106-541: Chiswick Mall is a waterfront street on the north bank of the river Thames in the oldest part of Chiswick in West London, with a row of large houses from the Georgian and Victorian eras overlooking the street on the north side, and their gardens on the other side of the street beside the river and Chiswick Eyot . While the area was once populated by fishermen, boatbuilders and other tradespeople associated with
212-515: A ferry across the river. The area was described by John Bowack , writing-master at Westminster School , in 1705; he wrote that "the greatest number of houses are stretched along the waterside from the Lyme kiln near Hammersmith to the Church, in which dwell several small traders, but for the most part fishermen and watermen who make up a considerable part of the inhabitants of this town." The street
318-506: A film set, including for the BBC TV series Bergerac and Not the Nine O'clock News . From 1986 it served as Chiswick Lodge, a nursing home for patients with dementia or motor neurone disease; it closed in 2006, and the building was demolished in 2010, to be replaced by housing. The street has been depicted by a variety of artists. The Tate Gallery holds a 1974 intaglio print on paper by
424-517: A group of "imposing" houses on Chiswick Mall in the Early Modern period, including a large house on the site of Walpole House, since by 1706 John Bowack wrote of "very ancient" houses beside the river at Chiswick. A house on the site of Bedford House was inhabited by the Russell family in around 1664; it and others nearby were later rebuilt. The largest, one of the finest, and most complicated of
530-642: A journey up the river from Hammersmith towards Oxford . In 1930, Gustav Holst composed Hammersmith , a work for military band (later rewritten for orchestra), reflecting his impressions of the area, having lived across the river in Barnes for nearly forty years. It begins with a haunting musical depiction of the River Thames flowing underneath Hammersmith Bridge. Holst taught music at St Paul's Girls' School and composed many of his most famous works there, including his The Planets suite. A music room in
636-594: A large part of south-eastern and a small part of western England; the river is fed by at least 50 named tributaries . The river contains over 80 islands . With its waters varying from freshwater to almost seawater, the Thames supports a variety of wildlife and has a number of adjoining Sites of Special Scientific Interest , with the largest being in the North Kent Marshes and covering 20.4 sq mi (5,289 ha). According to Mallory and Adams,
742-608: A major bus station. The length of King Street places the westernmost shops and offices closest to Ravenscourt Park Underground station on the District line , one stop west of Hammersmith itself. The first Hammersmith Bridge was designed by William Tierney Clark and opened in 1827 and was the first suspension bridge crossing the River Thames . It was redesigned by Joseph Bazalgette , and reopened in 1887. In August 2020, it closed to pedestrians, cyclists and road traffic as
848-481: A monument to Crispe as well as a bronze bust of King Charles I by Hubert Le Sueur . In 1696 Sir Samuel Morland was buried there. The church was completely rebuilt in 1883, but the monument and bust were transferred to the new church. In 1745, two Scots, James Lee and Lewis Kennedy , established the Vineyard Nursery , over six acres devoted to landscaping plants. During the next hundred and fifty years
954-585: A municipal park, Ravenscourt Park , to the west of the centre. Its facilities include tennis courts, a basketball court, a bowling lawn, a paddling pool, and playgrounds. Hammersmith is the historical home of the West London Penguin Swimming and Water Polo Club , formerly known as the Hammersmith Penguin Swimming Club . Hammersmith Chess Club has been active in the borough since it was formed in 1962. It
1060-508: A network of creeks. Lying below sea level, it is prone to flooding at exceptional tides, but has nevertheless been inhabited since Roman times. The usually quoted source of the Thames is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994 ). This is about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of the village of Kemble in southern Gloucestershire , near the town of Cirencester , in the Cotswolds . However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham , where
1166-644: A rusticated facade, while the grand first and second storeys are adorned with large Corinthian pilasters. At the centre, they have paired Ionic columns supporting a balcony with a balustrade; to either side, the windows on the first floor are adorned with pilasters and topped with a pediment. The house called Orford House and The Tides are a Grade II pair; they were built by John Belcher in 1886. Orford House has timber framing in its gables, while The Tides has hanging tiling there. Belcher also designed Greenash in Arts and Crafts style , with tall chimneys and high gables for
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#17328017377961272-538: A second shopping centre ( Livat Hammersmith ), many small shops, the town hall , the Lyric Theatre , a cinema, the Polish community centre 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
1378-639: A summer venue for organised swimming, which is prohibited on safety grounds in a stretch centred on Central London . After the river took its present-day course, many of the banks of the Thames Estuary and the Thames Valley in London were partly covered in marshland , as was the adjoining Lower Lea Valley . Streams and rivers like the River Lea , Tyburn Brook and Bollo Brook drained into
