Hammersmith
Encyclopedia
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
in west London
, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles (eight kilometres) west of Charing Cross
on the north bank of the River Thames
. One of west London's key transport hubs and commercial and employment centres, and home to several multinational company offices, it is focused on the two London Underground
stations, bus station and road network node at Hammersmith Broadway
.
It is bordered by Shepherds Bush to the north, Kensington
to the east, Fulham
to the south and Chiswick
to the west, and is linked by Hammersmith Bridge
to Barnes in the southwest.
It has for some decades been the main centre of London's Polish minority.
Acton
, Barnes, Chiswick, Fulham, Shepherds Bush, Kensington, West Kensington
Major industrial sites included the Osram
lamp factory at Brook Green
, the J. Lyons
factory (which at one time employed 30,000 people) and the largest municipal power station in Britain, built near the gasworks in Sands End
.
All these have subsequently been closed and redeveloped as the area has moved from an industrial base to a greater focus on commerce and services.
and an office complex.
Stretching about 750m westwards from this centre is King Street, Hammersmith's main shopping street which contains its second shopping centre (King's Mall), many small shops, the Town Hall, the Lyric Theatre
, a cinema and two hotels. King Street is supplemented by other shops along Shepherds Bush Road to the north, Fulham Palace Road to the south and Hammersmith Road to the east.
Hammersmith's office activity takes place mainly to the eastern side of its centre, along Hammersmith Road and in the Ark
, an architecturally-unique office complex to the south of the flyover
which traverses the area. The offices of International SOS
, Bechtel
, Coca-Cola
, Disney
, Pokémon
, L'Oréal
, NHS Hammersmith and Fulham, Sony Ericsson
, Shazam
, Universal Music Group, World Wrestling Entertainment
, AOL UK
, Accor UK
, Next Fifteen Communications
, US Airways
, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
, Frost Meadowcroft
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
and Royal Jordanian Airlines are all found in Hammersmith. Two NHS
hospitals provide jobs in Hammersmith - Charing Cross Hospital
to the south of the centre on Fulham Palace Road and Hammersmith Hospital in the north. Charing Cross Hospital is a large multi-disciplinary hospital with an accident & emergency department and teaching department run by the Imperial College School of Medicine
.
CE Europe, a subsidiary of Capcom
, has its head office in the George House in Hammersmith. As of May 2011 it will be relocating to the Metro Building, an 11 storey, 106000 square foot building in Hammersmith.
For a fifteen-year period, Air France
had its UK and Ireland office in Colet Court in Hammersmith. In 2006 the UK and Ireland office was moved to Hatton Cross, London Borough of Hounslow
.
Coca Cola, Halcrow Group Limited
, Bechtel, L'Oreal and other major businesses all have headquarters in Hammersmith.
HammersmithLondon is responsible for delivering a Business Improvement District (BID) to Hammersmith. It is a business-led not-for-profit limited company established to represent the views of local businesses in Hammersmith town centre. The company identifies and delivers tangible initiatives to benefit local businesses and improve their operating environment.
US Broadcasters NBC
and ABC
both have their London News Bureau in Hammersmith.
located to the west of the centre. Its facilities include tennis courts, a basketball court, a bowling lawn, a paddling pool and playgrounds. The whole area is covered by the same W6 postcode as Hammersmith town centre.
Hammersmith is the historical home of the West London Penguin Swimming and Water Polo Club, formerly known as the Hammersmith Penguin Swimming Club.
"Round Table London Hammersmith 48" is a community service and networking club for men aged 18 to 45. Regular meetings are held at the London Corinthian Sailing Club on the banks of the river Thames.
The "Polish Social and Cultural Centre" (known as POSK) is based in Hammersmith, with facilities including a library, a theatre, restaurants and cafes, and houses many other Polish organisations.
The area is on the main A4 trunk road
heading west from central London towards the M4 motorway
and Heathrow Airport. The A4, a busy commuter route, passes over the area's main road junction, Hammersmith Gyratory System, on a long viaduct, the Hammersmith Flyover
. Hammersmith Bridge
, the first suspension bridge
over the River Thames, carries traffic to and from Barnes and southwest London.
