115-779: Lillie Road is a major street in the north of Fulham , in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham . Named for the Peninsular War veteran, John Scott Lillie , it is a mixed residential and commercial thoroughfare, and is the westerly continuation of the Old Brompton Road , the A3218 road , running from Lillie Bridge to the A219 Fulham Palace Road. Its main junctions are with North End Road and with Munster Road at Fulham Cross. The road
230-400: A 13-acre site at the bottom of Seagrave Road to build a fever hospital, The Western Hospital , that later became an NHS centre of excellence for treating polio until its closure in 1979. Bar one ward block remaining in private occupation, it was replaced by a gated-flats development and a small public space, Brompton Park. Aside from the centuries-old brewing industry, exemplified by
345-529: A Signal Migration Area (SMA), and are located on the line as follows: In order from west to east 51°30′56″N 000°10′32″W / 51.51556°N 0.17556°W / 51.51556; -0.17556 ( 36 – Paddington station (District line platforms) ) Now served by the Piccadilly line, the Hounslow branch opened to the now closed Hounslow Town on 1 May 1883 and was extended on
460-697: A bridge to traverse the River Thames , crossing on both the Wimbledon and Richmond branches. The track and stations between Barking and Aldgate East are shared with the Hammersmith & City line , and between Tower Hill and Gloucester Road and on the Edgware Road branch they are shared with the Circle line . Some of the stations between South Kensington and Ealing Common are shared with
575-585: A controversial 80 acre high-rise redevelopment has been under way on the eastern borough boundary with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , involving the dismantling of the two Earl's Court Exhibition Centres in RBKC and in Hammersmith and Fulham and the emptying and demolition of hundreds of commercial properties, thousands of both private and social housing units and including the demolition of
690-641: A dance studio in the old Fulham Public Baths. The largest extant supermarket in Fulham, is located on the site of a cinema later converted to the iconic "Dicky Dirts" jean store with its sloping shop-floor, at the top of North End Road 's Street market . It started a new trend in how retail was done. The debut albums by 1970s new wave bands The Stranglers ( Rattus Norvegicus ) and Generation X ( Generation X ) were recorded at TW Studios, 211 Fulham Palace Road. The Greyhound music venue at 176 Fulham Palace Road hosted up and coming punk, post-punk and indie bands in
805-487: A film and television studio, but was finally demolished in 1971. It too has been replaced by an office block in Fulham Broadway. The performing arts continue in Fulham, like the notable Fulham Symphony Orchestra and the successful Fulham Opera. St John's Parish Church, at the top of North End Road , stages choral and instrumental concerts as do other churches in the area. There is a cinema complex as part of
920-593: A great revival of interest in Fulham's earliest history, largely due to the Fulham Archaeological Rescue Group. This has carried out a number of digs, particularly in the vicinity of Fulham Palace, which show that approximately 5,000 years ago Neolithic people were living by the riverside and in other parts of the area. Excavations have also revealed Roman settlements during the third and fourth centuries AD. There are two not necessarily conflicting versions of how Fulham Manor came into
1035-719: A lasting, if largely unsung, contribution for well over a century to the development and maintenance of public transport in London and beyond. Next to the Lillie Bridge engineering Depot , the Midland Railway established its own coal and goods yard. In 1907 the engineering HQ of the Piccadilly Line in Richmond Place (16-18 Empress Place) oversaw the westward expansion of the line into the suburbs. At
1150-645: 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 . First recorded by name in 691, it was an extensive Anglo-Saxon estate, the Manor of Fulham , and then
1265-573: A parish. Its domain stretched from modern-day Chiswick in the west to Chelsea in the southeast; and from Harlesden in the northwest to Kensal Green in the northeast bordered by the littoral of Counter's Creek and the Manor of Kensington. It originally included today's Hammersmith. Between 1900 and 1965, it was demarcated as the Metropolitan Borough of Fulham , before its merger with the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith to create
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#17327795820631380-472: A predominantly working-class area for the first half of the 20th century, with genteel pockets at North End, along the top of Lillie and New King's roads, especially around Parsons Green , Eel Brook Common , South Park and the area surrounding the Hurlingham Club . Essentially, the area had attracted waves of immigrants from the countryside to service industrialisation and the more privileged parts of
1495-465: A programme planned to increase peak-hour capacity on the line by 27 per cent by the end of 2023. A single control room for the sub-surface railway opened at Hammersmith on 6 May 2018, and Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) provided by Thales will progressively replace 'fixed block' signalling equipment dating back to the 1940s. The rollout of CBTC has been split into sections, each known as
1610-514: A rail outside the running rail at +420 V , giving a potential difference of 630 V . The two sections over which main line trains run, from East Putney to Wimbledon, and from Gunnersbury to Richmond, have the centre rail bonded to the running rails. West of Earl's Court, there are four branches. At Ealing Broadway station , the District line has platforms north of the Central line and
1725-467: A rare example in Fulham of mid-Victorian housing, designed by John Young , close to Grade I and II listed structures and to a number of conservation areas in both boroughs. It also involves the closure of the historic Lillie Bridge Depot, opened in 1872 and the dispersal of its operations by TfL Fulham is part of two constituencies: one, Hammersmith bounded by the north side of the Lillie Road,
