Discover

'Fulham' is a suburban area of west London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, located 3.7 miles (5.9 km) south west of Charing Cross
Fulham was formerly the seat of the diocese of "Fulham and Gibraltar", and Fulham Palace the former official home of the Bishop of London, (now a museum), the grounds of which are now divided between public allotments and an elegant botanical garden.
Fulham during the 18th century had a reputation of debauchery, becoming a sort of "Las Vegas retreat" for the wealthy of London, where there was much gambling and prostitution .
Two Premiership football clubs, Fulham and Chelsea, are situated in Fulham. The former Lillie Bridge Grounds (which hosted the second FA Cup final and the first ever boxing matches) was also in Fulham.

Contents

History

Transport

Politics

Culture and entertainment

Famous residents

Nearest places

Twin cities

See also

External links

History

Fulham, or in its earliest form Fullanham, is uncertainly stated to signify "the place" either "of fowls" or "of mud" (which probably had a lot to do with the fact that the River Thames would flood it periodically), or alternatively, "land in the crook of a river bend belonging to a man named Fulla". The manor is said to have been given to Bishop Erkenwald about the year 691 for himself and his successors in the see of London, and Holinshed relates that the Bishop of London was lodging in his manor place in 1141 when Geoffrey de Mandeville, riding out from the Tower of London, took him prisoner. At the Commonwealth the manor was temporarily out of the bishops' hands, being sold to Colonel Edmund Harvey. There is no record of the first erection of a parish church, but the first known rector was appointed in 1242, and a church probably existed a century before this. The earliest part of the church demolished in 1881, however, did not date farther back than the 15th century. In 879 Danish invaders, sailing up the Thames, wintered at Fulham and Hammersmith. Near the former wooden Putney Bridge, built in 1729 and replaced in 1886, the earl of Essex threw a bridge of boats across the river in 1642 in order to march his army in pursuit of Charles I, who thereupon fell back on Oxford. Margravine Road recalls the existence of Bradenburg House, a riverside mansion built by Sir Nicholas Crispe in the time of Charles I, used as the headquarters of General Fairfax in 1647 during the civil wars, and occupied in 1792 by the margrave of Bradenburg-Anspach and Bayreuth and his wife, and in 1820 by Caroline, consort of George IV.

Transport

Fulham nestles in a loop of the Thames across the river from Barnes and Putney. It is on the Wimbledon branch of the District Line of the tube - Fulham's tube stations are Putney Bridge, Parson's Green and Fulham Broadway.

Politics

:''Main article: Hammersmith and Fulham (UK Parliament constituency)''
Fulham has in the past been a politically significant part of the country, having been the scene of two major parliamentary by-elections in the 20th Century. In 1933, the Fulham East by-election became known as the "peace by-election".
In 1986, Fulham experienced another by-election following the death of Conservative MP Martin Stevens. Labour's Nick Raynsford gained the constituency on a 10% swing - one of the first elections that heralded the slick, modern campaigning New Labour techniques that would become renowned. Posters announcing that "Nick Raynsford lives here" adorned thousands of windows in the constituency - a reference to the fact that Labour's candidate was a long-time local, while the Tory was resident outside of the constituency.

Fulham voters have, however, been leaning towards the Conservatives since the 1960s as the area underwent huge demographic change: the tightly-packed terraces which had housed working-class families employed in the heavy industry that dominated Fulham's riverside being rapidly replaced with young professionals who had a very different political outlook. Still, many working-class people have chosen to remain in the town.
In 1971, Fulham elected 28 Labour and two Conservative councillors; in 2002 the figures were 16 Conservative and 10 Labour. For the Hammersmith & Fulham borough as a whole, in 1971 two Conservative and 58 Labour councillors were elected. In 2006, the voters returned 33 Conservative and 13 Labour councillors. In the 2005 General Election, Conservative Greg Hands won the Parliamentary seat from Labour, polling 45.4% against Labour's 35.2%, a 7.3% swing.

Culture and entertainment

There is a cinema complex as part of the Fulham Broadway Centre. Notable restaurant ''The River Café'' is in Fulham, alongside the headquarters of architect Richard Rogers.
The area, like other comparable areas of London, is home to a number of pubs. Traditional Fulham pubs include the ''Pear Tree'' in Margravine Road, the ''Wilton'' in Dawes Road, the ''Eight Bells'' in Fulham High Street, the ''Seven Stars'' and ''The Elm'' in North End Road. Other popular pubs include ''The Crabtree'' on Rainville Road, ''The Durrell'' in Fulham Road, ''The Mitre'' on Bishops Road, and ''The White Horse'' in Parson's Green.
Fulham also has many parks and open spaces of which Bishops Park, Fulham Palace Gardens, Hurlingham Park, South Park, Eel Brook Common and Parson's Green are the largest.
Fulham has appeared in numerous films including The Omen and The L-Shaped Room.

Famous residents

★ Lord Brabourne

★ Sidney Leslie Goodwin

★ Jill Dando

★ James D'Arcy

★ Example (rapper)

★ Barry George

★ Chris Leonard

★ Leslie Grantham

★ Lady Isabella Hervey

★ Henry Holland (architect)

★ Judith Keppel

★ John Lydon

★ Daniel Radcliffe

★ Mark Robinson

★ Granville Sharp

★ William Archibald Spooner

★ Catherine Tate

★ Gerald Thesiger

Nearest places

★ Hammersmith

★ Sands End

★ Chelsea

★ Putney

★ West Kensington

★ Barnes

★ Battersea

★ Walham Green

★ Wandsworth

Twin cities

★ : Anderlecht, Brussels

See also

★ Metropolitan Borough of Fulham

External links

★ Fulham - 1911 Encyclopedia article

★ Museum of Fulham Palace on www.aboutbritain.com

★ BBC Guide to Hammersmith, Fulham and Chiswick

★ Bishop of Fulham's website

★ Fulham & Hammersmith Historical Society

★ Hammersmith and Fulham Labour Party.

★ Greg Hands MP - Website of the Member of Parliament for Hammersmith and Fulham

★ Cllr. Stephen Cowan (Lab) - Leader of the Opposition

★ London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham

★ The Borough Guide from the Borough Council

★ Hammersmith, Fulham and Putney, by Geraldine Edith Mitton and John Cunningham Geikie, 1903, from Project Gutenberg

★ Fulham council tax bands and charges