The centre of Hammersmith is served by two tube stations, both named Hammersmith
. One
is the western terminus of the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines, while the larger one served by the Piccadilly
and District Lines . The latter tube station is part of a larger office, retail and transport development, locally known as "The Broadway Centre". Hammersmith Broadway
, itself, stretches from the junction of Queen Caroline Street and King Street in the west to the junction of Hammersmith Road and Butterwick in the east. It forms the north side of the gyratory system also known as Hammersmith Roundabout. The Broadway Shopping Centre includes a large modern bus station, which is open 24 hours a day and served by a large number of buses, night buses, airport transfer buses and some long distance coaches.
The length of King Street places the westernmost shops and offices closest to Ravenscourt Park tube station
on the District line
, one stop west of Hammersmith itself.
Hammersmith also used to be able to boast of having not one but two public passenger transport depots: Hammersmith Trolleybus
Depot (coded "HB") situated opposite Fulham Palace
Road and a Motor Bus Garage, known as Riverside (coded "R") to stop confusion with "HB". Riverside was originally a mansion and after the bus operations ceased the fascia of the building was listed.
Great Expectations
as the home of the Pocket family. Pip resides with the Pockets in their house by the river and partakes in boating on the Thames.
News from Nowhere
(1890) written by William Morris
is a utopian novel that describes a journey upstream the River Thames from Hammersmith towards Oxford
; it is of growing interest to contemporary ecological and socialist political movements.
In 1930, Gustav Holst
composed a work for military band (later rewritten for orchestra) entitled Hammersmith to reflect his impressions of the area, having lived across the river in nearby Barnes for nearly forty years. It begins with a haunting musical depiction of the River Thames flowing underneath Hammersmith Bridge. Holst was a music teacher at St Paul's Girls' School
, where he composed many of his most famous works, including The Planets
suite. A music room in the school is named after him.
Hammersmith has provided a location for several television programmes, including the BBC comedy series Bottom, Channel 4
's TFI Friday
, and the vampire drama Ultraviolet
. The opening credits of Bottom show the Hammersmith Broadway
(also mentioned in The Pogues
' song Dark Streets of London) development, then called Centre West, when it was under construction. In addition, the Flying Squad
were Hammersmith-based in the 1970s TV series The Sweeney
. Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective
contains scenes that appear to be under and adjacent to Hammersmith Bridge. The popular Thames Television series Minder
also features black and white photographs of Hammersmith Bridge and the Blue Anchor pub in the closing credits.
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is a London borough in West London, and forms part of Inner London. Traversed by the east-west main roads of the A4 Great West Road and the A40 Westway, many international corporations have offices in the borough....
in west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles (eight kilometres) west of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
on the north bank of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. One of west London's key transport hubs and commercial and employment centres, and home to several multinational company offices, it is focused on the two London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
stations, bus station and road network node at Hammersmith Broadway
Hammersmith Broadway
Hammersmith Broadway is a street which serves as a major transport node and shopping centre located in west London. It is home to the Piccadilly and District lines' Hammersmith station, as well as Hammersmith bus station. It is located on Hammersmith Road, in the London Borough of Hammersmith &...
.
It is bordered by Shepherds Bush to the north, Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
to the east, Fulham
Fulham
Fulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
to the south and Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
to the west, and is linked by Hammersmith Bridge
Hammersmith Bridge
Hammersmith Bridge is a crossing of the River Thames in west London, just south of the Hammersmith town centre area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on the north side of the river. It allows road traffic and pedestrians to cross to Barnes on the south side of the river...
to Barnes in the southwest.
It has for some decades been the main centre of London's Polish minority.
Neighbouring districts
See also: List of districts in Hammersmith and FulhamActon
Acton, London
Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...
, Barnes, Chiswick, Fulham, Shepherds Bush, Kensington, West Kensington
West Kensington, London
- Commercial/education :Local business consists of small shops, offices and restaurants, with the Olympia Exhibition Centre nearby. Indeed, it is the mix of local shops that give the area its character....
