Goldhawk Road is a road in west London, which starts at

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character ...

and travels west. There are numerous shops, restaurants and businesses lining the road, which forms the southern boundary of Shepherd's Bush Green. It is designated part of the

A402 road List of A roads in zone 4 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European islan ...

History

Goldhawk Road's name derives from one John Goldhawk, who in the late 14th century held extensive estates in Fulham. Goldhawk Road was of little note until the mid-seventeenth century, when a cottage on the street became the home of

Miles Sindercombe Miles Sindercombe (died 13 February 1657) was the leader of a group that tried to assassinate Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell during the period of the Protectorate in 1657. Early military career Sindercombe was born in Kent and was apprenticed ...

, a

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

who in 1657 made several attempts to assassinate

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

. 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 death. His cottage was demolished in the 1760s. A map of London dated 1841 shows Goldhawk Road forming the southern boundary of

Shepherd's Bush Green } Shepherds Bush Green (also known as Shepherds Bush Common) is an approximately triangular area of open grass surrounded by trees and roads with shops in Shepherd's Bush, an area of west London which takes its name from the Green. The Green is a ...

. At that time Shepherd's Bush was still largely undeveloped and chiefly rural in character, with much open farmland compared to fast-developing

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

, and several ponds or small lakes. Scattered buildings are shown, mostly lining the main thoroughfares of Wood Lane, Cumberland Road (now the

Uxbridge Road Uxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in West London. The route starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes, and Hillingdon. Uxbridge Road is a major r ...

) and Goldhawk Road.Denny, p.49 From 1939 until 1999

Queen Charlotte's Hospital Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital is one of the oldest maternity hospitals in Europe, founded in 1739 in London. Until October 2000, it occupied a site at 339–351 Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith, but is now located between East Acton and Whit ...

was situated in Goldhawk Road.

Railways

Goldhawk Road station

Goldhawk Road tube station Goldhawk Road is a London Underground station located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the south side of Goldhawk Road, about west of Shepherd's Bush Green. It is served by the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines in Trave ...

is a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

station located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the south side of Goldhawk Road, about 250m west of

Green. It is on the Hammersmith & City and

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is cons ...

lines in Travelcard Zone 2. It is also the least used station for both lines.

Original 1914 station

Although the line here was opened in 1864, a station was not opened at this location until 1 April 1914, when

station (now Shepherd's Bush Market) was moved from its original location between Uxbridge Road and Goldhawk Road, to a location on the north side of Uxbridge Road.

Stamford Brook station

Stamford Brook Underground station, though located in the London Borough of Hounslow, also has its main entrance in Goldhawk Road, near the Chiswick end.

In popular culture

In '' Steptoe and Son'', "Seance in a Wet Rag and Bone Yard", Harold's father, Albert, relates that he has attended seances "at Madame Fontana's on the Goldhawk Road". In the radio episode "Porn Yesterday" Albert reveals that he was photographed for a ' What the Butler Saw' in an old photographer's shed on the Goldhawk Road. In the track "Love is a Bourgeois Construct" from their 2013 album ''Electric'',

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...

reference Goldhawk Road: "I've been hanging out with various riff-raff, somewhere on the Goldhawk Road, I don't think it's gonna be much longer, 'til I'm mugging up on the penal code". In their single ''

Green Fields "Green Fields" is the third single by British alternative rock band the Good, the Bad & the Queen.Note that while frontman Damon Albarn has claimed that the band is officially unnamed, and that "The Good, The Bad & The Queen" was merely the name o ...

'', The Good, the Bad & the Queen reference the Goldhawk Road: "I wrote this song years ago, late at night somewhere on the Goldhawk Road. I was never sure how or why."

Notes

References

* Denny, Barbara, ''Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush Past'', Historical Publications Ltd, London (1995),

External links

Shepherd's Bush Blog - Goldhawk Road buildings to be demolished
Retrieved January 2012 {{Coord, 51.502, -0.227, type:landmark_region:GB-HMF, display=title Streets in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham