HAMMERSMITH, a chapelry in the parish of
FULHAM, Kensington division of the hundred of OSSULSTONE,
county of MIDDLESEX, 3 miles (w. by S.) from
London, on the great western road, containing 8809
inhabitants. This village, which by a continuity of
buildings is almost united with Kensington, forms
one of the most populous appendages to the western
part of the metropolis, and is pleasantly situated on
the northern bank of the river Thames. The principal
street extends along the line of the turnpike-road, and
a .wide street, called the Broad-way, diverges from it
towards the river: the houses are in general of respectable
appearance, and there are some handsome
ranges of modern erection: in the environs are numerous
seats and elegant villas, especially towards
the river, on the bank of which was Brandenburgh
house, a noble mansion erected by Sir Nicholas Crispe
in the reign of Charles I., which General Fairfax
occupied in 1647, while the parliamentary forces were
quartered in the neighbourhood, pending the proposition
between Charles I. and the parliament 5 it was afterwards
the residence of the Margrave of Anspach; and
subsequently of the late Queen Caroline, since whose decease
in it the building has been taken down. The streets
are well paved, and lighted with gas, and the inhabitants
are supplied with water by the West Middlesex Company,
established at Hammersmith by act of parliament in
1806. A suspension-bridge over the Thames was commenced
in 1825, and completed in 1827, from a design
by Mr. Tierney Clarke, at an expense of £45,000.
The distance between the suspension towers, which
are forty-eight feet high, and form handsome arched
entrances of the Tuscan order, is four hundred feet;
from these towers are suspended eight chains, consisting
of bars of wrought iron, having a dip of twentynine
feet in the centre, from which pass perpendicular
rods of iron, supporting a platform of wood overlaid
with granite, six hundred and eighty-eight feet in length,
with a parapet on each side: the carriage road is
twenty feet broad; and the foot-path five feet wide:
at the approaches are neat octagonal lodges, and on
the Surrey side, the road leads directly to Barnes
common, whence roads branch off to the south and
south-western parts of the kingdom. A road from the
bridge to join the new Brompton road is now in progress,
and it is in contemplation to construct a road
from Shepherd's Bush to Turnham Green. There are
two large breweries, extensive nursery-grounds, and
grounds for bleaching wax; and a large quantity of
bricks is made in the neighbourhood: a creek which
extends from the Thames to the village is navigable for
barges. The petty sessions for the Kensington division
are held here every Monday, and courts leet and baron
in November and at- Easter; the village is within the
jurisdiction of the court of requests held in Kingsgatestreet,
Holborn, for the recovery of debts under
40s., and within the limits of the new police" establishment.
Hammersmith is about to be separated from the parish
of Fulham, and to be divided into two distinct parishes.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of
Middlesex, and diocese of London, and in the patronage
of the Bishop of London. The church, erected in 1631,
and dedicated to St. Paul, is a spacious and neat edifice
of brick, with a square tower: against the north wall
of the nave is a handsome bronze bust of Charles I.,
erected in grateful remembrance of his royal master,
by Sir Nicholas Crispe, whose heart, in pursuance of
his directions, was enclosed in an urn and placed
underneath it. A church dedicated to St. Peter, and
containing one thousand six hundred and one sittings,
of which six hundred are free, was erected in
1829, by a grant from the parliamentary commissioners,
at an expense of £12,223. 8.4.: it is a handsome edifice
of Suffolk brick, in the Grecian style of architecture,
and of the Doric order, with a neat stone tower; the
living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the
Bishop of London. St. Mary's chapel, a neat brick
building, was erected in 1813, at the sole expense of the
late Richard Hunt, Esq.: the living is a donative, in
the gift of Charles, Edward, and Richard Hunt, Esqrs.
There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of
Friends, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists, besides
a Roman Catholic chapel. A school for clothing and
educating boys was founded in 1624, by Edward
Latymer, Esq., who gave thirty-five acres of land, pro-
(kicing a rental of upwards of £540, of which a part
was appropriated to -the clothing of aged men; there
are eighty -boys in the school, and thirty men are
annually clothed. A charity school, in which fifty
girls are educated and clothed, is supported partly by
the twelfth part of the rents of a farm now let for
£450 per annum, bequeathed by the Dowager Lady
Capell, and partly by subscription; there is also a
Roman Catholic school at Brook-Green, supported by
voluntary contributions. Sunday schools are supported
by subscription. There are almshouses for four old
women at Brook-Green, founded and endowed by Thomas
Isles, D.D., in 1629; and various charitable bequests
have been made for the relief of the poor. A mechanics'
institution and a savings-bank have been established.
In King-street is a convent of Benedictine nuns, said to
have subsisted since the reign of Charles II.: at the east
end of the building is the chapel, which was rebuilt in
1810, at an expense of £ 1600, defrayed by subscription.
Near the church is an ancient mansion, supposed to
have been erected at the same time as the palace at
Hampton-Court; the apartments in the north part of
the building are much admired for the beauty of their architecture.
In a house adjoining the Dove Coffee-house,
now a smoking-box belonging to the Duke of Sussex,
Thomson the poet is said to have written his Seasons,
Catherine, Queen Dowager of Charles II., resided far
some years -in a house in the Upper Mall, in which
Dr. Radclifle subsequently lived. Sir Samuel Morland
the inventor of the speaking-trumpet; Dr. William
Sheridan, author of some sermons; Thomas Worlidge
a painter and etcher of great eminence; Sir Elijah
Impey, Knt., who was first appointed on the high
court of judicature for the British possessions in India-
George Doddington, Lord Melcombe, a distinguished
courtier and statesman in the reign of George II.; and
Arthur Murphy, a barrister, and a dramatic writer
of celebrity, are among the eminent persons who have
been interred here; Philip James De Loutherbourgh, the
-celebrated landscape painter, resided at this place.