History
House construction and industrial development flourished.Major industrial sites included the Osram
Osram
Osram, founded 1919, is part of the industry sector of Siemens AG and one of the two leading lighting manufacturers in the world. The name is derived from osmium and Wolfram , as both these elements were commonly used for lighting filaments at the time the company was founded...
lamp factory at Brook Green
Brook Green
Brook Green is an affluent London neighbourhood in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It is located approx west of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Kensington, Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Holland Park and Brackenbury Village....
, the J. Lyons
J. Lyons and Co.
J. Lyons & Co. was a market-dominant British restaurant-chain, food-manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1887 as a spin-off from the Salmon & Gluckstein tobacco company....
factory (which at one time employed 30,000 people) and the largest municipal power station in Britain, built near the gasworks in Sands End
Sands End
Sands End is in the southernmost part of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Sands End was a close knit working class community but has in recent years become gentrified with flats on the market for more than £2.4 million....
.
All these have subsequently been closed and redeveloped as the area has moved from an industrial base to a greater focus on commerce and services.
Geography
Economy
Hammersmith is a natural centre of activity, located at the confluence of a key arterial route out of central London (the A4) with several local feeder roads and a bridge over the Thames. The focal point of the district is the commercial centre (the Broadway Centre) located at this confluence, which houses a shopping centre, bus station, an Underground stationHammersmith tube station (Piccadilly & District Line)
Hammersmith tube station is a London Underground station in Hammersmith. It is on the District Line line between Barons Court and Ravenscourt Park, and on the Piccadilly Line between Barons Court and Acton Town or Turnham Green at very early morning and late evening hours...
and an office complex.
Stretching about 750m westwards from this centre is King Street, Hammersmith's main shopping street which contains its second shopping centre (King's Mall), many small shops, the Town Hall, the Lyric Theatre
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
, a cinema and two hotels. King Street is supplemented by other shops along Shepherds Bush Road to the north, Fulham Palace Road to the south and Hammersmith Road to the east.
Hammersmith's office activity takes place mainly to the eastern side of its centre, along Hammersmith Road and in the Ark
The London Ark
The Ark is a prominent office building located in Hammersmith, London, acquired by developers Landid, GE Real Estate and O&H properties in 2006 and extensively refurbished in late 2007 early 2008....
, an architecturally-unique office complex to the south of the flyover
Overpass
An overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway...
which traverses the area. The offices of International SOS
International SOS
International SOS provides integrated medical, clinical, and security services to organisations with international operations. Services include planning and preventative programs, in-country expertise, and emergency response. It has 9,000 employees, led by 1,100 full-time physicians and 200...
, Bechtel
Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 5th-largest privately owned company in the U.S...
, Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
, Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
, L'Oréal
L'Oréal
The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...
, NHS Hammersmith and Fulham, Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....
, Shazam
Shazam (service)
Shazam is a commercial mobile phone based music identification service, with its headquarters in London, England. The company was founded in 1999 by Chris Barton , Philip Inghelbrecht, Dhiraj Mukherjee and Avery Wang ....
, Universal Music Group, World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
, AOL UK
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, Accor UK
Accor
Accor is Europe's leading hotel group , part of the CAC 40 index , and operates in over 90 countries. Headquartered in Courcouronnes, Essonne, France, near Évry, France, the group owns, operates and franchises 4,229 hotels ranging from economy to luxury on five continents .Previously, the group...
, Next Fifteen Communications
Next Fifteen Communications
Next Fifteen Communications Group plc is an international holding company for a group of worldwide PR consultancies. It owns five independent subsidiary PR agencies that operate as autonomous businesses. These are: Text 100, Bite Communications, Lexis PR, The Outcast Agency, and M Booth & Associates...
, US Airways
US Airways
US Airways, Inc. is a major airline based in the U.S. city of Tempe, Arizona. The airline is an operating unit of US Airways Group and is the sixth largest airline by traffic and eighth largest by market value in the country....
, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners is a British architectural firm. Established in 2007, it was previously known as the Richard Rogers Partnership....
, Frost Meadowcroft
Frost Meadowcroft
Frost Meadowcroft is a professional services company specialising in commercial property consultancy. Its offices are at 22 St Peter's Square former offices of Island Records and at 181 Kensington High Street...