1840-543: A separate parish with a vicar (no longer a curate) and vestry for works was created. The two areas did not come together again until the commencement of the London Government Act in 1965. The parish boundary with Chelsea and Kensington was formed by the now culverted Counter's Creek river, the course of which is now occupied by the West London Line . This parish boundary has been inherited by
1955-435: A separate route to Hounslow West on 21 July 1884. The District line served the present Piccadilly line stations between Acton Town and Hounslow West as well as the former station of Osterley & Spring Grove (closed 1934) until District line services were withdrawn on 9 October 1964. From 13 June 1905 until 28 February 1959, the District line ran a one-stop shuttle between Acton Town and South Acton . Also now served by
2070-409: A service of 18 trains per hour (a train every 3–4 minutes) between Earl's Court and Tower Hill. Together with the Circle line , there are 24 trains per hour (a train every 2.5 minutes) between Gloucester Road and Tower Hill. 208 million passenger journeys were made on the District line in 2011/12. There are additional trains during peak hours. The central section from Earl's Court to Aldgate East
2185-536: A service to Moorgate via Paddington. Between 1 March 1883 and 30 September 1885, the District Railway ran trains between Mansion House and Windsor , via Paddington. Stations after Ealing Broadway (the current terminus) were West Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes & Harlington, West Drayton, Langley, Slough, and Windsor. The service was discontinued because it was uneconomic. Hammersmith was reached from Earl's Court, services were extended to Richmond over
2300-473: A short branch, with a limited service, only runs for one stop to Kensington (Olympia) . The main route continues west from Earl's Court to Turnham Green after which it divides again into two western branches, to Richmond and Ealing Broadway . Printed in green on the Tube map , the line serves 60 stations (more than any other Underground line) over 40 miles (64 km). It is the only Underground line to use
2415-425: Is 40 miles (64 km) long and serves 60 stations. The line is electrified with a four-rail DC system: from Upminster to Putney Bridge, Olympia, Barons Court, and Edgware Road a central conductor rail is now energised at −250 volts and a rail outside the running rail at +500 V , giving a potential difference of 750 V . The section from Barons Court to Ealing Broadway remains at −210 V with
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#17327795820632530-487: Is at the eastern commencement of Lillie Road serving the London Underground's District line as well as London Overground services. This station also serves Southern services, running between East Croydon, and Watford Junction. Bus routes 28 , 74 , 190 , 211 , 295 , 424 and 430 run along the road, with the 74 and 430 traversing the entire length of the road. The 190 begins its journey to Rochmond at
2645-739: Is being upgraded (as part of the Four Lines Modernisation project) as of September 2019 and the previous D Stock trains were fully replaced by seven-car S Stock trains in April 2017. The Metropolitan District Railway (commonly known as the District Railway) was formed to build and operate part of an underground 'inner circle' connecting London's railway termini. The first line opened in December 1868, with services from South Kensington to Westminster; these were operated by
2760-575: Is in Zone 1 and to the west Ealing Broadway and Wimbledon are in Zone 3 and Richmond in Zone 4. To the east the line runs to Upminster in Zone 6. The current 7-car S Stock trains began to enter service on the line in 2013, beginning with services between Olympia and West Ham, gradually replacing the C and D Stock. Like the 8-car variants now in use on the Metropolitan line , these trains are part of Bombardier's Movia family, with air-conditioning, as
2875-541: Is named after Sir John Scott Lillie (1790-1868), who first laid out the easternmost section of the road across his North End Hermitage estate in 1826 running from Gunter's footbridge over the tidal Counter's Creek to the T junction of the old Crown Lane with North End Lane. The intention was to link traffic from the new Hammersmith Bridge with the North End wharves of the planned Kensington Canal , thus obviating passage through Hammersmith and Kensington , or following
2990-582: Is represented by Andy Slaughter for Labour , the other, Chelsea and Fulham parliamentary seat is currently held by Greg Hands for the Conservatives . Fulham was formerly a part of the Hammersmith and Fulham parliamentary constituency which was dissolved in 2010 to form the current seats. However, parts of Fulham continue to score highly on the Jarman Index , indicating poor health outcomes due to adverse socio-economic factors. Fulham has in
3105-525: The Sherlock episode " The Empty Hearse ", a fictional unopened terminus station called Sumatra Road (situated underneath the Houses of Parliament as a disused branch line from Westminster Station) was created for the episode's story of a terrorism plot. The station was actually filmed at Aldwych with ex-Northern line 1972 stock which caused continuity errors as deep-level trains and tunnels were used when
3220-508: The 2005 General Election , Greg Hands won the Hammersmith and Fulham Parliamentary seat for the Conservatives, polling 45.4% against Labour's 35.2%, a 7.3% swing. In the 2010 General Election, he was re-elected this time for the newly formed Chelsea and Fulham constituency. In the 2015 General Election he was returned with an increased share of the vote. In the 2024 General Election Ben Coleman defeated Greg Hands by 151 votes to retake
3335-632: The Aetherius Society , still trades on Fulham Road . Allied to these developments, the postwar period saw the extensive demolition of Fulham's early 19th-century architectural stock, replaced by some Brutalist architecture — the current Ibis hotel — and the Empress State Building in Lillie Road that in 1962 replaced the declining Empress Hall. The London County Council and local council continued with much-needed council-housing development between World War II and up to
