Turnham Green is a public park on
Chiswick High Road,
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and the neighbourhood and
conservation area around it; historically, it was one of the four medieval villages in the Chiswick area, the others being
Old Chiswick,
Little Sutton, and
Strand-on-the-Green.
Christ Church, a neo-Gothic building designed by
George Gilbert Scott and built in 1843, stands on the eastern half of the green. A war memorial stands on the eastern corner. On the south side is the old
Chiswick Town Hall.
The green is the site of local community events, including a
travelling funfair, church events and charity table-top sales.
The nearest
London Underground station is
Chiswick Park on the
District line.
Turnham Green tube station is on Chiswick Common, the site in 1642 of The Battle of Turnham Green.
History
Turnham Green was a village on the main road between London and the west. It was recorded as 'Turneham' in 1235 and 'Turnhamgrene' in 1369.
On 13 November 1642, the
Battle of Turnham Green was fought nearby during the
First English Civil War resulting in the Parliamentarians blocking the
King's advance on
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.
In 1680 the homicidal
Philip Herbert, 7th Earl of Pembroke murdered a watchman, William Smeeth, after a drunken evening in the local tavern.
[David L. Smith, 'The infamous seventh earl of Pembroke, 1653–1683' (a sub-section of 'Herbert, Philip, first earl of Montgomery and fourth earl of Pembroke (1584–1650), courtier and politician') in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (OUP, 2004)] A similar but far less serious episode in the tavern, the
Old Packhorse Inn, in 1795 saw the young
Daniel O'Connell arrested for drunken and riotous behaviour.
From 1912 until its closure in 1959, the
Chiswick Empire theatre stood facing the north side of Turnham Green.
Buildings
At the eastern end of the green stands Chiswick
war memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
. It is in the form of a stone obelisk at the top of a flight of five steps, encircled by a metal fence and a
yew hedge. It was unveiled on 13 November 1921 by the
9th Duke of Devonshire and
Arthur Winnington-Ingram, the Bishop of London. It is made of
Cornish granite. It was designed by a local architect, Edward Willis. It was given
Grade II listed status in 2015.
In the middle of the green stands the tall
Christ Church, Turnham Green, designed in the
Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
style by
George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1843. The
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
was extended in 1887.
Along the southern side of the green is Heathfield Terrace; its largest buildings are the Italianate 1876
Chiswick Town Hall, designed by W. J. Trehearne, and the former
Army and Navy Furniture Repository, built around 1900, and now converted into flats. Further west, at the corner with Heathfield Gardens, is the red brick 1913 Turnham Green Church Hall with
Arts and Crafts style decoration; it was built here as residents objected to having it in the park beside the church. It is now used as a school.
Facing the southwestern corner of the green is Fromow's Corner, an "attractively detailed"
curved red brick building with brick pilasters; a plaque at the corner of the roofline proclaims "Fromow & Sons Estd 1829, Erectd 1889".
In 2021, Hounslow Council reappraised the Turnham Green Conservation area.
This is adjacent to the Chiswick High Road conservation area (which is further east), covering the part of the High Road from Chiswick Road in
Gunnersbury to the west, via the whole of Turnham Green common and the buildings facing its north side along the High Road, to Clifton Gardens in the east. It takes in a substantial area to the south of the common, and was extended in 2019 to include the streets between Sutton Court Road and Duke's Avenue down to the Great West Road.
In culture
Highwayman
The 18th century
highwayman broadside ballad "Alan Tyne of Harrow" includes the couplet:
[
::"One night by Turnham Green I robbed a revenue collector,]
and what I took from him I gave to a widow to protect her".Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
's novel ''A Tale of Two Cities
''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long impr ...
'', set in the time of the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century, mentions "that magnificent potentate, the Lord Mayor of London, howas made to stand and deliver on Turnham Green, by one highwayman, who despoiled the illustrious creature in sight of all his retinue."
Other mentions
The song "Suite In C" on the eponymous album '' McDonald and Giles'', which alludes to places in London, includes the line "The sun shone 'til Turnham Green".
The song "Junkie Doll" by Mark Knopfler includes the line "Turnham green, Turnham green, You took me high as I've ever been".
Residents
* Edward Adey, abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
, was born here in 1799.
* Peter Brook, director, born here in 1925 and grew up at 27 Fairfax Road.Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...
and Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
, died here in 1827.
* Patsy Hendren, (1899-1962), cricketer, was born here.
* Harold Hume Piffard, amateur pioneer aviator, built a plane in 1909 in a shed on Back Common RoadVincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
spent three years in Chiswick in the 1870s, teaching Sunday school
]
A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes.
Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...
pupils in the newly-constructed Chiswick Congregational Church, which was on the site of the Arlington Park Mansions on Turnham Green; he wrote of Chiswick as a "verdant" district of London.
by F.-X.-P. Fabre, 1813
File:Sketch of Turnham Green Congregational Church by Vincent Van Gogh c1875.jpg, Sketch of Turnham Green Congregational Church by Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
, c. 1875. He taught Sunday school
]
A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes.
Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...
in the iron structure, now replaced by Arlington Park Mansions.
References
{{Green London
Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hounslow
Districts of the London Borough of Hounslow
Areas of London
Chiswick
Places formerly in Middlesex