Shepherd's Bush
| Shepherd's Bush | |
| Middlesex | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Shepherd's Bush Green | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ235798 |
| Location: | 51°30’15"N, 0°13’51"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | London |
| Postcode: | W12 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Hammersmith and Fulham |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Hammersmith |
Shepherd's Bush is an urban district of Middlesex, in the conurbation five miles west of Charing Cross, immediately west of Notting Hill and north of Hammersmith.
Although primarily residential in character, its focus is the shopping area of Shepherd's Bush Green, with the Westfield London shopping centre a short distance to the north. The main thoroughfares are Uxbridge Road, Goldhawk Road and Askew Road, all with small and mostly independent shops, pubs and restaurants. The Loftus Road football stadium in Shepherd's Bush is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 2011, the population of the area was 39,724.
The area is bounded by Hammersmith to the south, Holland Park and Notting Hill to the east, Harlesden and Kensal Green to the north and by Acton and Chiswick to the west. White City forms the northern part of Shepherd's Bush. Shepherd's Bush comprises the Shepherd's Bush Green, Askew, College Park & Old Oak, and Wormholt and White City wards of the borough.
History
Origins
The name Shepherd's Bush is thought to 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. An alternative theory is that it could have been named after someone in the area, because in 1635 the area was recorded as "Sheppard's Bush Green".[1]
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.
19th century
A map of London dated 1841 shows Shepherd's Bush to be largely undeveloped and chiefly rural in character, with much open farmland, compared with fast-developing Hammersmith. Residential development began in earnest in the late 19th century, as London's population expanded relentlessly. In 1904 the Roman 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.[2]
20th century
Like other parts of London, Shepherd's Bush suffered from bomb damage during the Second World War, especially from V-1 flying bomb attacks (known as "doodlebugs" or "buzzbombs"), which struck randomly and with little warning.[3]
On 13 April 1963 The Beatles recorded their first-ever BBC Television broadcast at Lime Grove Studios in Shepherd's Bush. The group returned in 1964 for a further recording. Lime Grove Studios was demolished in 1994 to make way for residential accommodation.[4]
More recently, the White City bus station is housed in the redeveloped Dimco Buildings (1898), Grade II listed red brick buildings which were originally built in 1898 as a shed for a London Underground power station.
The Dimco buildings were used as a filming location for the ‘Acme Factory’ in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and later served as the interior of the British Museum in The Mummy Returns.[5]
Geography
The area's focal point is Shepherd's Bush Green (also known as Shepherds Bush Common), a triangular area of about eight acres of open grass surrounded by trees and roads with shops, with Westfield shopping centre to its north.
The Green is a hub on the local road network, with four main roads radiating from the western side of the green and three roads approaching its eastern apex, meeting at the large Holland Park Roundabout. This position makes it an important node of the bus network]], with eighteen bus routes arriving there. It is also served by five London Underground stations (Shepherd's Bush and White City on the Central Line, and Shepherd's Bush Market, Goldhawk Road and Wood Lane all on the Hammersmith & City and Circle lines.
To the east, Shepherd's Bush is bounded by the physical barrier of the West London railway line and the grade-separated West Cross Route (part of the aborted 1960s London Motorway Box scheme); the Holland Park Roundabout and the small Addison Bridge to the south are the only ways to cross this barrier from Shepherds Bush.
Most of the areas to the east of the barrier differ significantly in character, being associated with the more affluent Holland Park and Notting Hill.
Commerce
Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green.
Originally built in the 1970s with a rooftop car park and connecting bridge to the station, the older West 12 Shepherds Bush shopping centre was significantly redeveloped in the 1990s. The bridge was removed, and the centre now houses several chain stores, a 12-screen cinema, gym, pub, restaurants, a medical practice and a supermarket.[6]
The small shops continue along Uxbridge Road to the west for some distance, and another set of shops and restaurants line Goldhawk Road from the Green to the southwest. Many of these establishments cater for the local ethnic minority communities.
Running parallel to, and partly under, an elevated section of the Hammersmith & City line there is a large permanent market, the Shepherd's Bush Market, selling all types of foodstuffs, cooked food, household goods, clothing and bric-à-brac.
The Westfield Group opened a shopping centre in October 2008.
In popular culture
The junkyard in the sitcom Steptoe & Son was situated at the fictional 24 Oil Drum Lane, Shepherd's Bush.[7]
The BBC used to have many offices in Shepherd's Bush, but many have now been closed or moved. They included the Lime Grove Studios on the site of previous film studios Gaumont and Gainsborough Pictures. Sulgrave House, Threshold and Union Houses and Kensington House—now a hotel. The BBC's presence in the Bush is now concentrated in two huge sites on Wood Lane, Television Centre and the White City building. The Media Village was built next to the White City building in the mid-1980s on the former site of the White City Stadium. It is used by the BBC and other media companies including Red Bee Media (formerly BBC Broadcast, now a private company). Television Centre was the national home of BBC Television, and it is from there that BBC TV and radio news, the BBC website and a host of TV drama and light entertainment were broadcast. The BBC moved all of its news operations from Television Centre to Broadcasting House in central London in 2012.
Sports
- Professional football: Queens Park Rangers F.C., who play their home games in Loftus Road.
- (Shepherds Bush F.C. were the local side till 1915.)
Pictures
-
Shepherds Bush's West 12 Shopping Centre -
Shepherd's Bush Market, early morning -
The new Shepherd's Bush Overground station -
Westfield Shopping Centre
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Shepherd's Bush) |
References
- ↑ Ruggeri, Amanda. "How Tube stations got their unusual names". http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20170208-how-tube-stations-got-their-hilarious-names.
- ↑ Evinson, Denis, p.128, Catholic Churches of London Retrieved July 2011
- ↑ Bibe, p. 20, A Victim Retrieved July 2011
- ↑ Schreuders, Piet, p.141, Beatles London Retrieved July 2011
- ↑ The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit filming locations". http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/w/whoframed.html. Retrieved 2 October 2007.
- ↑ West 12 Official Site Retrieved March 2012
- ↑ "Shepherd’s Bush | Hidden London". https://hidden-london.com/gazetteer/shepherds-bush/.