3450-502: The Airco company, producing De Havilland designs and components for the duration of the war. William Crathern , the composer, was organist at St Mary's Church, West Kensington, when it was still known as North End . Edward Elgar , the composer, lived at 51 Avonmore Road, W14, between 1890 and 1891. The notorious Italian tenor Giovanni Matteo Mario de Candia and his wife opera singer Giulia Grisi , made Fulham their home from 1852 until
3565-883: The Arts and Crafts movement , lived at 'the Grange' in North End , Georgiana Burne-Jones and her husband, Edward Burne-Jones , both couples were friends of William Morris . Other artists who settled along the Lillie Road , were Francesco Bartolozzi , a florentine engraver and Benjamin Rawlinson Faulkner , a society portrait painter. Henri Gaudier-Brzeska , the French expressionist painter and friend of Ezra Pound , lived in Walham Green till his early death in 1915. Glass production was, until recently, represented by
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3680-482: The Bishops of London . The first written record of a church in Fulham dates from 1154, with the first known parish priest of All Saints Church, Fulham appointed in 1242. All Saints Church was enlarged in 1881 by Sir Arthur Blomfield . Hammersmith was part of the ancient parish of Fulham up until 1834. Prior to that time it had been a perpetual curacy under the parish of Fulham. By 1834 it had so many residents,
3795-460: The Chelsea F.C. stadium at Stamford Bridge . Other sports facilities were opened at The Queen's Club for rackets and tennis and at the private members' Hurlingham Club , for a range of sporting activities in the south of the borough. Hurlingham Park 's tennis courts are used as netball courts and tennis nets are taken down and so restricting access to the courts for tennis. Hurlingham Park hosts
3910-562: The City and South London Railway to Morden , construction of the line was taken over by the SR. Walford East is a fictional District line station in the BBC television soap opera EastEnders , and since February 2010 episodes have used Computer-generated imagery (CGI) of District line trains running into the station. The production tube map situates this station in place of Bromley-by-Bow. In
4025-515: The East London line , the District Railway branched away from the main line west of Whitechapel and served stations between Shadwell and New Cross from 1 October 1884 until 31 July 1905. Between Whitechapel and Aldgate East, the District line served St. Mary's (Whitechapel Road) from 1 October 1884 to 30 April 1938, closing when Aldgate East station moved. From 25 September 1882 until its closure on 12 October 1884, Tower of London station
4140-406: The Empress State Building . The second, opened by Princess Diana , lasted just over 20 years until 2014. Along with the architecturally pleasing Mid-Victorian Empress Place, formerly access to the exhibition centre, it is destined for high rise re-development, but with usage as yet to be confirmed. No trace is left today of either of Fulham's two theatres, both opened in 1897. The 'Grand Theatre'
4255-540: The Grand Union Canal with the Thames. In reality, however, the project was over budget and delayed by contractor bankruptcies and only opened in 1828, when railways were already gaining traction. The short-lived canal concept did however leave a legacy: the creation on Lillie's land of a brewery and residential development, 'Rosa', and 'Hermitage Cottages', and several roads, notably, the Lillie Road connecting
4370-485: The Great Western Main Line out of Paddington. After about 2 ⁄ 3 mile (1.1 km), the line meets the Piccadilly line Uxbridge branch at Hanger Lane junction, and the tracks are then shared through Ealing Common station until Acton Town station , where the Piccadilly line Heathrow branch joins. From Acton Town to Barons Court, the line has four tracks, paired by use: the District line uses
4485-672: The Lillie Langtry , due to the surmise that the Jersey actress had her assignations with the future Edward VII in one of the Georgian houses in Lillie Road. The Lillie Langtry is one of the oldest extant pubs in Fulham, while the 1883 Prince of Wales , opposite, rebuilt by Watney Combe & Reid in the Arts and Crafts style in 1938, is destined for imminent demolition, unlike the former Fuller's Seven Stars, West Kensington , around
4600-561: The London Passenger Transport Board , and from 23 October 1933 Piccadilly line trains ran through to Uxbridge and the District line shuttle was withdrawn. Most of the trailer cars on the District line were the 1904–1905 B Stock type with wooden bodies, but motor cars were less than fifteen years old. The 1935–1940 New Works Programme saw the Q Stock formed from these motor cars, upgraded with electro-pneumatic brakes and guard controlled air-operated doors, and
4715-674: The Metropolitan Railway using wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives . By 1871, when the District began operating its own trains, the railway had extended to West Brompton and a terminus at Mansion House . A curve from Earl's Court onto the West London Railway was used by the London & North Western Railway (L&NWR) for a service to Broad Street and the Great Western Railway for
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4830-591: The New King's Road , a short distance from Eel Brook Common until it gave way to an apartment redevelopment in 2017. It had produced works by Henry Moore , Elisabeth Frink , Barbara Hepworth and Jacob Epstein among others. Its work may be seen in public spaces all over the world. In 1926, the Church of England established the office of Bishop of Fulham as a suffragan to the Bishop of London. Fulham remained
4945-528: The Piccadilly line . Unlike London's deep-level lines , the railway tunnels are just below the surface, and the trains are of a similar size to those on British main lines. The District line is the busiest of the sub-surface lines and the fifth-busiest line overall on the Underground, with over 250 million passenger journeys recorded in 2019. The original Metropolitan District Railway (as it
