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2
Report by Dr. Young.
Situation and description of district.—Hammersmith is the extreme western district of the
county of London on the north side of the river Thames. In shape it is a long narrow district,
extending from the county boundary near Willesden-junction on the north to the river opposite
Barnes on the south. Its length from north to south is three miles, whilst its greatest width from
east to west is nearly one mile and three-quarters. The boundaries of the district are—on the
north and west the county of Middlesex, on the south the river Thames (on the opposite shore of
which is Barnes) and the district of Fulham, and on the east the district of Kensington. Under
the provisions of the London Government Act, 1899, changes in the boundaries of sanitary districts
occurred. In the case of Hammersmith, these changes are so slight, that, so far as the alteration
in the area or the population of the district is concerned, they may be disregarded. The changes
which took place were slight rectifications of the boundary line between Hammersmith and
Fulham and Hammersmith and Kensington, so that where the dividing line previously passed
through houses or premises, it now is carried along the centre of the roadway. The effect of the

The surface of the district has a gradual fall from the northern part to the river, the highest
point, namely, 129 feet above ordnance level, being at the north end of Scrubs-lane, near
Willesden-junction, and the lowest, namely, 14 feet above the same level, being on the Lower Mall.
The superficial soil consists of sand and gravel at the southern or river portion, of brick
earth in the centre, and of clay at the extreme northern part of the district. These overlie the
London Clay.
The area of the district under the jurisdiction of the borough council corresponds with the
area of the civil parish of Hammersmith. An imaginary line drawn from east to west a little
north of and practically parallel to the line of the main Uxbridge-road which traverses the district,
divides it into two distinct parts. The area to the north of this line is practically all open land,
except for a narrow strip along the eastern boundary, adjoining Kensington, and for a small area
at the extreme north which are occupied by houses. This land consists of 215 acres of open space
known as Wormwood-scrubs and Little Wormwood-scrubs, and of fields belonging to private
owners and not yet built on. Brickmaking is carried on in one part of this land.
The area to the south of this imaginary line is almost entirely occupied by houses, except
as regards a small area as yet not built on, on the extreme western boundary. In this southern
portion, however, the following are maintained as open spaces for the use of the public, and cannot,
therefore, be built on, viz.—Ravenscourt-park, containing 31½ acres; Shepherd's Bush-green, 8
acres; Brook-green, acres ; and Wendell-park, 4 acres.
The erection of new buildings at the present time is practically limited to the unoccupied
land in the west part of the district, and to the erection of flats in place of old houses which have
been pulled down. In the last annual report of the borough council, it is stated that under Part
iii. of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, which had been adopted in March, 1901, the
Council had given instructions for the erection on land belonging to them and adjoining their
electric lighting station in Fulham Palace-road, of three double buildings containing twenty-four
tenements, some of three and some of four rooms, for the accommodation of persons of the working
class. The London County Council has also resolved, recently, to acquire from the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners under Part iii. of the Act, about 50 acres of land near Old Oak-common-lane,
and adjoining the south-west part of Wormwood-scrubs, for the erection of cottages for the
working classes. This scheme will provide for the accommodation of some 9,000 persons.
The recent construction and opening of the Central London Railway, which forms a cheap
and rapid means of transit between the northern part of. Hammersmith and other parts of London,
will tend to cause the erection of other houses on the land at present vacant and available for
building near Wormwood-scrubs. It may also have the effect of changing the class of population
resident in this part of the district, and many houses now occupied by single families may become
occupied by more than one family. These changes would tend to cause increase in the population.
The rateable value of Hammersmith for the year 1901 was £684,059. Under the Equalisation
of Rates Act, 1894, the sanitary authority received a grant from the equalisation fund of
£6,822 18s. 8d. for the twelve months, March, 1900-1901.
Population and vital statistics.—The sanitary district of Hammersmith is, for statistical
purposes, part of the registration district of Fulham which also includes the sanitary district
of Fulham. The district of Hammersmith corresponds with the registration sub-districts of
north and south Hammersmith.
The total area of the district is 2,286.3 acres, 30.1 acres of which are tidal water and
foreshore, while the remainder is land and inland water. The population at the census of 1901
was 112,239, or an average of 49 persons per acre. In London, as a whole, the average was 55.