Hammersmith Creek was an outflow river of the Stamford Brook, and used to run through what is now King Street, into the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

at the present-day site of Furnivall Gardens in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, 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 ...

. In 1936, after the decline of the creek harbour, the creek was filled in and the water channelled through an underground

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

History

Origins Hammersmith Creek was once the mouth of Stamford Brook, running from King Street into the

, separating the Lower Mall and Upper Mall. In 1677, the Hammersmith Quaker Meeting House was built on the eastern bank of the creek on 28 Lower Mall. The house was later rebuilt in 1765. High Bridge In 1751, a wooden foot-bridge spanning the creek named the High Bridge (also known as the Bishop's Bridge) was built by Bishop Thomas Sherlock. The bridge was rebuilt several times, by Bishop William Howley in 1820 and Bishop Charles Blomfield in 1837. By 1915, The bridge converged four old footpaths or bridle paths ( Lower Mall and Aspen Place on the east and Upper Mall and Bridge Street on the west). Hammersmith Creek Ordnance Survey 1866

Riverside development Until the early 19th century the creek was navigable for nearly a mile northward and was used for cargo transportation and a growing fishing industry, but successive embankment of the river contracted this length. The western bank was occupied by kilns, stables and

malt house A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foo ...

s which formed part of the Hammersmith Brewery (also known as Cromwell’s Brewery) founded by Joseph Cromwell in 1780. The eastern bank was occupied by wharves,

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

s and the Phoenix Lead Mills. The creek was the scene of much industry in an area or

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

known as Little Wapping, after

Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...

, Tower Hamlets. Writing in 1839, English

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...

Thomas Faulkner described the area:

"Nearly in the centre of this Mall are several fishermen's huts, called Little Wapping, which detracts much from the respectability of this part of the village"

Writing in 1876, English

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

James Thorne described the creek:

"a dirty little inlet of the Thames, which is crossed by a wooden footbridge, built originally by Bishop Sherlock in 1751 … the region of squalid tenements bordering the Creek having acquired the
cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...
of Little Wapping, probably from its confined and dirty character."

Writing in 1881, English

textile design Textile design, also known as textile geometry, is the creative and technical process by which thread or yarn fibers are interlaced to form a piece of Textile, cloth or Textile, fabric, which is subsequently printed upon or otherwise adorned. Texti ...

er and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

described Little Wapping:

“"As I sit at my work at home, which is at Hammersmith, close to the river, I often hear go past the window some of that ruffianism of which a good deal has been said in the papers of late. As I hear the yells and shrieks, and all the degradation cast on the glorious tongue of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
and Milton, as I see the brutal, reckless faces and figures go past me, it rouses the recklessness and brutality in me also, and fierce wrath takes possession of me, till I remember, as I hope I mostly do, that it was my good luck only of being born respectable and rich that has put me on this side of the window among delightful books and lovely works of art, and not on the other side and the empty street, the drink-steeped liquor-shops, the foul and degraded lodgings.”

Culverting

In the early 20th century, the area suffered after the decline of the fishing industry in the creek harbour. The 1913 annual report of the Hampshire House Trust described the area:

"‘One of London’s poorer and apparently more hopeless districts is situated in the alleys, unpenetrated by any road, which lie between King Street and the river…and Hog Lane and Waterloo Street…The inhabitants are costers, flowersellers, casual labourers, chronic invalids; mothers habitually tired; and children, children, children…The housing accommodation is what you might expect. In one street there is one water-closet to four houses…in another the costers’ donkeys are led through the houses entering at the front door, and going along the passages, to the hovels in the yards at the back."

As part of the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919, the Hammersmith Borough Council aimed to clear the area for new housing through the Southern Improvement Scheme, conceived in 1919. In 1927, the council bought the area around the creek for £8,000. In 1936, the creek was filled in and the water channelled through an underground

, partly beneath the present location of Hammersmith Town Hall. When Hammersmith Town Hall was built in 1938–9, architect Ernest Berry Webber incorporated two colossal heads of Father Thames in commemoration that the building stands astride the old creek. On 5 May 1951, Furnivall Gardens and the nearby Hammersmith Pier opened on the site. Today, only a small drainage tunnel, visible from the Dove Pier, remains as evidence of the creek. The High Bridge is still marked by a raised hump in the gardens and a flowerbed.

Course

John Rocque's maps of London, produced in 1746, shows the creek running south from what is now North Acton Playing Fields towards Gunnersbury House, directly east past Berrymead Priory, belonging to the Duke of Kingston, towards Ravenscourt House in Ravenscourt Park and then south through King Street to meet the

at what is now Furnivall Gardens.

Toponymy

In 1839, Thomas Faulkner proposed that Hammersmith Creek gave name to the parish of

, originating from two

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

words: the creek constituting the ancient ''Hyth'', or

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

, with the additional cognomen of ''Ham'' or ''Hame.'' However, others have suggested Hammersmith may mean "(Place with) a hammer smithy or forge".

References

{{authority control Rivers of London Subterranean rivers of London Thames drainage basin Hammersmith he:סטמפורד (נחל)

History

Culverting

Course

Toponymy

See also

References