5060-582: The Prince of Wales were forced to shut; only the Atlas , reconstructed after bomb damage in the Second World War , has been reprieved. District line The District line is a London Underground line running from Upminster in the east and Edgware Road in the west to Earl's Court in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to Wimbledon in south-west London and
5175-590: The alcohol-free phenomenon that was Kops Brewery founded in 1890 at a site in Sands End . In 1917 Kops Brewery closed and was converted into a margarine factory. Gin distilling came to the remnants of the North End Brewery in Seagrave Road after a brief period of service as a timber works in the 1870s and lasted for almost a century. The premises were taken over by distillers Vickers who at
5290-704: The stained glass studio of the purpose-built and Grade II listed Glass House in Lettice Street and latterly, by the Aaronson Noon Studio, with the 'Zest' Gallery in Rickett Street, that was obliged to shut down in 2012, after 20 years by the developers of 'Lillie Square' and Earl's Court . Both glass businesses have now moved out of London. The Art Bronze Foundry, founded by Charles Gaskin in 1922 operated in Michael Road, off
5405-541: The 'North End Brewery' complex, run from 1832 to 1833 by a Miss Goslin. It was intended originally to service the Kensington Canal workers and bargees. Later, it was the watering hole of the new railway builders, motor and omnibus company staff and latterly Earl's Court exhibition and Chelsea F.C. visitors. Of the three popular neighbouring pubs acquired by developers during 2014–15, the Imperial Arms and
5520-485: The 17th century, most notably with the Fulham Pottery , followed by the establishment of tapestry and carpet production with a branch of the French 'Gobelins manufactory' and then the short-lived Parisot weaving school venture in the 1750s. William De Morgan , ceramicist and novelist, moved into Sands End with his painter wife, Evelyn De Morgan , where they lived and worked. Another artist couple, also members of
5635-603: The 1860s when British Amateur Athletics were introduced and the first codified Boxing under Marquess of Queensberry Rules matches were staged. The catalyst for sport in Fulham was the Cambridge rowing blue and sports administrator, Welshman John Graham Chambers . Later, with the destruction of the Lillie Bridge Grounds by a riot in 1889, they were replaced first by the Fulham F.C. stadium Craven Cottage and
5750-519: The 1900s at a lovely country-manor where their daughters and son were born, among them writer Cecilia Maria de Candia . Conductor and composer Hyam Greenbaum married the harpist Sidonie Goossens on 26 April 1924 at Kensington Registry Office and they set up home in a first floor flat on the Fulham Road, opposite Michelin House . With the accession of Boris Johnson to the mayoralty of London,
5865-510: The 1980s. Fulham's traditional population of working people has been partially displaced by affluent newcomers since the turn of the century. Geoffrey de Havilland , aviation pioneer, built his first aeroplane at his workshop in Bothwell Street, Fulham in 1909. Later, during the First World War , Cannon's Brewery site at the corner of Lillie and North End Road was used for aircraft manufacture. The Darracq Motor Engineering Company of Townmead Road, became aircraft manufacturers in Fulham for
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#17327795820635980-412: The 19th century, there was glass-blowing and this resurged in the 21st century with the Aronson-Noon studio and the former Zest gallery in Rickett Street. Lillie Bridge Depot , a railway engineering depot, opened in 1872, is associated with the building and extension of the London Underground , the electrification of Tube lines from the nearby Lots Road Power Station , and for well over a century has been
6095-459: The 93-metre (305 ft) long C stock trains, and station platforms have been lengthened. The trains have regenerative brakes , allowing them to return around 20 per cent of their energy to the network. Traction voltage was increased in 2017 from nominal 630 V to 750 V to give better performance and allow the trains to return more energy to the network through their regenerative brakes. 630 V section remains Barons Court-Ealing Broadway. The service
6210-417: The District service from Acton Town to South Harrow, although the District continued to provide a shuttle from South Harrow to Uxbridge. In 1933, Piccadilly line trains reached Hounslow West, the District continuing to run services with an off-peak shuttle from South Acton to Hounslow. On 1 July 1933, the District Railway amalgamated with other Underground railways, tramway companies and bus operators to form
6325-513: The District was seeing increased competition from the new electric underground tube lines and trams, and the use of steam locomotives underground led to unpopular smoke-filled stations and carriages. The American Charles Yerkes , who was later to form the Underground Electric Railways of London , financed the needed electrification of the railway and the first electric services ran from Ealing to South Harrow in 1903. Electric multiple-units were introduced on other services in 1905, and East Ham became
6440-466: The Edgware Road branch. The CO/CP and R Stock were replaced in the late 1970s by new trains with unpainted aluminium bodies. A shorter train was needed on the Edgware Road branch due to the platform lengths so more of the C stock units, then already in use on the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines, were built. The rest of the District line could use longer trains and new D Stock trains were introduced between 1979 and 1983. Driver-only operation of
6555-478: The Edgware Road branch. However, due to the nature of sub-surface lines, the cutting is occasionally left open both at and between stations for ventilation. West of Earls Court, the line is entirely surface level, with the exception of the Hammersmith and Fulham Broadway stations, which are in cuttings built over by recent developments. There is also a small section of tunnel between Southfields and East Putney. The off-peak service since 9 December 2012 is: This gives
6670-488: The Empire State Building, which is on the road, with the 211, 295 and 424 only running part of the route (from the A3219 Munster Road to the A219 Fulham Palace Road). 51°29′15″N 0°11′44″W / 51.48752°N 0.19558°W / 51.48752; -0.19558 Fulham Fulham ( / ˈ f ʊ l ə m / ) 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