1484-465: Is Hamersmyth in 1294, with alternative spellings of Hameresmithe in 1312, Hamyrsmyth in 1535, and Hammersmith 1675. The district was a chapelry of the ancient parish of Fulham , but became a fully independent parish in 1631. In the early 1660s, Hammersmith's first parish church, which later became St Paul's , was built by Sir Nicholas Crispe who ran the brickworks in Hammersmith. It contained
1590-600: 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 . It is bordered by Shepherd's Bush to the north, Kensington to the east, Chiswick to the west, and Fulham to the south, all on the north bank of
1696-471: Is a landmark on the Boat Race course, while Glover's Island forms the centre of a view from Richmond Hill . Islands of historical interest include Magna Carta Island at Runnymede , Fry's Island at Reading, and Pharaoh's Island near Shepperton. In more recent times Platts Eyot at Hampton was the place where Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB)s were built, Tagg's Island near Molesey was associated with
1802-494: Is an entablature. Its windows have double-hung sashes topped with flat arches. In front of the house is an elegant Grade II* listed screen and wrought iron gate; the gateposts are topped with globes. Its garden is listed in the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens. Walpole House was the home of Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland , a mistress of King Charles II , until her death in 1709; it
1908-402: Is an important water source, especially in the drier months, so maintaining its quality and quantity is extremely important. Groundwater is vulnerable to surface pollution, especially in highly urbanised areas. Brooks, canals and rivers, within an area of 3,842 sq mi (9,951 km ), combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding the Thames between its source and Teddington Lock . This
2014-649: Is believed that Tamesubugus' name was derived from that of the river. Tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography ( c. AD 700 ). The river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t /t/ ; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese and the Brittonic form Tamesis . A similar spelling from 1210, "Tamisiam" (the accusative case of "Tamisia"; see Kingston upon Thames § Early history ),
2120-503: Is equipped with two fireplaces and decorated above with a frieze in plasterwork showing bowls of punch . At a later date it was given a stucco facade with a six-panelled door under a fanlight, and double-hung sash windows with surrounds. Of the same period is the Grade II pair of three-storey brown brick houses, Lingard House, with a dormer , and Thames View. Above their doors are door hoods supported by brackets. Also early 18th century
2226-604: Is formed for much of its length for shipping and supplies: through the Port of London for international trade, internally along its length and by its connection to the British canal system. The river's position has put it at the centre of many events in British history, leading to it being described by John Burns as "liquid history". Two broad canals link the river to other rivers: the Kennet and Avon Canal ( Reading to Bath ) and
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#17328017377962332-697: Is found in Magna Carta . The Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis . Historically, and especially in Victorian times, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the Isis from its source down to Dorchester on Thames and that only from this point, where the river meets the Thame and becomes the "Thame-isis" (supposedly subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so called. Ordnance Survey maps still label
2438-587: Is on King Street. It contains a theatre, an art gallery and several restaurants. Its library has one of the largest collections of Polish-language books outside Poland. The Dove is a riverside pub with what the Guinness Book of Records listed as the smallest bar room in the world, in 2016 surviving as a small space on the right of the bar. The pub was frequented by Ernest Hemingway and Graham Greene ; James Thomson lodged and likely wrote Rule Britannia here. The narrow alley in which it stands
2544-452: Is responsible for managing the flow of water to help prevent and mitigate flooding, and providing for navigation: the volume and speed of water downstream is managed by adjusting the sluices at each of the weirs and, at peak high water, levels are generally dissipated over preferred flood plains adjacent to the river. Occasionally, flooding of inhabited areas is unavoidable and the agency issues flood warnings. Due to stiff penalties applicable on
2650-948: Is shared by many other river names in Britain, such as the River Tamar at the border of Devon and Cornwall , several rivers named Tame in the Midlands and North Yorkshire , the Tavy on Dartmoor , the Team of the North East, the Teifi and Teme of Wales , the Teviot in the Scottish Borders and a Thames tributary, the Thame . Kenneth H. Jackson proposed that the name of
2756-558: Is sometimes called the Isis), Reading , Henley-on-Thames and Windsor . The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London . The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway , derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock . Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has a rise and fall of 23 ft (7 m). From Oxford to the estuary, the Thames drops by 55 metres (180 ft). Running through some of
