Hammersmith, Fulham and Putney

Geraldine Edith Mitton
Hammersmith, Fulham and
Putney, by

Geraldine Edith Mitton and John Cunningham Geikie This eBook is for
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Title: Hammersmith, Fulham and Putney The Fascination of London
Author: Geraldine Edith Mitton John Cunningham Geikie
Editor: Sir Walter Besant
Release Date: January 7, 2007 [EBook #20310]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE FASCINATION OF LONDON

HAMMERSMITH FULHAM AND PUTNEY

IN THIS SERIES.
Cloth, price 1s. 6d. net; leather, price 2s. net each.
THE STRAND DISTRICT.
By SIR WALTER BESANT and G. E. MITTON.
WESTMINSTER.
By SIR WALTER BESANT and G. E. MITTON.
HAMPSTEAD AND MARYLEBONE.
By G. E. MITTON. Edited by SIR WALTER BESANT.
CHELSEA.
By G. E. MITTON. Edited by SIR WALTER BESANT.
KENSINGTON.
By G. E. MITTON. Edited by SIR WALTER BESANT.
HOLBORN AND BLOOMSBURY.
By SIR WALTER BESANT and G. E. MITTON.
HAMMERSMITH, FULHAM, AND PUTNEY.
By G. E. MITTON and J. C. GEIKIE.
MAYFAIR, BELGRAVIA, AND PIMLICO.
In the press.

[Illustration: FULHAM PALACE.]

The Fascination of London
HAMMERSMITH, FULHAM AND PUTNEY
BY G. E. MITTON AND J. C. GEIKIE
EDITED BY SIR WALTER BESANT
LONDON ADAM & CHARLES BLACK 1903

PREFATORY NOTE
A survey of London, a record of the greatest of all cities, that should
preserve her history, her historical and literary associations, her mighty
buildings, past and present, a book that should comprise all that
Londoners love, all that they ought to know of their heritage from the
past--this was the work on which Sir Walter Besant was engaged when
he died.
As he himself said of it: "This work fascinates me more than anything
else I've ever done. Nothing at all like it has ever been attempted before.
I've been walking about London for the last thirty years, and I find
something fresh in it every day."
Sir Walter's idea was that two of the volumes of his survey should
contain a regular and systematic perambulation of London by different
persons, so that the history of each parish should be complete in itself.
This was a very original feature in the great scheme, and one in which
he took the keenest interest. Enough has been done of this section to
warrant its issue in the form originally intended, but in the meantime it
is proposed to select some of the most interesting of the districts and
publish them as a series of booklets, attractive alike to the local

inhabitant and the student of London, because much of the interest and
the history of London lie in these street associations.
The difficulty of finding a general title for the series was very great, for
the title desired was one that would express concisely the undying
charm of London--that is to say, the continuity of her past history with
the present times. In streets and stones, in names and palaces, her
history is written for those who can read it, and the object of the series
is to bring forward these associations, and to make them plain. The
solution of the difficulty was found in the words of the man who loved
London and planned the great scheme. The work "fascinated" him, and
it was because of these associations that it did so. These links between
past and present in themselves largely constitute The Fascination of
London.
G. E. M.

HAMMERSMITH
The parish of Hammersmith is mentioned in Doomsday Book under the
name of Hermoderwode, and in ancient deeds of the Exchequer as
Hermoderworth. It is called Hamersmith in the Court Rolls of the
beginning of Henry VII.'s reign. This is evidently more correct than the
present spelling of the name, which is undoubtedly derived from Ham,
meaning in Saxon a town or dwelling, and Hythe or Hyde, a haven or
harbour, "therefore," says Faulkner, "Ham-hythe, a town with a harbour
or creek."
Hammersmith is bounded on the south by Fulham and the river, on the
west by Chiswick and Acton, and on the east by Kensington. Until
1834 it was incorporated with the parish of Fulham, and on Ascension
Day of that year the first ceremony of "beating the bounds" took place.
The West London Railway runs in the bed of an ancient stream which
rose north of Wormwood Scrubs and ended at Chelsea Creek, and this
brook was crossed by a bridge at the place where the railway-bridge
now stands on the Hammersmith Road. The stream was evidently the

determining factor in the old parish boundary line between
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