6785-427: The Fulham Broadway Centre. Fulham Town Hall , built in 1888 in the classical renaissance , was used as a popular venue for concerts and dances, especially its Grand Hall. Behind Fulham Broadway, the heart of the original village of Walham Green has undergone pedestrianisation, including the spot once occupied by the village green and its pond next to St. John's Parish Church and bordered by a number of cafés, bars, and
6900-410: The Hammersmith & City line just before Aldgate East station . The line passes over the Windrush line at Whitechapel station before continuing on the 2-mile (3.2 km) Whitechapel & Bow Railway to Bow Road, where the line surfaces, and Bromley-by-Bow, where the line runs alongside the London, Tilbury and Southend line from Fenchurch Street station . There is an interchange with this line at
7015-412: The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (known as the London Borough of Hammersmith from 1965 to 1979). The district is split between the western and south-western postal areas. Fulham industrial history includes pottery, tapestry-weaving, paper-making and brewing in the 17th and 18th centuries in Fulham High Street , and later the automotive industry, aviation, food production, and laundries. In
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#17327795820637130-512: The North End Road corner, also from 1938, which has been preserved as flats. Lillie Road is historically associated with the eponymous bridge over the West London Line , the Lillie Bridge Grounds , a popular 19th-century sports destination, with the Lillie Bridge Depot , the London Underground maintenance workshops, the Sir John Lillie Primary School and, at its western extremity, with the Lillie Road Recreational Grounds , where Sunday league football has been played for generations. Lillie Road
7245-403: The Piccadilly line, the South Harrow branch opened from north of Ealing Common on 28 June 1903 and extended over Metropolitan Railway tracks to Uxbridge on 1 March 1910. The District line served the present Piccadilly line stations between North Ealing and South Harrow until 4 July 1932 and the stations between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge until 25 October 1933. The District Railway also served
7360-507: The Swan Brewery on the Thames, the main industrial activities involved motoring and early aviation — Rolls-Royce , Shell-Mex & BP , Rover , the London General Omnibus Company — and rail engineering ( Lillie Bridge Depot ), laundries — the Palace Laundry is still extant — and the building trades. Later there developed distilling, Sir Robert Burnett's White Satin Gin , food processing, e.g. Telfer's Pies, Encafood and Spaghetti House , and Kodak 's photographic processing. This encouraged
7475-442: The Virgin Active-operated Fulham Pools swimming facilities and neighbouring tennis courts. Fulham has five active Bowls clubs: The Bishops Park Bowls club, The Hurlingham Park Bowls Club, Normand Park Bowls Club, The Parson's Green Bowls club and The Winnington in Bishops Park. The historic entertainment destinations in Fulham, have included Earl's Court Pleasure Gardens , the brain-child of John Robinson Whitley , straddling
7590-431: The West London Line in 1940, the LMS and the Metropolitan line services over the West London Line were both suspended. This left the Olympia exhibition centre without a railway service, so after the war the Kensington Addison Road station was renamed Kensington (Olympia) and served by a District line shuttle from Earl's Court. R Stock , composed of new cars and the Q Stock trailers that had been built in 1938, replaced
7705-407: The Wimbledon branch, the District line at Wimbledon station is west of the South West Main Line platforms, then the two-track line has a junction at East Putney station with the Hounslow Loop Line , before passing over the River Thames on Fulham Railway Bridge ; the line continues by passing under the West London Railway and coming alongside it at West Brompton station before the junction with
7820-407: The annual Polo in the Park tournament, which has become a recent feature of the area. The Hurlingham club is the historic home of polo in the United Kingdom and of the world governing body of polo. Public tennis courts are located in Bishops Avenue, off Fulham Palace Road and on Eel Brook Common. Rugby is played on Eel Brook Common and in South Park . Normand Park in Lillie Road is the entry into
7935-461: The border with Kensington since 1879, then the 1894 Great Wheel and the 6,000-seater Empress Hall, built in 1894 at the instigation of international impresario, Imre Kiralfy — the scene of his spectacular shows and later sporting events and famous ice shows — and latterly, Earl's Court II, part of the Earl's Court Exhibition Centre in the neighbouring, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . The first closed in 1959, replaced by an office block,
8050-408: The canal bridge, ( Lillie Bridge ) at West Brompton with North End Lane and the eventual creation of two railway lines, the West London Line and the District line connecting South London with the rest of the capital. This was done with the input of two noted consulting engineers, Robert Stephenson in 1840 and from 1860, Sir John Fowler . It meant that the area around Lillie Bridge was to make
8165-399: The capital. With rapid demographic changes there was poverty, as noted by Charles Dickens (1812-1870) and Charles Booth (1840-1916). Fulham had its poorhouses , and attracted several benefactors, including: the Samuel Lewis (financier) Housing Trust, the Peabody Trust and the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation to provide low-cost housing. The Metropolitan Asylums Board acquired in 1876
8280-655: The county of Middlesex, which encouraged trade skills among the growing population. In 1824 the Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company , the first public utility company in the world, bought the Sandford estate in Sands End to produce gas for lighting — and in the case of the Hurlingham Club, for ballooning . Its ornately decorated number 2 gasholder is Georgian , completed in 1830 and reputed to be
