Description
Aspen Gardens is a post-war housing development of 1948 with a communal garden for its residents. The garden appears to be partly a community effort and has some mature trees, with planting by residents in beds by the flats. There is a central area surrounded by wire fencing with flower beds and a variety of containers, and several benches are provided.
Practical Information
| Site location | Aspen Gardens |
|---|---|
| Postcode | W6 |
| What3Words | ///pack.bikes.herbs |
| Type of Site | Housing/Estate Landscaping |
| Borough | Hammersmith & Fulham |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | garden for residents only |
| Facilities | play area |
| Public Transport | Tube: Hammersmith (District, Piccadilly, Hammersmith & City). Bus: 27, 190, 267, 391, H91 |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2004 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ229784 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | LB Hammersmith & Fulham |
| Site Management | Housing |
| Dates | 1948 |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Hammersmith & Fulham |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | King Street East |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
The site was once the mouth of Hammersmith Creek, which had a thriving fishing industry until the early C19th. By 1830 the area had high quality residential property but later became a dense mixture of factories, housing and other uses. In the 1920s Hammersmith Council began to improve the area and the Creek was infilled in 1936. In 1948 it was decided to create a public open space on bomb-damaged land between the river and Great West Road, to be completed for the Festival of Britain. Laid out in 1951, the new riverside park was named after Dr Frederick James Furnivall, scholar and founder in 1896 of what is now the Furnivall Sculling Club. A secluded garden surrounded by a low wall was created on the former site of Hammersmith Friends Meeting House C18th burial ground, which was destroyed by a flying bomb. The north boundary was provided as part of road works in 1956 and the park was extended on the east in 1957.
The first church here was built in 1631 as a Chapel-of-Ease within the Parish of Fulham, only becoming the parish church when Hammersmith became a separate parish in 1834. St Paul's Church was rebuilt in 1882/3 on the site of the old church. Its churchyard was reduced in size when Hammersmith Flyover was built in 1961 as part of the Great West Road extension, and most of the gravestones had been cleared when it became a public garden, in the care of the local authority. St Paul's Green was created as a new public open space adjacent to the church in 1998.
St John the Evangelist Church was built in 1858-9 when a new parish created out of that of St Paul's Hammersmith as the population of the area was growing. The church had gardens to the south and west with some mature trees and shrubs, bounded to the roadway by iron railings. After changes in parish boundaries in 2004, the church closed in 2005 and was leased to Godolphin and Latymer School on a 125 year lease including its surrounding grounds. It has been converted into The Bishop Centre, a centre for performing arts for the school, which opened in June 2009.