Hammersmith Park

Hammersmith Park landscape improvements

Improvement works to create a new nature area in the former bowling green, improve access from Wood Lane entrance and renovate the play area have been completed.

The works included:

improving access and sightlines into the bowling green and new nature area
removing old bowling green infrastructure
creation of a labyrinth to encourage children to interact with nature
creation of a mammoth loggery as habitat to encourage stag beetle
renewing existing footpaths and laying down new ones
relocating the small play mound with a new safety surface added
installing new play equipment in the form of a 'trim trail'
enhancing and adding to the plant and tree cover
providing new seating in the new nature area (former bowling green).

Following the public consultation in 2018 (see below) the parks projects team are working on delivering an outdoor gym to Hammersmith Park near the Wood Lane Entrance and securing funding to refurbish the two tennis courts and basketball court and renew the sports fencing later this financial year.

If you have any queries about these works, please contact: parks.projects@lbhf.gov.uk

Transport links

Nearest tube: Shepherds Bush Market (Circle Line and Hammersmith & City Line), White City (Central Line)

Walking directions

The park can be accessed from the north via South Africa Road and the south via Frithville Gardens (off Uxbridge Road).

Facilities

play area
Japanese garden with pond and waterfall
games and basketball courtInteractive park location map
tennis courts with free play (two).

Opening hours

Closing times vary depending on the time of year. See Locking times in parks and cemeteries

History

White City was built in the early 1900s on 140 acres of land as a grand exhibition site, first used for the Franco-British exhibition in 1908. It was constructed in steel and concrete and painted white, hence the name 'White City', and a stadium was added for the 1908 Olympic Games.

In 1910, a major exhibition was held in celebration of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902-1923) with the backing of the Japanese government. Among the exhibits were two gardens, which were constructed for the 1910 exhibition with materials imported from Japan and by a mixed Anglo-Japanese workforce. The Garden of Peace featured a long pond with a large waterside teahouse, whereas the Garden of the Floating Isle featured a circular moat surrounding a hilly island.

The Japan-British Exhibition ran from 14 May to 29 October 1910 and attracted 8 million visitors, at a time when few people travelled outside Britain.

The exhibition site was gradually redeveloped. The White City housing estate was built in the 1930s and the BBC television studios in 1960.

The Garden of Peace was converted into a more traditional British public park and named 'Hammersmith Park'. The Japanese garden is the oldest publicly owned Japanese garden in the UK.

Hammersmith Park consultation 2018

We want to make changes to improve Hammersmith Park as we strive to become the most environmentally friendly borough in London. But first we wanted to find out what you thought. A consultation in March 2018 gathered feedback from local residents and people who use the park. We had over 120 responses and you can find the results linked below.

In summary, the results showed that your top priorities for the park are:

improvements to the pond
improvements to the playground
redesign of the historic bowling green.

We also asked you what new equipment you would like in the playground and the top three suggestions were:

more swings
a trampoline
climbing equipment.

We are looking to deliver the improvements to the playground as soon as possible so local children have a space for play that they deserve.

We also asked people what their preference for the redesign of the disused bowling green would be. The two most popular options were a wildflower area and a grassed open space with hedging and ornamental planting. As these two options were almost tied for the top spot, we will look to deliver a combination of these two options.

Results of the Hammersmith Park consultation (pdf 607KB)