2862-656: Is the brown brick with red dressings Grade II Woodroffe House, which was at that time of two storeys; its third story was added late in that century. A large house, started in 1665 as the house of the Russell family, then the earls of Bedford , but with an 18th-century front, is now divided into Eynham House and the Grade II* Bedford house. The latter has a Grade II gazebo in its garden. The actor Michael Redgrave lived in Bedford House from 1945 to 1954. The Grade II Cedar House and Swan House were built late in
2968-462: 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. Leisure activity also takes place along Hammersmith's pedestrianised riverside, home to the pubs of Lower Mall, rowing clubs and the riverside park of Furnival Gardens . Hammersmith has
3074-404: Is the usual tidal limit ; however, high spring tides can raise the head water level in the reach above Teddington and can occasionally reverse the river flow for a short time. In these circumstances, tidal effects can be observed upstream to the next lock beside Molesey weir , which is visible from the towpath and bridge beside Hampton Court Palace . Before Teddington Lock was built in 1810–12,
3180-580: The Black Lion , The Dove , The George , The Hop Poles , the Hope and Anchor , the Salutation Inn and The Swan , as are Hammersmith's two parish churches , St Paul's (the town's original church, rebuilt in the 1890s) and St Peter's , built in the 1820s. Riverside Studios is a cinema, performance space, bar and cafe. Originally film studios, Riverside Studios were used by
3286-799: The River Isis , is a river that flows through southern England including London . At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom , after the River Severn . The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire and flows into the North Sea near Tilbury , Essex and Gravesend , Kent, via the Thames Estuary . From the west, it flows through Oxford (where it
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3392-530: The Ark , an office complex to the south of the flyover which traverses the area. Charing Cross Hospital on Fulham Palace Road is a large multi-disciplinary NHS hospital with accident & emergency and teaching departments run by the Imperial College School of Medicine . "The Ark" office building , designed by British architect Ralph Erskine and completed in 1992, has some resemblance to
3498-704: The BBC from 1954 to 1975 for television productions. The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is just off King Street. Hammersmith Apollo concert hall and theatre (formerly the Carling Hammersmith Apollo, the Hammersmith Odeon, and before that the Gaumont Cinema) is just south of the gyratory. The former Hammersmith Palais nightclub has been demolished and the site reused as student accommodation. The Polish Social and Cultural Association
3604-811: The Berwyn Mountains in North Wales . About 450,000 years ago, in the most extreme Ice Age of the Pleistocene , the Anglian , the furthest southern extent of the ice sheet reached Hornchurch in east London, the Vale of St Albans, and the Finchley Gap . It dammed the river in Hertfordshire , resulting in the formation of large ice lakes, which eventually burst their banks and caused
3710-541: The British Geological Survey from the banks of the tidal River Thames contain geochemical information and fossils which provide a 10,000-year record of sea-level change. Combined, this and other studies suggest that the Thames sea-level has risen more than 30 m during the Holocene at a rate of around 5–6 mm per year from 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. The rise of sea level dramatically reduced when
3816-570: The Churn (which feeds into the Thames near Cricklade ) rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this location is farthest from the mouth and adds some 14 mi (23 km) to the river's length. At Seven Springs above the source is a stone with the Latin hexameter inscription "Hic tuus o Tamesine pater septemgeminus fons", which means "Here, O Father Thames, [is] your sevenfold source". The springs at Seven Springs flow throughout
3922-684: The Grand Union Canal (London to the Midlands). The Grand Union effectively bypassed the earlier, narrow and winding Oxford Canal which remains open as a popular scenic recreational route. Three further cross-basin canals are disused but are in various stages of reconstruction: the Thames and Severn Canal (via Stroud ), which operated until 1927 (to the west coast of England), the Wey and Arun Canal to Littlehampton , which operated until 1871 (to
4028-595: The Hammersmith Flyover . Hammersmith Bridge closed in August 2020 to pedestrians, cyclists and road traffic, severing the link with Barnes in the southwest. Its cast iron pedestals that hold the suspension system in place had become unsafe. The centre of Hammersmith is served by two London Underground stations named Hammersmith: one is served by the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines and
4134-489: The River Lea can be considered another boundary. Most of the local riverside was also marshland. The land was drained and became farmland; it was built on after the Industrial Revolution . Canvey Island in southern Essex (area 18.45 km , 7.12 sq mi; population 40,000 ) was once marshy, but is now a fully reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, separated from the mainland of south Essex by
4240-427: The River Thames . The area is one of west London's main commercial and employment centres, and has for some decades been a major centre of London's Polish community . It is a major transport hub for west London , with two London Underground stations and a bus and coach station at Hammersmith Broadway . Hammersmith may mean "(Place with) a hammer smithy or forge", although, in 1839, Thomas Faulkner proposed that
