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SECTION A
SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE BOROUGH AND
STATISTICS
Hammersmith is the most westerly Borough in the county of
London, covering an area of 2,282.5 acres. It is bounded on the
north by the Borough of Willesden, on the south by the River
Thames, on the east by the Royal Borough of Kensington and the
Metropolitan Borough of Fulham, and on the west by the Boroughs
of Acton, and Brentford and chlswick.
The sub-soil in the northern half of the Borough, i.e.
north of Uxbridge Road, mainly consists of clay, whilst in the
south it consists of a layer of some 20 ft. of gravel above blue
clay, particularly in the east of the Borough, much of which was
excavated for brick making purposes before building development
took place.
On 16th September 1955 the Chairman of the London county
Council opened "Hammersmith park", which has been laid out in part
of the old White City Exhibition grounds and adds a further 7.23
acres of gardens and open spaces to that already controlled by
the London County council, making a total of 262 acres under
their Jurisdiction and 23 acres under the control of the Borough
Council. There are also 4½ acres of the Grand Junction canal and
128 acres covered by the River.
The Borough, once a quiet rural area in the county of Middlesex
and relatively untouched by the spread of London, became part
of the County of London in 1885, and is now a highly developed industrial
and residential area and little remains of the old world.
However, the Latymer Foundation school was founded in 1624 and
Kent House and others in the Malls date back to the 17th century.
The old home of William Morris, Kelmscott House, and also the
houses in Hammersmith Terrace were built in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Apart from its residential and industrial population, the Borough
attracts a large number of visitors by reason of various
centres which are found within its boundaries. St. Paul's Boys' and
Girls' schools, West London and Royal Masonic Hospitals, Queen charlotte's
Maternity Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital and British Postgraduate
Medical school, white city Stadium, Olympia, the Television
Studios at Lime Grove and the Television centre In Wood Lane, and,
of course, wormwood scrubs, all attract their quota of people from
outside our boundaries. The Boat Race also brings many people to
our attractive riverside for a few hours every spring, whatever the
weather may be.
The total length of the roads in the Borough is approximately
67 miles, and traffic on the main roads is very heavy particularly
over Hammersmith Bridge leading to the south, and to the main roads
to Oxford, the west and London Airport. During the year a start was
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