King Street, Hammersmith is the main shopping street in
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.
It ...
, London. It runs west–east, and forms part of the
A315, and is the eastern continuation of
Chiswick High Road
Chiswick High Road is the principal shopping and dining street of Chiswick, a district in the west of London. It was part of the main Roman road running west out of London, and remained the main road until the 1950s when the A4 was built across ...
, where it meets
Goldhawk Road
Goldhawk Road is a road in west London, England, which starts at Shepherd's Bush 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 designate ...
(the
A402), close to
Stamford Brook tube station
Stamford Brook is a London Underground station on the eastern edge of Chiswick in west London. The station is served by the District line and is between Ravenscourt Park and Turnham Green stations. The main entrance is located on Goldhawk Road ( ...
. At the eastern end it meets
Hammersmith Broadway
Hammersmith Broadway is a major transport node and shopping centre in Hammersmith, London.
History
The shopping centre opened in 1994, on the site of many now-demolished buildings, including The Clarendon Hotel (a music venue) and Palmers De ...
and continues east as
Hammersmith Road where it forms a crossroads with the
A219
The A219, is a road in West London, England, which connects the A404 Harrow Road in Harlesden to the A24 in South Wimbledon. Running from North to South, it starts near Willesden Junction station, crosses the Grand Union Canal and runs throu ...
, the
Shepherd's Bush Road running northwards, and the
Fulham Palace Road running south.
The street is two-way along its western part, and
one-way westbound along its eastern part. Eastbound traffic uses Studland Street, Glenthorne Road and Beadon Road.
History

Despite the name, and its proximity to
Queen Caroline Street, the street is not named after any monarch of England or otherwise; it is named after
John King,
Bishop of London
The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723.
The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...
, who gave land to the poor of Fulham in 1620.
The street is about a mile and a half long and formerly had several
posting houses
A post house, posthouse, or posting house was a house or inn where horses were kept and could be rented or changed out.
Postriders could also be hired to take travellers by carriage or coach and delivered mail and packages on a route, meeting u ...
, as it was the road to
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places
*Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region
Australia New South Wales
*Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...
, which have now become pubs. It has long been the principal street of Hammersmith.
On 26 January 2018, a water main in King Street burst, flooding the street. 70 people were led to safety by the
London Fire Brigade
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...
.
Notable buildings
Several of the pubs along King Street are
listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
, including
The Salutation
The Salutation is a grade I listed house in Sandwich, Kent, England. It was designed and built by Edwin Lutyens in a Queen Anne style in 1911–12, as a weekend home and country retreat for members of the Farrer family. It was one of the fi ...
and
The Hop Poles.
On the north side, there is the
Livat Hammersmith shopping centre (formerly known as Kings Mall) with over 40 shops and eating places.
Also on the north side, at Nos. 238–246, is the
Polish Social and Cultural Association
The Polish Social and Cultural Centre (; POSK) is a Polish cultural centre in west London, England. It was founded in 1967 and funded by public subscription, on the initiative of Polish engineer Roman Wajda, at 238–246 King Street, Hammersmi ...
, popularly known as the "POSK", which has been the centre of the
Polish community in London since the 1960s. Further to the west is the main south entrance to
Ravenscourt Park
Ravenscourt Park or RCP is an public park and garden located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England. It is one of the Borough's flagship parks, having won a Green Flag Award. Stamford Brook and Ravenscourt Park tube stations a ...
, which is a memorial gate to
Sir William Bull, a former MP for Hammersmith.
On the south side of King Street is
Hammersmith Town Hall
Hammersmith Town Hall is a municipal building on King Street in Hammersmith. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.
History
The building was commissioned to r ...
. Originally set further back from the street, in the 1970s a huge concrete extension was built facing the street, on the site of a former park, to accommodate offices. In 2013 the go-ahead was given to demolish the 'eyesore' and replace it with a new green space and homes.
Also on the south side of King Street is
Rivercourt Methodist Church
Rivercourt Methodist Church is a church in King Street, Hammersmith, London.
It was built in 1875 by the architect Charles Bell.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivercourt Methodist Church
Hammersmith
Hamm ...
, built in 1875 by
Charles Bell
Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in the ...
. Next door, at No. 237, is
Latymer Upper School
Latymer Upper School is a public school in Hammersmith, London, England, on King Street. It derives from a charity school, and is part of the same 1624 Latymer Foundation, from a bequest by the English legal official Edward Latymer. There ...
, a co-educational independent school, founded in 1895 and the descendant of a school founded in the seventeenth century by
Edward Latymer who, by his will, dated 1624, bequeathed thirty-five acres of land in Hammersmith, "the profits of which were to be appropriated to clothing six poor men, clothing and educating six poor boys, and distributing in money."
Toby Young
Toby Daniel Moorsom Young, Baron Young of Acton (born 17 October 1963), is a British social commentator and life peer. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', creator of '' The Daily S ...
's
West London Free School
__NOTOC__
The West London Free School is an English free school for girls and boys aged 11 to 18. It was co-founded by Toby Young and opened in 2011.
It is located in Hammersmith in west London and was the first free school of its type in En ...
in Pallingswick House sits on the corner of King Street and Weltje Road.
File:Salutation, Hammersmith, W6 (2447320726).jpg, The Salutation
File:Kings_Mall_Shopping_Centre_King_Street_W6_2013.JPG, Kings Mall shopping centre
File:Sam's Chicken, King Street, Hammersmith.jpg, Sam's Chicken, King Street, Hammersmith
File:Rivercourt Methodist Church 01.JPG, Rivercourt Methodist Church
File:Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith - geograph.org.uk - 841305.jpg, Latymer Upper School
File:Posk.JPG, The Polish Social and Cultural Association in London
File:Corner of King Street and Ravenscourt Road, W6 - geograph.org.uk - 841303.jpg, A corner shop
A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...
alongside a Polish shop
File:London , Hammersmith - Ravenscourt Park - geograph.org.uk - 2408922.jpg, Gate into Ravenscourt Park on King Street
References
{{Coord, 51, 29, 33.94, N, 0, 13, 36.7, W, scale:1563_region:GB, display=title
Streets in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Hammersmith