Fulham
(pronounced "fullum") is an area of south-west London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, (the successor to the Metropolitan Borough of Fulham) located south west of Charing Cross. It is situated in between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. [1]
Fulham was formerly the seat of the diocese of "Fulham and Gibraltar", and Fulham Palace the former official home of the Bishop of London, (now a museum), the grounds of which are now divided between public allotments and an elegant botanical garden.
Having been through many transformations in its history, today it is a green London area within close reach of Chelsea and Kensington and this is reflected in the local house prices. It was included within Savills' 2007 list of "prime" London areas. [2]
Two Premiership football clubs, Fulham and Chelsea, are situated in Fulham. The former Lillie Bridge Grounds (which hosted the second FA Cup Final and the first ever amateur boxing matches) was also in Fulham.
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History
Fulham, or in its earliest form "Fullanham", is uncertainly stated to signify "the place" either "of fowls" or "of mud" (which probably had a lot to do with the fact that the River Thames would flood it periodically), or alternatively, "land in the crook of a river bend belonging to a man named Fulla". The manor is said to have been given to Bishop
Erkenwald about the year 691 for himself and his successors in the see of London, and Holinshed relates that the
Bishop of London was lodging in his manor place in 1141 when
Geoffrey de Mandeville, riding out from the
Tower of London, took him prisoner. At the Commonwealth the manor was temporarily out of the bishops' hands, being sold to Colonel Edmund Harvey. There is no record of the first erection of a parish church, but the first known rector was appointed in 1242, and a church probably existed a century before this. The earliest part of the church demolished in 1881, however, did not date farther back than the 15th century. In 879 Danish invaders, sailing up the Thames, wintered at Fulham and Hammersmith. Near the former wooden Putney Bridge, built in 1729 and replaced in 1886, the earl of Essex threw a bridge of boats across the river in 1642 in order to march his army in pursuit of
Charles I, who thereupon fell back on
Oxford. Margravine Road recalls the existence of Bradenburg House, a riverside mansion built by Sir Nicholas Crispe in the time of Charles I, used as the headquarters of General Fairfax in 1647 during the civil wars, and occupied in 1792 by the margrave of
Brandenburg-Anspach and Bayreuth and his wife, and in 1820 by Caroline, consort of
George IV.
Fulham during the 18th century had a reputation of debauchery, becoming a sort of "
Las Vegas retreat" for the wealthy of
London, where there was much gambling and prostitution.
Fulham remained a
working class area for the first half of the twentieth century, but was subject to extensive restoration between the
Second World War and the 1980s. Today, Fulham is one of the most expensive parts of London, and hence the United Kingdom; average actual sale price of all property (both houses and flats) sold in the SW6 area in September 2007 was
£639,973.
[3]
Transport
Fulham nestles in a loop of the
Thames across the river from
Barnes and
Putney. It is on the
Wimbledon branch of the
District Line of the tube - Fulham's tube stations are
Putney Bridge,
Parsons Green and
Fulham Broadway.
Politics
Fulham is currently a part of the Hammersmith and Fulham parliamentary seat, currently taken up by
Conservative Greg Hands. However, from 2009 this constituency will be dissolved and the area will become a part of the new
Chelsea and Fulham constituency.
Fulham has in the past been a politically significant part of the country, having been the scene of two major parliamentary
by-elections in the 20th century. In 1933, the Fulham East by-election became known as the "peace by-election".
In 1986, Fulham experienced another by-election following the death of
Conservative MP Martin Stevens.
Labour's Nick Raynsford gained the constituency on a 10% swing - one of the first elections that heralded the slick, modern campaigning
New Labour techniques that would become renowned. Posters announcing that "Nick Raynsford lives here" adorned thousands of windows in the constituency - a reference to the fact that Labour's candidate was a long-time local, while the Tory was resident outside of the constituency.
right, home of
Chelsea F.C.
Fulham voters have, however, been leaning towards the Conservatives since the 1960s as the area underwent huge demographic change: the tightly-packed
terraces which had housed
working-class families employed in the heavy industry that dominated Fulham's riverside being rapidly replaced with young
professionals who had a very different political outlook. Still, many working-class people have chosen to remain in the town.
In 1971, Fulham elected 28 Labour and two Conservative councillors; in 2002 the figures were 16 Conservative and 10 Labour. For the Hammersmith & Fulham borough as a whole, in 1971 two Conservative and 58 Labour councillors were elected. In 2006, the voters returned 33 Conservative and 13 Labour councillors. In the
2005 General Election, Conservative Greg Hands won the Parliamentary seat from Labour, polling 45.4% against Labour's 35.2%, a 7.3% swing.
