Brook Green is an affluent

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

neighbourhood in the

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The borou ...

. It is located approximately west of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Kensington, Holland Park, Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith and Brackenbury Village. The Brook Green neighbourhood takes its name after the recreational park space also named Brook Green, which runs from Shepherd's Bush Road to Hammersmith Road. The area is principally composed of tree-lined streets with Victorian townhouses and boasts a significant French and Italian, as well as growing Chinese, expatriate community. Brook Green itself and adjacent streets are among the most prestigious and expensive residential addresses in the

due to their proximity to leading schools such as

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England. History St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part o ...

Bute House Preparatory School for Girls Bute House Preparatory School for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 4 to 11 at Brook Green in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. History Like the nearby St Paul's School and its affiliated schools, it was founded and i ...

, St James Independent Schools, Ecole Francaise Jacques Prevert, and Kensington Wade. Brook Green has two main shopping areas, Shepherd's Bush Road and Blythe Road, the latter of which is home to a number of small, independent shops. Also tucked in behind the green is a large

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

supermarket. Brook Green is also close to Kensington High Street, King Street and

Westfield London Westfield London is a large shopping centre in White City, west London, England, developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn, on a brownfield site formerly the home of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The site is bounded by the W ...

History

The name Brook Green is first recorded in 1493, and the hamlet was established by the 16th century. The area was developed as industrialisation spread out of London. Businesses in Brook Green included the Osram Lamp Factory, now converted into social housing, J. Lyons and Co. and its complex at

Cadby Hall Cadby Hall was a major office and factory complex in Hammersmith, London which was the headquarters of catering company Joseph Lyons and Co. for almost a century. Origins The name originated from Charles Cadby, piano manufacturer, who purchased ...

, and Post Office Savings Bank Headquarters in Blythe Road. Brook Green was also home to St Mary's College from 1850 to 1925, when the college moved to Strawberry Hill. St Paul's Girls' School in London W6, spring 2013 (1)

St Paul's Girls' School in London W6, spring 2013 (1)

, one of the leading independent schools in the country, has been situated on Brook Green since its foundation in 1904. The composer

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

was Director of Music at the school from 1905 to 1934, and in 1933 wrote ''

Brook Green Suite Gustav Holst's ''Brook Green Suite'', H. 190, was written in 1933 for St Paul's Girls' School junior orchestra for strings and consists of 3 movements. Holst wrote the suite while in hospital in the year before he died. The intention was to crea ...

'' for the school's junior orchestra. The Brook Green Hotel has stood at the western end of Brook Green since 1886. The original brook, which was covered over in the 19th century, still flows under the hotel. The area's inns – the Brook Green Hotel and the Queen's Head – were originally coach houses, and became popular entertainment venues. Today, the Brook Green Hotel is a pub on ground level, along with a cocktail bar in the basement below and a hotel upstairs. The Queen's Head overlooks the green itself at the front and has a garden at the back. Brook Green boasts four

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

blue plaques: they commemorate the artist Sir Frank Short, the composer

, the

Silver Studio The Silver Studio was one of the most influential textile design studios in the UK from its formation in 1880 until the middle of the twentieth century. The studio, founded by Arthur Silver (1853–1896) designed some of the most famous fabric, w ...

of design, and the writer

Elizabeth Anne Finn Elizabeth Anne Finn (1825–1921) was a British writer and the wife of James Finn, British Consul in Jerusalem, in Ottoman Palestine between 1846 and 1863. She and her daughter co-founded the Distressed Gentlefolk's Aid Association, the predec ...

(founder of the charity now known as Elizabeth Finn Care). There is also Brook Green Market and Kitchen, a FARMA certified farmers market in Addison Primary School.