4346-662: The Royal Academy , London , in 1785. They are now on show at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley). Richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called * (p)lowonida . This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium , from the Indo-European roots * pleu- "flow" and * -nedi "river" meaning something like
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4452-504: The Thames Barrier , which protects central London from flooding by storm surges . Below the barrier, the river passes Woolwich , Thamesmead , Dagenham , Erith , Purfleet , Dartford , West Thurrock , Northfleet , Tilbury and Gravesend before entering the Thames Estuary near Southend-on-Sea . The sea level in the Thames estuary is rising and the rate of rise is increasing. Sediment cores up to 10 m deep collected by
4558-549: The Thanetian stage of the late Palaeocene epoch. Until around 500,000 years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire , before turning to the north-east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near present-day Ipswich . At this time the river-system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from
4664-494: The local shipbuilder , Sir John Thorneycroft. The medieval prebendal manor house was replaced in 1875 with a row of houses. They are decorated with many architectural details such as fruity swags. They are not all in a line, but all are the same height with a balustrade along the parapet. Dan Mason, owner of the Chiswick Soap Company, bought Rothbury House in 1911; it lay at the eastern end of Chiswick Mall, for
4770-432: The river Thames . St Nicholas Church, Chiswick was built in the twelfth century, and by 1181, the settlement of Chiswick had grown up "immediately east" of the church. The prebendal manor house belonging to the church was founded circa 1100 as a stone building; it was demolished around 1710, and is now the site of College House and other buildings. Local trades included farming , fishing , boatbuilding , and operating
4876-423: The 18th century; both are three storey buildings of brown brick. Their windows are double-hung sashes with flat arches. Two more three-storey Grade II 18th century houses are those named Thamescote and Magnolia; the latter has glazing bars on its windows, with iron balconettes on its second floor. The house called The Osiers was built late in the 18th century but has a newer facade. An early 19th-century pair are
4982-455: The 1955 Breakaway , the 1961 Victim , and the 1992 Howards End . Chiswick grew as a village in Anglo-Saxon times from smaller settlements dating back to Mesolithic times in the prehistoric era. Roman roads running east–west along the lines of the modern Chiswick High Road and Wellesley Road met some 500 metres north of Chiswick Mall; the High Road was for centuries the main road westwards from London, while goods were carried along
5088-475: The Benson family designed and then restored the garden. Morton House was built in 1726 of brown bricks. Its garden is listed in the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens. Its former owner, Sir Percy Harris , had a relief sculpture depicting the resurrection of the dead made by Edward Bainbridge Copnall for the garden in the 1920s; the sculpture now serves as his tombstone a short distance away in St Nicholas Churchyard. The Grade II* Strawberry House
5194-405: The Chiswick Cottage Hospital. The house was used for staff quarters, administration, and kitchens. The main hospital block was built in the ¾ acre garden; it had two ten-person wards on the ground floor, one male, one female, and a ward for twelve children upstairs; the whole hospital was constructed and equipped at Mason's expense. A third building housed the outpatients department. The main entrance
5300-462: The Grade II, three-storey Riverside House and Cygnet House. They are built of brown bricks and have porches with a trellis. Another Grade II house of the same era is the two-story Oak Cottage; it has a stucco facade, a moulded cornice , and pineapple finials on its parapet. Another pair of the same period are the Grade II Island House and Norfolk House. They are faced in stucco, and have three storeys and double-hung sash windows. Their basements have
5406-411: The North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980s to protect London from this risk. The Nore is the sandbank that marks the mouth of the Thames Estuary , where the outflow from the Thames meets the North Sea . It is roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Until 1964 it marked the seaward limit of the Port of London Authority. As
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#17328017377965512-489: The River Thames on the Tideway include the rivers Crane , Brent , Wandle , Ravensbourne (the final part of which is called Deptford Creek ), Lea (the final part of which is called Bow Creek ), Roding (Barking Creek), Darent and Ingrebourne . In London, the water is slightly brackish with sea salt, being a mix of sea and fresh water. This part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority . The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from
5618-416: The Thames Estuary), the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea . Before the lock was installed, the river was tidal as far as Staines, about 16 mi (26 km) upstream. London, capital of Roman Britain , was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill . These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames. A river crossing
5724-470: The Thames as "River Thames or Isis" down to Dorchester. Since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage outside of Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis is nothing more than a truncation of Tamesis , the Latin name for the Thames. Sculptures titled Tamesis and Isis by Anne Seymour Damer are located on the bridge at Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire (the original terracotta and plaster models were exhibited at