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands is a practice of architects, urban designers and masterplanners established in 1986 and practicing out of London.-History:...
and Royal Jordanian Airlines are all found in Hammersmith. Two NHS
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
hospitals provide jobs in Hammersmith - Charing Cross Hospital
Charing Cross Hospital
Charing Cross Hospital is a general, acute hospital located in London, United Kingdom and established in 1818. It is located several miles to the west of the city centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham....
to the south of the centre on Fulham Palace Road and Hammersmith Hospital in the north. Charing Cross Hospital is a large multi-disciplinary hospital with an accident & emergency department and teaching department run by the Imperial College School of Medicine
Imperial College School of Medicine
The Imperial College School of Medicine is the medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals....
.
CE Europe, a subsidiary of Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
, has its head office in the George House in Hammersmith. As of May 2011 it will be relocating to the Metro Building, an 11 storey, 106000 square foot building in Hammersmith.
For a fifteen-year period, Air France
Air France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
had its UK and Ireland office in Colet Court in Hammersmith. In 2006 the UK and Ireland office was moved to Hatton Cross, London Borough of Hounslow
London Borough of Hounslow
-Political composition:Since the borough was formed it has been controlled by the Labour Party on all but two occasions. In 1968 the Conservatives formed a majority for the first and last time to date until they lost control to Labour in 1971. Labour subsequently lost control of the council in the...
.
Coca Cola, Halcrow Group Limited
Halcrow Group Limited
Halcrow Group Limited is an engineering consultancy company, based in the United Kingdom.Halcrow is one of the UK's leading consultancies, with a pedigree stretching back to 1868. The UK-based consultancy specialises in the provision of planning, design and management services for infrastructure...
, Bechtel, L'Oreal and other major businesses all have headquarters in Hammersmith.
HammersmithLondon is responsible for delivering a Business Improvement District (BID) to Hammersmith. It is a business-led not-for-profit limited company established to represent the views of local businesses in Hammersmith town centre. The company identifies and delivers tangible initiatives to benefit local businesses and improve their operating environment.
Architecture
Architecturally, Hammersmith is notable for- "The Ark" office buildingThe London ArkThe Ark is a prominent office building located in Hammersmith, London, acquired by developers Landid, GE Real Estate and O&H properties in 2006 and extensively refurbished in late 2007 early 2008....
designed by British architect Ralph Erskine and was completed in April 1992 as the name suggests it has the appearance of a large ship. - "Hammersmith Bridge Road Surgery" Doctor's office
- "22 St Peter's Square22 St Peter's Square (London)22 St Peter's Square, in Hammersmith, London, is a grade II Listed building with a former laundry that has been converted to an architects' studio and office building. It has previously been Island Records' Headquarters and recording studios and The Royal Chiswick Laundry...
" the former Royal Chiswick Laundry and Island RecordsIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
HQ converted to architects studios and offices by Lifschutz Davidson SandilandsLifschutz Davidson SandilandsLifschutz Davidson Sandilands is a practice of architects, urban designers and masterplanners established in 1986 and practicing out of London.-History:...
. It has a Hammersmith Society Conservation award plaque (2009) and has been included in tours in Architecture Week.
Culture and entertainment
- Riverside StudiosRiverside StudiosRiverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
is a cinema, performance space, bar and cafe. Riverside Studios was formerly BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
studios used for TV productions. - The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
- The Hammersmith ApolloHammersmith ApolloHammersmith Apollo is a major entertainment venue located in Hammersmith, London. Designed by Robert Cromie in Art Deco style, it opened in 1932 as the Gaumont Palace cinema, being re-named the Hammersmith Odeon in 1962...
concert hall and theatre (formerly the Carling Hammersmith Apollo, Hammersmith Odeon, and before that the Gaumont Cinema). - The Hammersmith PalaisHammersmith PalaisThe Hammersmith Palais de Danse, later simply the Hammersmith Palais, was a ballroom and entertainment venue in London that operated from 1919 until 2007...
nightclub, which is now disused and set to be demolished.