8395-522: The death of Conservative MP, Martin Stevens , resulted in a Labour win for Nick Raynsford on a 10% swing. With " gentrification ", Fulham voters have been leaning towards the Conservatives since the 1980s as the area underwent huge demographic change: the tightly packed terraces which had housed working-class families employed in trade, engineering and the industry that dominated Fulham's riverside being gradually replaced with young professionals. In
8510-552: The early 1960s allowed some of the Q stock to be scrapped. The slow tracks on the former LT&SR line to Upminster were shared with steam locomotive hauled goods and passenger services, until 1961 when the District took over exclusive use of the DC electrified lines. The South Acton shuttle was withdrawn on 28 February 1959, followed by the peak hour District line through service to Hounslow on 9 October 1964. The whole District line service could not run through Aldgate East as this station
8625-618: The eastern terminus. Electric locomotives were used on the L&NWR services from Mansion House to Earl's Court, and in later years exchanged for a steam locomotive on LT&SR services from Southend to Ealing Broadway at Barking. Hounslow and Uxbridge were served by 2 or 3-car shuttles from Mill Hill Park (now Acton Town); some trains also served South Acton and central London in the peaks. Services were extended again to Barking in 1908 and Upminster in 1932. In 1932 Piccadilly line trains were extended from Hammersmith to South Harrow, taking over
8740-404: The entire loop of the River Thames to Chelsea . Lillie's development also included late Georgian housing, terraces called, 'Rosa Villas' and 'Hermitage Cottages', on the north side of his 'New' road, some of which remain and recall Hermitage House that once stood here. He also built a brewery on the opposite side of the road in 1832. Only its 1835 public house, 'The Lillie Arms' remains, renamed
8855-459: The first half of the 1930s, the Piccadilly line took over the Uxbridge and Hounslow branches, although a peak-hour District line service ran on the Hounslow branch until 1964. Kensington (Olympia) has been served by the District line since 1946, and a short branch to South Acton closed in 1959. The trains carried guards until one-person operation was introduced in 1985. The signalling system
8970-524: The four-platform Edgware Road . The main line joins the Circle line at Gloucester Road and the line and stations are in cut-and-cover tunnels, meeting the Thames at Westminster station , after which the railway is in the Victoria Embankment on the north bank of the river. At Tower Hill station, there is a bay platform. After Tower Hill, the Circle line diverges, the District line joining
9085-492: The intervention of cemetery shareholder and Fulham resident, John Gunter. Meanwhile, another group of local landowners, led by Lord Kensington with Sir John Scott Lillie and others had conceived, in 1822, the idea of exploiting the water course up-river from Chelsea Creek on their land by turning it into a two-mile canal. It was to have a basin, a lock and wharves, to be known as the Kensington Canal , and link
9200-657: The late 1970s and the 1980s. Film music creator, Hans Zimmer double Oscar winner, launched his career in a studio behind the Lillie Langtry public house in Lillie Road in the 1970s. The most illustrious brewery in Fulham was the Swan Brewery , Walham Green, dating back to the 17th century. Among its patrons were kings and other royalty. It was followed by the North End Brewery in 1832, Cannons again in North End in 1867 and finally on account of temperance ,
9315-420: The main line and the four-platform Earl's Court station. East of Earl's Court there is a grade-separated junction off the main line to the Edgware Road branch. This follows the Circle line after High Street Kensington station where there are also two bay platforms for the District line. After Paddington station this branch joins the Hammersmith & City line at Praed Street junction, before terminating at
9430-413: The main line, there are cross-platform interchanges at Acton Town, Hammersmith and Barons Court stations, after which the Piccadilly line tracks descend into tunnels, while the District line becomes two tracks through West Kensington station. Before the line enters Earl's Court station, the short Kensington (Olympia) branch joins at a flat junction and the Wimbledon branch at a grade-separated junction. On
9545-537: The mainstay of indoor tennis and Real tennis courts throughout Britain and in the United States (such as that at the Tuxedo Club ). Its main virtue was to withstand condensation and damp. His courts, and courts he was consulted about, survive to this day, at Petworth House , Jesmond Dene House , Moreton Morrell , Queen's Club and at Hampton Court Palace . He faced bankruptcy proceedings in 1913 when he
9660-543: The maintenance hub for rolling stock and track. Two Premier League football clubs, Fulham and Chelsea , play in Fulham. Two other notable sporting clubs are the Hurlingham Club , known for polo , and the Queen's tennis club , known for its annual pre- Wimbledon tennis tournament. In the 1800s, Lillie Bridge Grounds hosted the first meetings of the Amateur Athletic Association of England ,
9775-563: The modern boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea . In 879 Danish invaders, sailed up the Thames and wintered at Fulham and Hammersmith. Raphael Holinshed (died 1580) wrote that the Bishop of London was lodging in his manor place in 1141 when Geoffrey de Mandeville , riding out from the Tower of London , took him prisoner. During the Commonwealth the manor
9890-429: The more prosperous neighbourhood over the parish boundary. The last farm to function in Fulham was Crabtree Farm, which closed at the beginning of the 20th century. A principal recorder of all these changes was a local man, Charles James Féret (1854-1921), who conducted research over a period of decades before publishing his three volume history of Fulham in 1900. Ceramics and weaving in Fulham go back to at least