Education

*Ecole Francaise Jacques Prevert *Kensington Wade * St James Independent Schools *Larmenier and Sacred Heart Catholic School * Sacred Heart High School *Addison CE Primary School *Lena Gardens Primary School *Avonmore Primary School *St Mary's Catholic Primary School *Lionheart Education (private tutorial college)

Notable residents

Ken Suttle Kenneth George Suttle (25 August 1928 – 25 March 2005) was an English cricketer. Cricket career Ken Suttle was primarily a left-handed batsman but was also a useful slow left-arm bowler. His first-class career with Sussex lasted from 1949 ...

* Angelo Colarossi * Mischa Barton *

Richard Eyre Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Biography Eyre was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, the son of Richard Galfridus Hastings Giles Eyre and his wife, Minna Mar ...

John Silvester Varley John Silvester Varley (born 1 April 1956) is an English banker who was the group chief executive of Barclays from 2004 to 2011. Early life John Silvester Varley was born in Warwick. His father, Philip, was a solicitor in Coventry. Varley was e ...

* Francis Job Short

Notable businesses

Virgin Media Press Office in Brook Green in London, spring 2013

* Immediate Media Co * Liberty Global * Harrods *

L'Oréal L'Oréal S.A. () is a French personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine with a registered office in Paris. It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair color, ...

Fever-Tree Fevertree Drinks plc, known as Fever-Tree, is a British producer of premium drink mixers, founded by Charles Rolls and Tim Warrillow in 2004. The company's name comes from its initial product, a tonic water. Their tonic was flavoured with qu ...

* CH2M *

Charlotte Tilbury Charlotte Tilbury MBE is a British beauty entrepreneur and makeup artist. She is the founder, chairperson, president, and chief creative officer of the makeup and skincare brand Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Ltd. Tilbury is a contributing beauty ed ...

Formerly: *

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

* The Silver Studio *

Omnifone Omnifone was a UK-based company that was an independent provider of cloud-based unlimited music services to consumer electronics vendors, mobile carriers, Internet service providers and consumer brands including RIM, Sony, HP, and rara.com. ...

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

Nearest places

Places adjoining Brook Green: * Kensington * Holland Park * Hammersmith * Shepherd's Bush *

West Kensington West Kensington, formerly North End, is an area in the ancient parish of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Charing Cross. It covers most of the London postal area of W14, includ ...

Transport

Stations: *

Kensington Olympia station Kensington (Olympia) is a combined rail and tube station in Kensington, on the edge of Central London. Services are provided by London Overground, who manage the station, along with Southern (train operating company), Southern and London Underg ...

Barons Court tube station Barons Court is a London Underground station in West Kensington in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Greater London. This station serves the District line and the Piccadilly line. Barons Court is between West Kensington and Hamme ...

Shepherd's Bush tube station Shepherd's Bush is a London Underground station in the district of Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The station is on the Central line, between and stations, and it lies in Travelcard Zone 2. The station o ...

Shepherd's Bush railway station Shepherd's Bush station is a railway station located in the district of Shepherd's Bush in Greater London, England, UK. It opened on 29 September 2008 on the West London line and is served by London Overground and Southern rail services. It l ...

Hammersmith tube station (Piccadilly and District lines) Hammersmith is a London Underground station in Hammersmith. It is on the District line between Barons Court and Ravenscourt Park, and on the Piccadilly line between Barons Court and Acton Town or Turnham Green at very early morning and late ...

Hammersmith tube station (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines) Hammersmith is a London Underground station in Hammersmith. It is the western terminus of the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines. The station is in Travelcard Zone 2 and is a short walk from the station of the same name on the Piccadilly a ...

* Goldhawk Road tube station London Underground Lines: *

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited serv ...

* Piccadilly line * Hammersmith & City line * Central line

Cultural references

Brook Green, Hammersmith, appears as "Brugglesmith" in the

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

story of the same name which was first published in 1891. The story is a farce in which the narrator, who it is implied is

William Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and th ...

, has to escort a drunken sailor back to his wife.

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * *

External links

Friends of Brook Green
{{LB Hammersmith and Fulham Areas of London History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Districts of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Common land in London Places formerly in Middlesex