- "The Dove" riverside pub, the oldest surviving riverside pub in London with, reputedly, the smallest bar in the world, frequented in the past by Ernest HemingwayErnest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
and Graham GreeneGraham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
. The narrow alley in which it stands is the only remnant of the riverside village of Hammersmith, the bulk of which was demolished in the 1930s. Furnivall Gardens, which lies to the east, covers the site of Hammersmith Creek and the High Bridge. The site of the creek can be ascertained by a mound near the Great West RoadGolden Mile (Brentford)The Golden Mile is the name given to a stretch of the Great West Road north of Brentford running west from the western boundary of Chiswick in London, United Kingdom.It was so called due to the concentration of industry along this short stretch of road...
.
US Broadcasters NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
both have their London News Bureau in Hammersmith.
Leisure and social activities
In addition to the cinema and pubs of King Street, leisure activity also takes place along Hammersmith's pedestrianised riverside, home to a number of pubs, rowing clubs and the riverside park of Furnival Gardens. Hammersmith also has a large municipal park called Ravenscourt ParkRavenscourt Park
This article is about the public park. For the London Underground station of this name see Ravenscourt Park tube station and for the Electoral Division see Ravenscourt Park ...
located to the west of the centre. Its facilities include tennis courts, a basketball court, a bowling lawn, a paddling pool and playgrounds. The whole area is covered by the same W6 postcode as Hammersmith town centre.
Hammersmith is the historical home of the West London Penguin Swimming and Water Polo Club, formerly known as the Hammersmith Penguin Swimming Club.
"Round Table London Hammersmith 48" is a community service and networking club for men aged 18 to 45. Regular meetings are held at the London Corinthian Sailing Club on the banks of the river Thames.
The "Polish Social and Cultural Centre" (known as POSK) is based in Hammersmith, with facilities including a library, a theatre, restaurants and cafes, and houses many other Polish organisations.
Transport
Trunk road
A trunk road, trunk highway, or strategic road is a major road—usually connecting two or more cities, ports, airports, and other things.—which is the recommended route for long-distance and freight traffic...
heading west from central London towards the M4 motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
and Heathrow Airport. The A4, a busy commuter route, passes over the area's main road junction, Hammersmith Gyratory System, on a long viaduct, the Hammersmith Flyover
Hammersmith Flyover
Hammersmith Flyover is an elevated roadway in west London which carries the A4 arterial road over and to one side of the central Hammersmith gyratory system, and it links together the Cromwell Road extension with the start of the Great West Road.It was one of the first examples of an elevated road...
. Hammersmith Bridge
Hammersmith Bridge
Hammersmith Bridge is a crossing of the River Thames in west London, just south of the Hammersmith town centre area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on the north side of the river. It allows road traffic and pedestrians to cross to Barnes on the south side of the river...
, the first suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
over the River Thames, carries traffic to and from Barnes and southwest London.
The centre of Hammersmith is served by two tube stations, both named Hammersmith
Hammersmith tube station
There are two London Underground stations called Hammersmith:* Hammersmith tube station * Hammersmith tube station -See also:* Hammersmith & Chiswick railway station...
. One
Hammersmith tube station (Hammersmith & City Line)
Hammersmith is a London Underground station in Hammersmith. It is the western terminus of the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines. The station is in Travelcard Zone 2 and is a short walk from the station of the same name on the Piccadilly and District lines. The two stations are separated by...
is the western terminus of the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines, while the larger one served by the Piccadilly
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
and District Lines . The latter tube station is part of a larger office, retail and transport development, locally known as "The Broadway Centre". Hammersmith Broadway
Hammersmith Broadway
Hammersmith Broadway is a street which serves as a major transport node and shopping centre located in west London. It is home to the Piccadilly and District lines' Hammersmith station, as well as Hammersmith bus station. It is located on Hammersmith Road, in the London Borough of Hammersmith &...
, itself, stretches from the junction of Queen Caroline Street and King Street in the west to the junction of Hammersmith Road and Butterwick in the east. It forms the north side of the gyratory system also known as Hammersmith Roundabout. The Broadway Shopping Centre includes a large modern bus station, which is open 24 hours a day and served by a large number of buses, night buses, airport transfer buses and some long distance coaches.