5830-439: The Thames is not Indo-European (and of unknown meaning), while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before the Britons and has a name indicating "muddiness" from a root *tā- , 'melt'. Early variants of the name include: Indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name "Thames" is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made [this]). It
5936-511: The Thames, from Middle English Temese , is derived from the Brittonic name for the river, Tamesas (from * tamēssa ), recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys "Thames". The name element Tam may have meant "dark" and can be compared to other cognates such as Russian темно ( Proto-Slavic * tĭmĭnŭ ), Lithuanian tamsi "dark", Latvian tumsa "darkness", Sanskrit tamas and Welsh tywyll "darkness" and Middle Irish teimen "dark grey". The origin
6042-496: The arterial routes 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 station and an office complex. Stretching about 750 m (820 yd) westwards from this centre is King Street , Hammersmith's main shopping street. Named after John King, Bishop of London , it contains
6148-408: The artist Julian Trevelyan entitled Chiswick Mall . Around 1928, the musician James Brown made an oil painting entitled Chiswick Mall from Island House ; he had been tutored in oil painting by the impressionist painter Lucien Pissarro , who lived for a time in Chiswick. The Victoria and Albert Museum has a 1940 pen and ink and watercolour painting by the London Group artist Walter Bayes with
6254-423: The case of the Colne ), and man-made distributaries such as the Longford River . Three canals intersect this stretch: the Oxford Canal , Kennet and Avon Canal and Wey Navigation . Its longest artificial secondary channel (cut), the Jubilee River , was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief and completed in 2002. The non-tidal section of the river is managed by the Environment Agency , which
6360-414: The cast iron pedestals that hold the suspension system in place became unsafe. Work began to improve the structural integrity of the bridge in 2022. Hammersmith features in Charles Dickens ' Great Expectations as the home of the Pocket family. Pip resides with the Pockets in their house by the river and goes boating on the river. William Morris 's utopian novel News from Nowhere (1890) describes
6466-423: The confluence, the overall length of the Thames measured from Seven Springs, at 229 mi (369 km), is greater than the Severn's length of 220 mi (350 km). Thus, the "Churn/Thames" river may be regarded as the longest natural river in the United Kingdom. The stream from Seven Springs is joined at Coberley by a longer tributary which could further increase the length of the Thames, with its source in
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#17328017377966572-400: The conservation area describes it as "a remnant of a riverside village for wealthy landowners". The name "Mall" was most likely added in the early 19th century after the model of the fashionable Pall Mall in Westminster . British History Online states that the prebendal manor house and its medieval neighbours must have been reached by a road that ran eastwards for an unknown distance beside
6678-467: The county of Middlesex . Major industrial sites included the Osram lamp factory at Brook Green , the J. Lyons factory (which at one time employed 30,000 people). During both World Wars , Waring & Gillow 's furniture factory, in Cambridge Grove , became the site of aircraft manufacture. Hammersmith Borough Council had provided the borough with electricity since the early twentieth century from Hammersmith power station . Upon nationalisation of
6784-468: The drier parts of mainland Britain and heavily abstracted for drinking water, the Thames' discharge is low considering its length and breadth: the Severn has a discharge almost twice as large on average despite having a smaller drainage basin . In Scotland , the Tay achieves more than double the Thames' average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs . Its catchment area covers
6890-420: The electricity industry in 1948 ownership passed to the British Electricity Authority and later to the Central Electricity Generating Board . Electricity connections to the national grid rendered the 20 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station redundant. It closed in 1965; in its final year of operation it delivered 5,462 MWh of electricity to the borough. Hammersmith is located at the confluence of one of
6996-439: The first floor is an oriel window . Its garden is listed in the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens. Arabella Lennox-Boyd suggested that the garden was used by the botanist Joseph Banks to grow the plant species he had discovered. The walled garden was remodelled in the 1920s by the house's then owner, Howard Wilkinson and his son the stage designer Norman Wilkinson. The former Red Lion inn , now called Red Lion House,
7102-412: The flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. The river gives its name to three informal areas: the Thames Valley , a region of England around the river between Oxford and West London; the Thames Gateway ; and the greatly overlapping Thames Estuary around the tidal Thames to the east of London and including the waterway itself. Thames Valley Police is a formal body that takes its name from
