View report page

17
wall with a brick facing, the same be a concrete wall finished in concrete
unless the London County Council hereafter require some other material
to be used and that the resolution of the Vestry approving the plans be
rescinded, so that the whole question may be re-opened with a view to the
adoption of the above recommendation.
A Deputation waited upon the Improvements Committee of the London
County Council, with respect to the contribution by the Council towards
the embankment of the Bishop's and West Meadows, and on the 17th of
that month, Mr. Weatherley, on behalf of the deputation, reported the
result to the Vestry who referred the matter to a special meeting of the
Works Committee to formulate a scheme to be laid before the London
County Council, which Committee having carefully considered the matter
reported to the Vestry on the 26th June, as follows:-
Borough of Fulham.—Bishop's and West Meadows.
The bishop's meadow consists of 5 acres and 11 perches, with a frontage
to the Eiver Thames of 1,440 feet, the rear abutting upon the garden and
grounds of the Bishop's Palace. The freehold of this meadow was conveyed
to the Fulham District Board, in 1884, by the Bishop of London (Bishop
Jackson) and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the covenant being that the
said meadow should be properly fenced, laid out, and planted ; that no
building should be erected thereon, but that it should be kept and
maintained as an open space for the public. The Fulham Vestry, on the
dissolution of the Fulham District Board,became responsible to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners for the carrying out of the conditions
embodied in the conveyance.
The west meadow adjoins the Bishop's Meadow, and consists of 7 acres,
with a frontage to the Thames of 350 feet, forming, together with the
Bishop's Meadow frontage, an unsurpassable and uninterrupted promenade
of 1,700 feet on the River Thames, of inestimable value. This meadow
has also an important frontage in Fulham Palace Road of 240 feet, and
a further frontage in Bishop's Avenue of 1,465 feet.
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners have agreed to convey the freehold
of this meadow either to the Fulham Vestry or the London County Council,
for a nominal sum, on condition that it be kept as a Public Recreation
Ground, and for no other purpose.
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners having generously given 12 acres of
land for "an open space to the Vestry of Fulham, of the value of, at least,
£24,000, there only remains the building of a river wall, and the laying out
of the grounds, the cost of which has been estimated by the Vestry's
Surveyor at £9,500. The Vestry of Fulham is willing to contribute a
moiety and carry out the work, providing the London county Council will
contribute the other moiety ; or should the London County Council prefer
carrying out the work, either with concrete or granite blocks, the Fulham
Vestry will contribute £5,000 towards the cost of same.