Shepherd's Bush is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham centred on Shepherd's Bush Green. Originally a pasture for shepherds on their way to Smithfield market, it was largely developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1844 the West London Railway officially opened, followed in 1864 by the Metropolitan Railway who built the original Shepherd's Bush station, opening up the area to residential development. Businesses soon followed, and in 1903 the west side of Shepherd's Bush Green became the home of the Shepherd's Bush Empire, a music hall whose early performers included Charlie Chaplin.
In 1908 Shepherd's Bush became one of the principal sites for the Summer Olympics and, in the same year, hosted the Franco-British Exhibition (also known as "The Bush Exhibition", and "The Great White City"), a large public fair, which attracted 8 million visitors and celebrated the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 by the United Kingdom and France. Other exhibitions followed until interrupted in 1914 by World War I. In 1915 Gaumont constructed Lime Grove Studios, "the first building ever put up in this country solely for the production of films", later occupied by the BBC until their move to nearby White City.
During World War II the area suffered from enemy bombing, especially from V-weapons which struck randomly and with little warning. Post war developments included the construction of the Westway and the M41 spur (now the West Cross Route) to the M40 motorway which cut Shepherd's Bush off from Holland Park, and in the process demolished much Victorian housing.
In 2008 the Westfield London shopping centre opened its doors on the former White City exhibition site. With a retail floor area of 150,000m², it was reported to be the largest shopping centre in London, and the third-largest in Britain.
Origins
The origins of the name Shepherds Bush are obscure. The name may have originated from the use of the common land here as a resting point for shepherds on their way to Smithfield Market in the City of London. There appears to have been an ancient custom of pruning a hawthorn bush to provide a shelter for shepherds protecting them from the elements as they watched their flocks. Alternatively the neighbourhood may simply be named after a local landowner.The London Encyclopedia In 1635 the area was recorded as "Sheppards Bush Green".Taggart, Caroline, p.219, The Book of London Place Names
Evidence of human habitation can be traced back to the Iron Age. Shepherd's Bush enters the written record in the year 704 when it was bought by Waldhere, Bishop of London as a part of the "Fulanham" estate.GCSE History of Shepherd's Bush Retrieved July 2011 However, the neighbourhood appears to have been of little note until the mid-seventeenth century, when a cottage on the Goldhawk road became the home of one Miles Sindercombe, a disgruntled Roundhead who in 1657 made several attempts to assassinate Oliver Cromwell. Sindercombe planned to ambush the Lord Protector using a specially built machine with muskets fixed to a frame. His plan failed, and Sindercombe was sentenced to be hung drawn and quartered, although he managed to avoid his fate, as his sister succeeded in smuggling poison into his cell. His cottage, adjacent to the Green, was eventually demolished in the 1760s.Denny, p.51
John Rocque's eighteenth century map shows Shepherd's Bush to be almost entirely rural, with a few scattered buildings around the Green, such as Shepherd's Bush House. The basic road layout is however broadly similar to that of today, with the "North High Way" (today the Uxbridge Road) to the west of the Green, and Turvens Lane (now Wood Lane) running to the north.Denny, p.8
At the Eastern end of the Green stood two gibbets, where, up until 1751, several criminals were hung in chains after their execution. These are shown in a map of the area by John Rocques. The last of the two gibbets was blown down in a storm and not replaced. (There was a further gibbet not far away; at what is now the junction of Uxbridge Road and Becklow Road: more or less where the Queen Victoria pub now stands.)
Nineteenth century
A map of London dated 1841 shows Shepherd's Bush to be still largely undeveloped and chiefly rural in character, with much open farmland compared to fast-developing Hammersmith, and several ponds or small lakes. Scattered buildings are shown, mostly lining the main thoroughfares of Wood Lane, Cumberland Road (now the Uxbridge Road), and Goldhawk Road. In 1839 Shepherd's Bush was described by Faulkner as "a pleasant village".