7208-414: The grand houses on Chiswick Mall is the Grade I Walpole House . Parts of it, behind the later facade, were according to the historian of buildings Nikolaus Pevsner constructed late in the Tudor era , whereas the visible parts are late 17th and early 18th century. It has three storeys, of brown bricks with red brick dressings. The front door is in a porch with Corinthian pilasters standing on plinths; above
7314-418: The great iron gate of Miss Pinkerton’s academy for young ladies, on Chiswick Mall, a large family coach, with two fat horses in blazing harness, driven by a fat coachman in a three-cornered hat and wig, at the rate of four miles an hour. ... as he pulled the bell at least a score of young heads were seen peering out of the narrow windows of the stately old brick house. Nay, the acute observer might have recognized
7420-533: The grounds of the National Star College at Ullenwood . The Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes , Cricklade , Lechlade , Oxford , Abingdon-on-Thames , Wallingford , Goring-on-Thames and Streatley (at the Goring Gap ), Pangbourne and Whitchurch-on-Thames , Reading , Wargrave , Henley-on-Thames , Marlow , Maidenhead , Windsor and Eton , Staines-upon-Thames and Egham , Chertsey , Shepperton , Weybridge , Sunbury-on-Thames , Walton-on-Thames , Molesey and Thames Ditton . The river
7526-452: The hull of a sailing ship. Hammersmith Bridge Road Surgery was designed by Guy Greenfield. 22 St Peter's Square , the former Royal Chiswick Laundry and Island Records HQ, has been converted to architects' studios and offices by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands . It has a Hammersmith Society Conservation award plaque (2009) and has been included in tours in Architecture Week. Several of Hammersmith's pubs are listed buildings , including
7632-457: The ice melt nearly concluded over the past 4,000 years. Since the beginning of the 20th century, rates of sea level rise range from 1.22 mm per year to 2.14 mm per year. The Thames River Basin District, including the Medway catchment, covers an area of 6,229 sq mi (16,130 km ). The entire river basin is a mixture of urban and rural, with rural landscape predominating in
7738-579: The impresario Fred Karno and Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East's R&B music scene. Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster (commonly known today as the Houses of Parliament ) were built on Thorney Island , which used to be an eyot . Researchers have identified the River Thames as a discrete drainage line flowing as early as 58 million years ago, in
7844-832: The little red nose of good-natured Miss Jemima Pinkerton herself, rising over some geranium pots in the window of that lady’s own drawing-room. Henry Cass 's 1955 detective thriller film Breakaway involves a houseboat on Chiswick Mall; the Rolls-Royce driven by 'Duke' Martin ( Tom Conway ) stops in front of the Mill Bakery, now Miller's Court. The 1961 thriller Victim , set in Chiswick, has its barrister protagonist, Melville Farr, played by Dirk Bogarde , living on Chiswick Mall; Melville walks through St Nicholas Churchyard, and meets his wife Laura ( Sylvia Syms ) in front of his house. William Nunez's 2021 The Laureate , about
7950-401: The name derived from two 'Saxon' words: the initial Ham from ham and the remainder from hythe , alluding to Hammersmith's riverside location. In 1922, Gover proposed that the prefix was a personal name, Heahmaer or Hæmar, and stating that the suffix must be Anglo-Saxon from -myðe, meaning the junction of two rivers, as Hammersmith Creek merged with the Thames here. The earliest spelling
8056-477: The newer commercial and residential centre around Chiswick High Road. The naturalist Charles John Cornish , who lived in Orford House on Chiswick Mall, wrote in 1902 that the river bank beside Chiswick Eyot had once been a "famous fishery"; he recorded that "perhaps the last" salmon was caught between the eyot and Putney in 1812, and expressed the hope that if the "purification" of the river continued,
8162-426: The non-tidal river, which is a drinking water source before treatment, sanitary sewer overflow from the many sewage treatment plants covering the upper Thames basin should be rare in the non-tidal Thames. However, storm sewage overflows are still common in almost all the main tributaries of the Thames despite claims by Thames Water to the contrary. Below Teddington Lock (about 55 mi or 89 km upstream of
8268-597: The nursery introduced many new plants to England, including fuchsia and the standard rose tree . 1804 saw the trial of Francis Smith for the murder of Thomas Millwood in Beaver Lane, Hammersmith. Called the Hammersmith Ghost murder case , it set a unique standard in English legal history. In 1868, Hammersmith was the name of a parish, and of a suburban district, within the hundred of Ossulstone , in
8374-532: The other is served by the Piccadilly and District lines. The latter station is part of a larger office, retail and transport development, locally known as "The Broadway Centre". Hammersmith Broadway 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
8480-480: The other side of the street, beside the river. St Nicholas Church, Chiswick lies at the western end; the eastern end reaches to Hammersmith . Just to the north of the row of grand houses is Fuller's Brewery , giving the area an industrial context. The street and the gardens partially flood at high water in spring tides . Chiswick Mall forms part of the Old Chiswick conservation area ; the borough's appraisal of
8586-442: The river from the ferry, and that this eventually became Chiswick Mall. In 1470, Robert Stillington , Chancellor of England and bishop of Bath and Wells had a "hospice" with a "great chamber" by the Thames in Chiswick. The vicarage house at the corner of Church Street and Chiswick Mall had been built by 1589–90. The prebendal manor house was extended to accommodate Westminster School in around 1570. There appears to have been
