H&F history timeline

Evidence that Neolithic peoples were starting to populate the Fulham riverside area.

Roman invasion of Britain

The Romans invade Britain giving London its original name, Londinium. Evidence of Roman settlement has been found near Fulham Palace and on Fulham High Street. Goldhawk Road is along the lines of a Roman road.

Fulham Palace

Bishop Waldhere acquires the manor of Fulham. Elizabeth I visits the palace later in 1600 and a great dinner is held in her honour. An estimated 120 London bishops have lived there.

Vikings visit Fulham

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that a Viking force arrived in the Thames and encamped at Fulham. The Viking arrival at Fulham is marked by the presence of a Viking ship on Hammersmith & Fulham crest.

Small beginnings

Hammersmith appears to have been a small Saxon fishing in the first record we have of it.

Fulham Pottery was founded by John Dwight.

James Lee and Lewis Kennedy found the Vineyard Nursery in Hammersmith.

Great painter in town

Joseph Mallord William Turner a great painter, lived in Hammersmith creating some of his most important works.

Great communicator

Francis Ronald invents the telegraph that lies one of the foundations for the great communications revolution that allows us to communicate across continents today.

Gateway to West London

The first Hammersmith bridge opens.

New railway

The Hammersmith and City Railway opens to great celebration.

Fulham Football Club is established.

Great designer and writer moves in

William Morris, a great designer and political activist, comes to live at Kelmscott House in Hammersmith.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is established.

Lyrical opening

The Lyric Theatre as we know it today is called The New Lyric Theatre Opera House. The theatre gains a worldwide reputation throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

Chelsea Football Club is established.

Franco-British Exhibition opens in White City

The Franco-British exhibition is open from May to October 1908.

It attracts more than 8 million visitors.

Today, many of the roads in the area are named after African locations and countries which had displays at the White City Exhibition including:

• South Africa Road
• India Way
• Bloemfontein Road
• Loftus Road
• Australia Road
• New Zealand Way.
  
  

The Olympics are held in London for the first time

The 1908 Summer Olympics is held in London from 27 April to 31 October. The White City Stadium in White City hosts the first modern marathon.

A new market

Shepherd's Bush Market opens between Goldhawk Road and Uxbridge Road. It features traders trading goods and foods of all types from all over the world.

Palais de Danse

The Hammersmith Palais is established at 242 Shepherds Bush Road, W6 seeing some of the greatest acts of the 20th and 21st centuries perform there.

Hammersmith Odeon opens

The Hammersmith Odeon at 45 Queen Caroline Street, W6 opens, gaining a legendary reputation with several iconic gigs played there by Bob Marley and The Wailers in 1976. It is now known as the Eventim Apollo.

Find out about the history of Black music at the Hammersmith Odeon.

Important studio

Riverside Studios begins life as a movie studio. It is later taken over by the BBC hosting such productions as Dr Who. In 2019 it was renovated to become a hi-tech, state of the art venue you can visit today.

Bombings

Approximately 5,500 H&F residents are killed by Nazi bombings.

Musician born

Labi Siffre is born at Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital - which was then based in Goldhawk Road. He goes on to be a musician of worldwide renown.

Find out more about Labi Siffre.

Iconic flyover

The Hammersmith flyover opens.

The legendary Bob Marley and the Wailers play at the Hammersmith Odeon

Bob Marley was in the midst of becoming one of the biggest artists on the planet when he was booked in for a series of 6 gigs over 4 nights at the Odeon, 15 to 18 June 1976.

Find out about Bob Marley's gigs at the Hammersmith Odeon.

New record shop

Situated at 44 Uxbridge Road, W12 in Shepherd's Bush, Greensleeves Records becomes a dominant force in the worldwide phenomenon of Reggae and Dancehall.

Find out more about Greensleeves Records.

Toots and the Maytals at Hammersmith Palais

Reggae legends Toots and the Maytals headline a one-off concert at the Hammersmith Palais. The following day it is released as an album.

Find out about the history of Black music at the Hammersmith Palais.

Hammersmith & Fulham first

Janet Olufunmilayo Adegoke is elected Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham in 1987. She is the first Black woman to become a Mayor of a London borough.

Historic resident remembered

An autobiography about former Fulham resident Esther Bruce is published. Esther was one of the Black Londoners to be born in Britain and the book, Aunt Esther's Story, is one of the first books to document the life of a black working-class woman in the country.

Find out more about Esther Bruce.

Stadium renamed

The West London Stadium is renamed the Linford Christie Stadium in honour of the Olympian. He is one of the UK's most successful athletes.

The Hammersmith Palais closes.

New shopping experience

Westfield Shopping Centre is opened in October 2008. Situated on the former site of the 1908 Franco-British exhibition, it was the largest shopping centre in London at that time.

Great former resident recognised

Fanny Eaton's portrait, an artist model connected to the movement associated with William Morris associates, appears at the Pre-Raphaelite Sisters exhibition at the National Gallery between October 2019 and January 2020.

Esther Bruce is honoured with a blue plaque near Charing Cross Hospital.