} 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 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 ...

, an area of west London which takes its name from the Green. The Green is also a ward of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 12,175.

History

The origins of the name ''Shepherds Bush'' are obscure. The name may have originated from the use of the

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has ...

as a resting point for shepherds on their way to Smithfield Market in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. There appears to have been an ancient custom of pruning a hawthorne bush to provide a shelter for shepherds protecting them from the elements as they watched their flocks. Alternatively the Green may simply be named after a local landowner. In any event, in 1635 it was recorded as "Sheppards Bush Green". At the turn of the 20th century Hammersmith MP Sir William Bull was appalled to see Shepherd's Bush Green become home to destitute unemployed sleeping rough, gambling, and playing pitch and toss.Denny, p.49

Shepherd's Bush Green today

Shepherds Bush Common in London, spring 2013 (2)

Shepherds Bush Common in London, spring 2013 (4)

Today the Green is surrounded by busy roads on all three sides. Four main roads radiate 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 A bus network is a network topology in which nodes are directly connected to a common half-duplex link called a bus. A host on a bus network is called a ''station''. In a bus network, every station will receive all network traffic, and the ...

, with eighteen bus routes arriving there. It is also near five

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 ...

stations; Shepherd's Bush ( Central line), White City (Central line), Shepherd's Bush Market ( Hammersmith & City line), Goldhawk Road (Hammersmith & City line) and Wood Lane (Hammersmith & City line). On the north side of the Green is the Uxbridge Road, and beyond that the

Westfield London Westfield London is a large shopping centre in White City, west London, England, developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn, on a brownfield site formerly the home of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The site is bounded by the W ...

shopping centre. To the east, the Green is bounded by the physical barrier of the West London 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. To the east of the Green lies affluent and leafy Holland Park and Notting Hill; although the Edward Woods Estate just to the northeast of the roundabout is part of and managed by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and is therefore more closely associated with Shepherds Bush.

Redevelopment

The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham substantially re-developed Shepherd's Bush Green in 2013. The plans included creating two new play areas for children, the planting of further trees and a general improvement to routes across the Green for both cyclists and pedestrians. A proposal to create a new cafe was declined by the planning authorities. The redevelopment of the Green was scheduled to be completed in time for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

but, apparently due to high levels of

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, b ...

found in the soil by building contractors, the plans were substantially delayed. An Inspire Mark (awarded by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), making it part of the

Cultural Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not until ...

) was given to public artworks created by artist Elliott Brook, entitled "Goaloids", which were installed on Shepherd's Bush Green for the duration of London 2012 and the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

. These large unique rotating football-related sculptures commemorated the history of Shepherd's Bush and

White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football c ...

, which hosted the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were o ...

football. The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is the only borough to have two football teams playing Premier League football.Article at www.thisissomerset.co.uk
Retrieved August 2012

References

*Denny, Barbara, ''Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush Past'', Historical Publications Ltd, London (1995), *Farrell, Jerome, ''Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush in Old Photographs'', Sutton Publishing Ltd (Sep 1995)

Notes

External links