8692-585: The river passes Pimlico and Vauxhall , and then forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London . At this point, it historically formed the southern boundary of the medieval city, with Southwark , on the opposite bank, then being part of Surrey . Beyond central London, the river passes Bermondsey , Wapping , Shadwell , Limehouse , Rotherhithe , Millwall , Deptford , Greenwich , Cubitt Town , Blackwall , New Charlton and Silvertown , before flowing through
8798-458: The river to divert onto its present course through the area of present-day London. The ice lobe which stopped at present-day Finchley deposited about 14 metres of boulder clay there. Its torrent of meltwater gushed through the Finchley Gap and south towards the new course of the Thames, and proceeded to carve out the Brent Valley in the process. Hammersmith Hammersmith
8904-439: The river was tidal at peak spring tides as far as Staines upon Thames . In descending order, non-related tributaries of the non-tidal Thames, with river status, are the Churn , Leach , Cole , Ray , Coln , Windrush , Evenlode , Cherwell , Ock , Thame , Pang , Kennet , Loddon , Colne , Wey and Mole . In addition, there are occasional backwaters and artificial cuts that form islands, distributaries (most numerous in
9010-596: The river, covering three counties . In non-administrative use, the river's name is used in those of Thames Valley University , Thames Water , Thames Television , publishing company Thames & Hudson , Thameslink (north–south rail service passing through central London ) and South Thames College . An example of its use in the names of historic entities is the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company . Marks of human activity, in some cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain , are visible at various points along
9116-785: The river, since Early Modern times it has increasingly been a place where the wealthy built imposing houses in the riverside setting. Many of the houses are older than they appear, as they were given new facades in the 18th or 19th century rather than being completely rebuilt; among them is the largest, Walpole House . St Nicholas Church, Chiswick lies at the western end; the eastern end reaches to Hammersmith . The street, which contains numerous listed buildings , partially floods at high water in spring tides . The street has been represented in paintings by artists such as Lucien Pissarro and Walter Bayes ; in literature, in Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair ; and in film and television, including in
9222-456: The river, while some islands, e.g. Thorney Island , formed over the ages. The northern tip of the ancient parish of Lambeth , for example, was marshland known as Lambeth Marshe , but it was drained in the 18th century; the street names Lower Marsh and Upper Marsh preserve a memory. Until the middle of the Victorian era, malaria was commonplace beside the River Thames, even in London, and
9328-519: The river. These include a variety of structures connected with use of the river, such as navigations, bridges and watermills , as well as prehistoric burial mounds . The lower Thames in the Roman era was a shallow waterway winding through marshes. But centuries of human intervention have transformed it into a deep tidal canal flowing between 200 miles of solid walls; these defend a floodplain where 1.5 million people work and live. A major maritime route
9434-599: The room features a large curved plate-glass window giving views up and down the river. Some of the properties on Chiswick Mall, including Bedford, Eynham, and Woodroffe Houses, from time to time offer access to their private gardens on the National Garden Scheme "Open Gardens" days. 51°29′15″N 00°14′51″W / 51.48750°N 0.24750°W / 51.48750; -0.24750 River Thames The River Thames ( / t ɛ m z / TEMZ ), known alternatively in parts as
9540-400: The salmon might return. Chiswick Mall is a waterfront street on the north bank of the river in the oldest part of Chiswick . It consists of a row of "grand houses" providing "Old Chiswick's main architectural distinction"; the street has changed relatively little since 1918. The houses, mainly from the Georgian and Victorian eras , overlook the street on the north side; their gardens are on
9646-548: The same title. Mary Fedden , the first woman to teach painting at the Royal College of Art , made an oil on board painting called Chiswick Mall of a woman feeding geese just in front of Chiswick Eyot. In English literature, the street features in the first chapter of Thackeray's 1847–48 novel Vanity Fair . The book begins: While the present century was in its teens, and on one sunshiny morning in June, there drove up to
9752-661: The sandbank was a major hazard for shipping coming in and out of London, in 1732 it received the world's first lightship . This became a major landmark, and was used as an assembly point for shipping. Today it is marked by Sea Reach No. 1 Buoy. The River Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. They are found all
9858-541: The south coast), and the Wilts & Berks Canal . Rowing and sailing clubs are common along the Thames, which is navigable to such vessels. Kayaking and canoeing also take place. Major annual events include the Henley Royal Regatta and the Boat Race , while the Thames has been used during two Summer Olympic Games : 1908 ( rowing ) and 1948 ( rowing and canoeing ). Safe headwaters and reaches are