10005-588: The next station, West Ham, as well as with the Jubilee line and the Docklands Light Railway . There is a bay platform at the next station, Plaistow, and the Hammersmith & City line terminates at Barking station. The District line follows the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway for another eight stations, before terminating at Upminster station . The line mainly runs in cut and cover tunnels between West Kensington and Bow Road , including
10120-443: The now closed Park Royal & Twyford Abbey until its replacement by Park Royal on 6 July 1931. Between 1 March 1883 and 30 September 1885, the District Railway provided a service to Windsor, serving: West Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes & Harlington, West Drayton, Langley, Slough, and Windsor. From 1910 to 1939, the District line's eastbound service ran as far as Southend-on-Sea and Shoeburyness . Currently part of
10235-649: The oldest gasholder in the World. In connection with gas property portfolios, in 1843 the newly formed Westminster Cemetery Company had trouble persuading the Equitable Gas people (a future Imperial take-over) to sell them a small portion of land to gain southern access, onto the Fulham Road , from their recently laid out Brompton Cemetery , over the parish border in Chelsea. The sale was finally achieved through
10350-616: The outbreak of the First World War sold out to Burnett's, producers of White Satin Gin, until a 1970s take-over by a Kentucky liquor business. None of the breweries remains. With its long history of brewing, Fulham still has a number of pubs and gastropubs . The oldest tavern is the Lillie Langtry in Lillie Road, originally the Lillie Arms named after its first freeholder, Sir John Scott Lillie, who built it in 1835 as part of
10465-636: The outer pair and the non-stopping Piccadilly line trains use the inner pair. At Richmond station , the Mildmay line and District line platforms are north of the Waterloo to Reading line through platforms. The two tracks which cross the Thames at Kew Railway Bridge are shared with the Mildmay line trains until Gunnersbury junction, after which the District line tracks join the four-track District and Piccadilly lines just before Turnham Green station . On
10580-537: The past been solid Labour territory. Michael Stewart , one time Foreign Secretary in the Wilson government , was its long-standing MP, from 1945 until he stood down in 1979. It became a politically significant part of the country, having been the scene of two major parliamentary by-elections in the 20th century. In 1933, the Fulham East by-election became known as the "peace by-election". The 1986 by-election following
10695-509: The possession of the Bishop of London . One states the manor (landholding) of Fulham was granted to Bishop Erkenwald about the year 691 for himself and his successors as Bishop of London. The alternative has it that The Manor of Fulham was acquired by Bishop Waldhere from Bishop Tyrhtel in AD 704. In due course the manor house became Fulham Palace , and for a millennium, the country residence of
10810-458: The river. The recently built, wooden, first Fulham/Putney bridge is shown and two Fulham village clusters, one central, one south-west. The 19th century roused Walham Green village, and the surrounding hamlets that made up the parish of Fulham, from their rural slumber and market gardens with the advent first of power production and then more hesitant transport development. This was accompanied by accelerating urbanisation , as in other centres in
10925-555: The seat for the Labour Party. Hammersmith and Fulham is currently controlled by Labour. At the 2014 local elections , Labour won 11 seats from the Conservatives, giving them 26 councillors and control of the council (said to have been the then Prime Minister David Cameron 's "favourite" ) for the first time since 2006. The first organised sporting activity in Fulham took place at the Lillie Bridge Grounds in
11040-530: The second FA Cup Final , and the first amateur boxing matches. The Lillie Bridge area was the home ground of the Middlesex County Cricket Club , before it moved to Marylebone . The word Fulham originates from Old English, with Fulla being a personal name, and hamm being land hemmed in by water or marsh, or a river-meadow. So Fulla's hemmed-in land. It is spelled Fuleham in the 1066 Domesday Book . In recent years, there has been
11155-473: The southern stretch of North End Road to become Fulham's unofficial "High street" , almost a mile from the actual Fulham High Street , with its own department store, F.H. Barbers, along with Woolworth 's, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's outlets, all long gone. The second ever Tesco shop opened in the North End Road. The UK's reputedly oldest independent health-food shop , opened in 1966 by
11270-400: The sub-surface tunnels (unlike those on the deep-level tube lines) are able to disperse the exhausted hot air. With a top speed of 62 mph (100 km/h), a 7-car S Stock train has a capacity of 865 passengers compared to 739 for a 6-car C Stock train and 827 for a 6-car D Stock train. With a length of 117 metres (384 ft), the S Stock trains are 24 metres (79 ft) longer than
11385-470: The tracks of the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR), and branches reached Ealing Broadway, Hounslow and Wimbledon. As part of the project that completed the Circle line in October 1884, the District began to serve Whitechapel . Services began running to Upminster in 1902, after a link to the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway (LT&SR) had been built. At the start of the 20th century,
11500-434: The trailers replaced with new vehicles. The off-peak District line services on the Hounslow branch were withdrawn on 29 April 1935 and South Acton served by a shuttle to Acton Town. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) had taken over the L&NWR railway's service from Earl's Court and by the Second World War this had been cut back to an electric Earl's Court to Willesden Junction shuttle. Following bombing of
11615-472: The trains was proposed in 1972, but due to conflict with the trade unions was not introduced on the District line until 1985. In 2003, the infrastructure of the District line was partly privatised in a public–private partnership , managed by the Metronet consortium. Metronet went into administration in 2007 and the local government body Transport for London took over responsibilities. The District line
11730-460: The trains with hand-operated sliding doors that remained. The new trains were built between 1949 and 1959, and after 1952 trains were constructed from aluminium, saving weight. One train was left unpainted as an experiment and considered a success, so between 1963 and 1968 trains were left unpainted or painted white or grey to match. The transfer of CO/CP Stock from the Metropolitan line in
11845-541: The turn of the century, the London Omnibus Co in Seagrave Road oversaw the transition of horse-drawn to motor buses, which were eventually integrated into London Transport and London Buses . This attracted a host of other automotive enterprises to move into the area. With the growth of 19th-century transport links into East Fulham and its sporting venues by ' Lillie Bridge ', along with the immediately neighbouring 24-acre Earl's Court exhibition grounds , and
11960-486: The vast the Empress Hall (see entertainment section below). During the First World War it would become accommodation for Belgian refugees. Meanwhile, the historic hamlet of North End was massively redeveloped in the 1880s by Messrs Gibbs & Flew, who built 1,200 houses on the fields. They had trouble disposing of the properties, so for public relations purposes, they renamed the area 'West Kensington', to refer to
12075-419: The winter. This is thought to have been near the first bridge (which was made of wood). It was commonly named Fulham Bridge, built in 1729 and was replaced in 1886 with Putney Bridge. Margravine Road recalls the existence of Brandenburgh House , a riverside mansion built by Sir Nicholas Crispe in the time of Charles I, and used as the headquarters of General Fairfax in 1647 during the civil wars. In 1792 it
12190-496: Was also served by Hammersmith & City trains, so some trains terminated at a bay platform at Mansion House, leaving the line east to Tower Hill overcrowded. Tower Hill station was also cramped, so the station was rebuilt with three platforms on a new site. This opened in 1967 and a year later trains reversed at the new station. Services were operated with 6 cars off-peak and 8 cars during peak hours until 1971, when trains were reformed as fixed 7-car trains, and some 6-car trains for
12305-490: Was formerly the address of Beaufort School which commemorated Beaufort House and the South Middlesex Rifle Volunteers. There are a number of statutorily and locally listed buildings in Lillie Road. A little known resident of 62 Lillie Road was the specialised builder and decorator Joseph Bickley (1835-1923). He ran his business from Seagrave Road nearby and patented a plaster formula which became
12420-447: Was in his late 70s. Described as the 'Stradivarius' of the indoor court, he took his secrets with him to the grave. Much of Lillie Road - with the exception of the blighted eastern end - retains some of Fulham's old character and individuality through the presence of small shops and businesses, that include upholstering and picture framing, a famous toy shop, along with a collection of antique shops by Fulham Cross. West Brompton station
12535-646: Was occupied by Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and his wife, and in 1820 by Caroline , consort of George IV . His non-political 'wife' was Maria Fitzherbert who lived in East End House in Parson's Green. They are reputed to have had several children. The extract below of John Rocque's Map of London, 1746 shows the Parish of Fulham in the loop of the Thames , with the boundary with Chelsea, Counter's Creek, narrow and dark, flowing east into
12650-529: Was on the approach to Putney Bridge and was designed by the prolific WGR Sprague , author of venues such as Wyndham's Theatre and the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End . It gave way to office blocks in the late 1950s. The 'Granville Theatre', founded by Dan Leno , to the design of Frank Matcham , once graced a triangle of land at Walham Green . After the Music hall era had passed, It served as
12765-522: Was planned that a new signalling system would be used first on the sub-surface lines from the end of 2016, but signalling contractor Bombardier was released from its contract by agreement in December 2013 amid heavy criticism of the procurement process and London Underground subsequently awarded the contract for the project to Thales in August 2015. With the introduction of S7 Stock, the track, electrical supply, and signalling systems are being upgraded in
12880-418: Was run by D78 Stock until April 2017. The S Stock trains are maintained at Ealing Common Depot and Upminster Depot . Ealing Common Depot was built by the District Railway when it was electrified in the early 1900s. Upminster depot was built 1956–1958 when the District line tracks were segregated. Trains may also be stabled in the sidings east of Barking alongside Hammersmith & City Line trains. It
12995-625: Was served by the District Railway. In 1911, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London agreed to finance the construction of the Wimbledon and Sutton Railway and extend District Railway trains over its route to Sutton with eight intermediate stations. Construction of the line was delayed by World War I and, as part of a deal with the Southern Railway (SR) to agree to the extension of
13110-549: Was temporarily out of the bishops' hands, having been sold to Colonel Edmund Harvey . In 1642, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex withdrawing from the Battle of Brentford (1642) ordered to be put a bridge of boats on the Thames to unite with his detachment in Kingston in pursuit of Charles I , who ordered Prince Rupert to retreat from Brentford back west. The King and Prince moved their troops from Reading to Oxford for
13225-510: Was then called) opened in December 1868 from South Kensington to Westminster as part of a plan for a below-ground "inner circle" connecting London's main line termini. At first, services were operated using wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. Electrification was financed by the American Charles Yerkes , and electric services began in 1905. The railway was absorbed by the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. In
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