In 1846 the philanthropist Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts acquired a house in what is now Lime Grove, which she intended to convert into a home for destitute prostitutes. Her partner in this plan, who carried out much of the work, was the author Charles Dickens. The result was Urania Cottage, a home for "fallen women" designed to be strict but liberal in its approach to social reform. Burdett-Coutts was a personal friend of the Duke of Wellington, a generous benefactor and extremely devout – so much so that she dismissed Dickens' appointment as deputy matron on the grounds that she was a dissenter. Gradually the differences between the pair increased and in 1862 Dickens separated from his wife, causing a public scandal which eventually led to the demise of the Urania experiment.Urania cottage at greatbritishlife.co.uk Retrieved February 2012
In 1864, William Plimley was raising pineapples in Shepherd's Bush, in his "forcing pinery", but the Western expansion of the railways would soon see the fields of Shepherd's Bush replaced with houses.Denny, p.49
In , John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Shepherds Bush as follows: "SHEPHERDS-BUSH, a metropolitan suburb in Kensington parish, Middlesex; on the Metropolitan railway, 5½ miles W by S of St. Paul's, London. It has a station with telegraph on the railway, and a post-office under London W; contains many villas and other fine residences, with gardens; contains also Kensington – St. Stephens church, built in 1850, in the pointed style, with a tower and spire; and has, of late years, greatly increased."www.visionofbritain.org Retrieved May 2013
Trams and railways
In the 1870s private companies began to set up tram services in Shepherd's Bush. In 1874 a track was laid along the Uxbridge Road to Askew Crescent; the venture failed but re-opened 4 years later, extending to Hammersmith in 1882. Trams were smoother and more comfortable than the Omnibus, although the routes were less flexible. In 1901 electricity began to replace horse-drawn trams in Shepherd's Bush, but overall there were many different private companies which competed for the public's business until 1933 when almost of London's private transport companies were amalgamated under the London Passenger Transport BoardDenny, p.114
The West London Railway is shown on an 1841 map, travelling on a north–south axis, east of Shepherd's Bush Green. In 1836 The Birmingham, Bristol & Thames Junction Railway (as it was then known) was authorised to build a line from a point on the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR), near the present Willesden Junction station, across the proposed route of the Great Western (GWR) to the Kensington Canal Basin. Renamed the West London Railway (WLR), the line officially opened on 27 May 1844, and regular services began on 10 June, but it was not a commercial success – the low number of passengers became such a regular target of Punch magazine that the line was called Punch's Railway. After only six months it closed entirely on 30 November 1844.Samuda, J. D'A (1841), A Treatise on the Adaptation of Atmospheric Pressure to the Purposes of Locomotion on Railways. London: John Weale, 59 High Holburn.
The Metropolitan Railway (MR) opened the original Shepherd's Bush station on 13 June 1864 as Shepherd's Bush on its new extension to Hammersmith. It was in the Shepherd's Bush Market area just south of the Uxbridge Road. From 1 October 1877 until 31 December 1906, the MR also ran direct services along this line to Richmond via .
On 1 November 1869, the West London Railway opened its Uxbridge Road station on the site of the current Shepherd's Bush main line station. During its lifetime, the station was served by the Great Western Railway, the MR and various other main line companies.
On 1 May 1874, the London & South Western Railway opened its Shepherd's Bush station on a line linking the West London line and the Hammersmith and City Railway. It operated until 3 January 1916.
Urbanisation
Residential development of the area began in earnest in the late 19th century, as London's population expanded relentlessly, requiring new housing. The Anglican church led the way with the building of St Stephen's, an Anglican church on the Uxbridge road somewhat west of the Green. It was built , designed by architect Anthony Salvin, and built in the Gothic Revival style with a tower.Melanie Barber, Gabriel Sewell & Stephen Taylor, p.401, From the Reformation to the Permissive Society: a Miscellany, Lambeth palace Library Retrieved January 2012
In 1895 the Passmore Edwards Public Library was built on the Uxbridge Road, funded by the journalist and philanthropist Passmore Edwards, whose name the building bears to this day,p.5, Walking the Tube – the Hammersmith & City Line Retrieved November 2011 though it is now a theatre.
In 1898 the Shepherd's Bush Village Hall was opened on Wood Lane, and the DIMCO buildings were constructed, a red brick structure (Now Grade II listed) originally built as a shed for a London Underground power station, Europe's first electricity generating facility.
Towards the end of the century a number of residential streets were developed, aimed at the urban middle classes. One example is Hopgood Street, a typical Victorian terrace of four storey brick buildings, faced with neo-classical stucco enrichments, completed c1899.
Twentieth century Building continued rapidly in the early twentieth century, and palaces of entertainment soon followed. In 1903 the Shepherd's Bush Empire was built for impresario Oswald Stoll, designed by theatre architect Frank Matcham. The first performers included Charlie Chaplin in 1906. The Empire staged music-hall entertainments, such as variety performances and revues, until the early 1950s, by which time the popularity of these forms of entertainment was declining.Venue History (Official site) Retrieved December 2011 The Empire would be followed in 1910 by its neighbour the Palladium, originally known as the Cinematograph Theatre, which changed hands a number of times but eventually closed in 1981. The building later operated as a pub owned by the Australian-themed Walkabout chain until closing in 2013, after which the site was redeveloped while retaining its historic façade.History of the Shepherd's Bush Palladium Retrieved December 2011
In 1904 The Catholic Church of Holy Ghost and St Stephen, built in the Gothic style with a triple-gabled facade of red brick and Portland stone, was completed and opened to the public.Evinson, Denis, p.128, Catholic Churches of London Retrieved July 2011 The church catered to the spiritual needs of many of Shepherd's Bush's new inhabitants – Irish labourers seeking work and opportunities in London, whose arrival in the capital created fears of urban slums and the spread of disease.Panayi, Panikos, p.144, Immigration, Ethnicity, and Racism in Britain, 1815–1945 Retrieved December 2011 It was clear that urbanisation would not necessarily bring prosperity to the area. At the turn of the century Hammersmith MP Sir William Bull was appalled to see Shepherd's Bush Green become home to destitute unemployed sleeping rough, gambling, and playing pitch and toss.