester Holloway set up a campaign to save Scrubs Wood,[7] the area of railway land along the north side of Wormwood Scrubs, from destruction as part of plans by the then British Rail to build cleaning depots (see North Pole depot) to service Channel Tunnel trains. Holloway and his campaign petitioned the House of Lords,[8] supported by the then MP for Fulham Nick Raynsford, and won concessions. The existing nature reserve includes an area known as 'Lester's Embankment'.[9] The campaign attracted considerable national publicity in 1987, and even a musical.[10]
From 1965 until 1994 the western part of Wormwood Scrubs lay in the London Borough of Ealing, and was known as Old Oak Common. The name is still shown on maps today. In 1994 the whole park became part of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.[11]
Finances
The Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust, a charity set up under the Act of Parliament to manage this public space "for the exercise and recreation of the inhabitants of the metropolis", receives a substantial income stream from the lease to Hammersmith Hospital of a car park on its southern boundary. Other sources of income from the space include the rental of sports fields, advertising billboards, and two public car parks. The accounting for costs and revenues of the charity has been a matter of debate between the council, currently the charity's sole trustee, and the Friends of Wormwood Scrubs.[12]
Local nature reserve
Essex skipper (Thymelicus lineola) in Wormwood Scrubs
Areas of Wormwood Scrubs are a local nature reserve. These areas include Braybrook Woods, Martin Bell's Wood and the Central Woodland Copse. Habitats include woodland (plantation), scrub and grassland. Animals include common lizards, over 100 species of bird and 20 species of butterfly. This site is currently being managed by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in collaboration with Groundwork UK.[13][14]
Conservation efforts
Conservation work being carried out in Wormwood Scrubs by Groundwork London has been a subject of controversy among users of the Scrubs. The primary goal is to connect each patch of the Local Nature Reserve within the grounds by a wildlife corridor in the form of low hedges and trees.[citation needed] Ultimately, it is claimed that this will benefit biodiversity in the park and create better foraging routes for bats such as the common pipistrelle.
Habitats for the local common lizards are also being changed, e.g. by the removal of scrub to create basking areas. This work includes planting trees, and it is feared[by whom?] that this could jeopardise the open nature of the common. The bulk of the work is currently[when?] being undertaken by volunteers for Groundwork London, a government quasi non-governmental organisation funded largely through a levy on landfill.[citation needed]
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.
Fulham is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, 3.6 miles (5.8 km) southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, with which it shares the area known as West Brompton. Over the Thames Fulham faces Wandsworth, Putney, the London Wetland Centre in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 4.9 miles (7.9 km) west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
The Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith was a metropolitan borough in London, England from 1900 to 1965. It included Hammersmith, Wormwood Scrubs, Old Oak Common and Shepherd's Bush.
Streatham Common is a large open space on the southern edge of Streatham in the London Borough of Lambeth. The shallow sloping lower (western) half of the common is mostly mowed grass, and the upper (eastern) half is mostly woodland with some small areas of gorse scrub and acid grassland. The eastern half has been designated a Local Nature Reserve.
Wood Lane is a street in London. It runs north from Shepherd's Bush, under the Westway (A40) past Wormwood Scrubs where it meets Scrubs Lane. The road is wholly in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It is probably best known as the home of the BBC Television Centre, also BBC White City and formerly BBC Woodlands the offices of BBC Worldwide.
East Acton is a London Underground station in East Acton in London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The station is on the Central line, between White City and North Acton stations, and in Travelcard Zone 2. Wormwood Scrubs, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, Wormwood Scrubs prison and Imperial College Hammersmith branch are accessible from the station.
St. Quintin Park & Wormwood Scrubs was a railway station on the West London Railway on the border of North Kensington and Hammersmith & Fulham, West London. It was situated on an embankment next to North Pole Road, close to the road's junction with Wood Lane and near Wormwood Scrubs in what is now the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
The Shepherd's Bush murders, also known as the Massacre of Braybrook Street, involved the murder of three police officers in London by Harry Roberts, John Duddy and John Witney in 1966.
Little Wormwood Scrubs is a park in Kensal Green on the border of Hammersmith and Fulham and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Counter's Creek, a now subterranean stream that arises in Kensal Green flows south through the park, eventually joining the River Thames.
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's local prison, located in the White City area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.
Old Oak Common is a semi-industrial area of London, between Harlesden and Acton. The area is traditionally known for its railway depots, particularly Old Oak Common TMD which was decommissioned in 2021. Together with neighbouring Park Royal, the area is intended to become the UK's largest regeneration scheme.
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.
Hammersmith was a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament represented from 2010 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Andy Slaughter, a member of the Labour Party.
North Pole depot is a railway and maintenance depot built for Great Western Railway's AT300 units from the Hitachi A-train family. Located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, the depot was partially redeveloped by Agility Trains from 2013 as a maintenance site when they were awarded the Intercity Express Programme.
The Linford Christie Stadium is an athletics stadium in Wormwood Scrubs, West London, England.
Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and is associated with the Imperial College Faculty of Medicine. Confusingly the hospital is not in Hammersmith but is located in White City adjacent to Wormwood Scrubs and East Acton.
Old Oak Common (OOC) is a railway station under construction on the site of the Old Oak Common traction maintenance depot to the west of London in Old Oak Common, approximately 500 m (1,600 ft) south of Willesden Junction station. When built, it is expected to be one of the largest rail hubs in London, at about 800 m (2,600 ft) in length and 20 m (66 ft) below surface level.
The Wormwood Scrubs Act 1879 is a local Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to lay down the conditions under which Wormwood Scrubs in west London was to be owned by the British Army.
The Old Oak and Wormholt estates are London County Council cottage estates constructed between 1912 and 1928. They were declared a conservation area in May 1980. The two estates were influenced by Ebenezer Howard's Garden city movement and the Arts and Crafts movement, with high quality external detailing and an open setting with privet hedges, front gardens and wide grass verges.
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