9964-514: The war poet Robert Graves ( Tom Hughes ), features a barge on Chiswick Mall. The scene in the 1992 Merchant Ivory film of E. M. Forster 's Howards End , where Margaret ( Emma Thompson ) and Helen ( Helena Bonham Carter ) stroll with Henry ( Anthony Hopkins ) in the evening, was shot on Chiswick Mall. Series One of the BBC's The Apprentice was filmed in the first-floor drawing room "Galleon Wing" extension, of Sir Nigel Playfair 's Said House;
10070-756: The way from Fiddler's Island in Oxfordshire to the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Some of the largest inland islands, for example Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon, were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams. In the Oxford area the river splits into several streams across the floodplain ( Seacourt Stream , Castle Mill Stream , Bulstake Stream and others), creating several islands ( Fiddler's Island , Osney and others). Desborough Island , Ham Island at Old Windsor and Penton Hook Island were artificially created by lock cuts and navigation channels. Chiswick Eyot
10176-412: The western part. The area is among the driest in the United Kingdom. Water resources consist of groundwater from aquifers and water taken from the Thames and its tributaries, much of it stored in large bank-side reservoirs . The Thames itself provides two-thirds of London's drinking water, while groundwater supplies about 40 per cent of public water supplies in the overall catchment area. Groundwater
10282-580: The year, while those at Thames Head are seasonal (a winterbourne ). With a length of 215 mi (346 km), the Thames is the longest river entirely in England. (The longest river in the United Kingdom, the Severn , flows partly in Wales .) However, as the River Churn, sourced at Seven Springs, is 14 mi (23 km) longer than the section of the Thames from its traditional source at Thames Head to
10388-479: Was built at the site of London Bridge . London Bridge is now used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide . High tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later than London Bridge, and Teddington about an hour later. The tidal stretch of the river is known as "the Tideway ". Tide tables are published by the Port of London Authority and are available online. Times of high and low tides are also posted on Twitter. The principal tributaries of
10494-399: Was built early in the 18th century and given a new front of red bricks with red dressings around 1730. It has two main storeys with a brick attic above. The front doorway is round-headed; it has a door with six panels, topped with a fanlight decorated with complex tracery. The door is in a porch with cast iron columns; above the porch is a balcony of wrought iron. At the back of the house on
10600-522: Was built of brick; it was licensed as an inn by 1722 for Thomas Mawson's brewery just behind the row of houses, now the Griffin Brewery . It was conveniently placed to attract passing trade from thirsty workers from the Mall's draw dock, where boats unloaded goods including hops for the brewery and rope and timber for the local boatbuilders . Inside, it has a handsome staircase; its sitting room
10706-463: Was frequently lethal. Some cases continued to occur into the early 20th century. Draining of the marshes helped with its eradication, but the causes are complex and unclear. The East End of London , also known simply as the East End , was the area of London east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames, although it is not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries;
10812-613: Was initially based in Westcott Lodge , later moving to St Paul's Church, then to Blythe House and now Lytton Hall, near West Kensington tube station . 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,
10918-564: Was later inherited by Thomas Walpole , for whom it is now named. From 1785 to 1794 it served as a boarding house; one of its lodgers was the Irish politician Daniel O'Connell . In the early 19th century it became a boys' school, its pupils including William Makepeace Thackeray . The actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree owned the house at the start of the 20th century. It was then bought by the merchant banker Robin Benson ; over several generations
11024-598: Was on Netheravon Road (to the north), with a second entrance on the Mall. By 1936 the buildings were obsolete, and Mason's nephew, also called Dan Mason, laid the foundation stone for a more modern hospital on 29 February 1936; the new building was finished by 1940. In 1943 it was requisitioned by the Ministry of Health, and it became the Chiswick Maternity Hospital. This closed in 1975. It was then used for accommodation for Charing Cross Hospital, and as
11130-495: Was part of a rural riverside village until late in the nineteenth century; the 1865 Ordnance Survey map shows orchards to the north and west of Old Chiswick. The area to the north had become built up with streets of terraced housing by 1913, as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of that date. The Great West Road crossed Brentford in 1925 and Chiswick in the 1950s, passing immediately north of Old Chiswick and severing it from
11236-554: Was subject to minor redefining and widening of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Marlow before 1850, when further cuts to ease navigation reduced distances further. Molesey faces Hampton , and in Greater London the Thames passes Hampton Court Palace , Surbiton , Kingston upon Thames , Teddington , Twickenham , Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House , Kew , Brentford , Chiswick , Barnes , Hammersmith , Fulham , Putney , Wandsworth , Battersea and Chelsea . In central London ,
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