The length of King Street places the westernmost shops and offices closest to Ravenscourt Park tube station
Ravenscourt Park tube station
Ravenscourt Park is a London Underground station located in west Hammersmith, west London. The station is served by the District Line and is between Hammersmith and Stamford Brook stations....
on the District line
District Line
The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...
, one stop west of Hammersmith itself.
Hammersmith also used to be able to boast of having not one but two public passenger transport depots: Hammersmith Trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
Depot (coded "HB") situated opposite Fulham Palace
Fulham Palace
Fulham Palace in Fulham, London , England, at one time the main residence of the Bishop of London, is of medieval origin. It was the country home of the Bishops of London from at least 11th century until 1975, when it was vacated...
Road and a Motor Bus Garage, known as Riverside (coded "R") to stop confusion with "HB". Riverside was originally a mansion and after the bus operations ceased the fascia of the building was listed.
Hammersmith in popular culture
Hammersmith features in Charles DickensCharles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serial form in the publication All the Year Round from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It has been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times....
as the home of the Pocket family. Pip resides with the Pockets in their house by the river and partakes in boating on the Thames.
News from Nowhere
News from Nowhere
News from Nowhere is a classic work combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris...
(1890) written by William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
is a utopian novel that describes a journey upstream the River Thames from Hammersmith towards Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
; it is of growing interest to contemporary ecological and socialist political movements.
In 1930, Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
composed a work for military band (later rewritten for orchestra) entitled Hammersmith to reflect his impressions of the area, having lived across the river in nearby Barnes for nearly forty years. It begins with a haunting musical depiction of the River Thames flowing underneath Hammersmith Bridge. Holst was a music teacher at St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is a senior independent school, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.-History:In 1904 a new day school for girls was established by the trustees of the Dean Colet Foundation , which had run St Paul's School for boys since the sixteenth century...
, where he composed many of his most famous works, including The Planets
The Planets
The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst...
suite. A music room in the school is named after him.
Hammersmith has provided a location for several television programmes, including the BBC comedy series Bottom, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's TFI Friday
TFI Friday
TFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of Guest Presenters. It was broadcast on...
, and the vampire drama Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (TV serial)
Ultraviolet is a 1998 British television serial written and directed by Joe Ahearne and starring Jack Davenport, Susannah Harker, Idris Elba and Philip Quast. It was produced by World Productions for Channel 4.-Synopsis:...
. The opening credits of Bottom show the Hammersmith Broadway
Hammersmith Broadway
Hammersmith Broadway is a street which serves as a major transport node and shopping centre located in west London. It is home to the Piccadilly and District lines' Hammersmith station, as well as Hammersmith bus station. It is located on Hammersmith Road, in the London Borough of Hammersmith &...
(also mentioned in The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
' song Dark Streets of London) development, then called Centre West, when it was under construction. In addition, the Flying Squad
Flying Squad
The Flying Squad is a branch of the Specialist Crime Directorate, within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Squad's purpose is to investigate commercial armed robberies, along with the prevention and investigation of other serious armed crime...
were Hammersmith-based in the 1970s TV series The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
. Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective
The Singing Detective
The Singing Detective is a BBC television miniseries written by Dennis Potter, which stars Michael Gambon, and was directed by Jon Amiel. The six episodes were "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It"....
contains scenes that appear to be under and adjacent to Hammersmith Bridge. The popular Thames Television series Minder
Minder (TV series)
Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
also features black and white photographs of Hammersmith Bridge and the Blue Anchor pub in the closing credits.
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External links
- London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
- Cllr. Stephen Cowan (Lab) - Leader of the Opposition
- Hammersmith's local community web site
- Hammersmith - 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article
- Description of Hammersmith in 1868
- Hammersmith, Fulham and Putney, by Geraldine Edith Mitton and John Cunningham GeikieJohn Cunningham GeikieJohn Cunningham Geikie was a Scottish-born minister and author, primarily active first in Toronto, Canada, and then in England....
, 1903, from Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books... - Round Table London Hammersmith 48: Fun, Friendship, Fundraising. We don´t just sit there, do you?
- NHS Hammersmith and Fulham
- HammersmithLondon Business Improvement District (BID)