Culture and entertainment
thumb
There is a cinema complex as part of the Fulham Broadway Centre. Notable restaurant
The River Café
is in Fulham, alongside the headquarters of architect
Richard Rogers and the
London Oratory School.
Fulham Town Hall built in 1888 in the
classical renaissance
is now used as a popular venue for concerts and dances, especially its Grand Hall.
The area is home to the Fulham Football Club stadium
Craven Cottage and the Chelsea Football Club stadium
Stamford Bridge and the various apartments and entertainment centres built into it. This includes Marco's, a restaurant owned and operated by chef
Marco Pierre White.
Famously exclusive sports club, the
Hurlingham Club, is also located within Fulham. With members having included British monarchs, the waiting list for membership currently averages over fifteen years.
[4]
The area, like other comparable areas of London, is home to a number of pubs.
The White Horse
in Parsons Green is colloquially known by many as "The Sloaney Poney",
[5] a reference to the "
Sloane Rangers" who frequent it. Other traditional Fulham pubs include the
Pear Tree
in Margravine Road, the
Wilton
in Dawes Road, the
Eight Bells
in Fulham High Street, the
Seven Stars
and
The Elm
in North End Road. Other popular pubs include
The Crabtree
on Rainville Road,
The Cottage
on Colehill Lane,
The Durrell
in
Fulham Road and
The Mitre
on Bishops Road.
Fulham has many parks and open spaces of which Bishops Park,
Fulham Palace Gardens,
Hurlingham Park, South Park, Eel Brook Common and Parsons Green are the largest.
Fulham has appeared in numerous films including
The Omen and
The L-Shaped Room.
Fulham Broadway tube station was used in
Sliding Doors.
Notable residents
- Albert Sammons - violinist
- Andreas Boyde - pianist
- Antonio Carluccio - chef and restaurateur
- Barry George - alleged murderer of Jill Dando
- Beilby Porteus - bishop of London and Anglican reformer
- Ben Jones - radio DJ, currently on Absolute Radio
- Brian May - guitarist for Queen
- Caron Keating - television presenter
- Catherine Tate - comedian and actress
- Chris Leonard - musician
- Cyril Aldred - Egyptologist and art historian
- Dame Maggie Smith - Oscar-winning actress
- Daniel Radcliffe - actor, including Harry Potter
- Duffy - singer
- Gary Waldhorn - actor, including Vicar of Dibley
- Sir Gerald Thesiger - judge, High Court of Justice
- Granville Sharp - abolitionist
- Gwyneth Dunwoody - politician, born and grew up in Fulham
- Henry Holland - architect, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and others
- James D'Arcy - actor, known for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
- Jemima Khan - socialite
- Jessica Martin - actress
- Jill Dando - journalist
- Jo Frost - "Super Nanny"
- John Ford (musician) - singer/bassist Strawbs, Hudson Ford and The Monks. Best known for penning Part of the Union; double platinum album Bad Habits and single, "Nice Legs Shame About The Face"
- Johnny Rotten - lead singer of the Sex Pistols
- Judith Keppel - first winner of £1,000,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
- Kelly Jones - lead singer of Stereophonics
- Lady Isabella Hervey - socialite
- Leonard Hodgson - priest
- Leslie Grantham - actor
- M. Alison Atkins - artist and illustrator
- Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham - politician
- Natascha McElhone - actress
- Norah Phillips, Baroness Phillips - politician
- Norton Knatchbull, 8th Baron Brabourne - aristocrat
- Peter Pek - radio and television personality
- Robert Fripp - guitarist for King Crimson
- Sir Roger Moore - actor, including James Bond
- Sidney Leslie Goodwin - youngest victim of the Titanic
- Simon Climie - musician
- Suzy Lamplugh - missing estate agent
- Viktoria Mullova - violinist
- William Archibald Spooner - Oxford University don, known for inventing spoonerisms
- William Hayes Fisher, 1st Baron Downham - politician
- William John Burchell - explorer, naturalist, traveller, artist and author
- Yes - progressive rock band
Nearest places
- Chelsea
- Hammersmith
- Earls Court
- Kensington
- Walham Green (Moore Park Estate)
- Sands End (Imperial Wharf)
- Putney
- West Kensington
- Barnes
- Battersea
- Wandsworth
Twin cities
See also
- Metropolitan Borough of Fulham
References
- London Plan (Consolidated with Alterations since 2004)
- http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article2875602.ece ''property.timesonline.co.uk''
- http://www.home.co.uk/guides/house_prices_report.htm?location=sw6&lastyear=1 ''home.co.uk''
- http://www.hurlinghamclub.org.uk/ViewDetails.aspx?node_id=1&portal_id=1&inst_id=26&item_id=166 ''hurlinghamclub.org''
- http://observer.guardian.co.uk/barguide/story/0,,668959,00.html ''observer.guardian.co.uk''