Description
No. 7 Hammersmith Terrace was the former home of Sir Emery Walker, an important figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement and friend of William Morris. He lived here from 1903 until his death in 1933, following which his daughter continued to live here. In 1999 the house and its contents was bequeathed to the Emery Walker Trust. The house has a complete Arts and Crafts interior, and the small cottage-style rear garden retains much of the style of Dorothy Walker's planting.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Emery Walker's House |
|---|---|
| Site location | 7, Hammersmith Terrace, Chiswick Mall, Hammersmith |
| Postcode | W6 9TS |
| What3Words | ///gives.leaps.quest |
| Type of Site | Private Garden |
| Borough | Hammersmith & Fulham |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | Open for pre-booked tours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between April-September (020 8741 4104). Has opened for London Open Gardens |
| Special Conditions | Admission charge. No photography inside the house. |
| Facilities | Shop |
| Public Transport | Tube: Ravenscourt Park (District). Bus: 27, 190, 267, 391, H91 |
| Research Updated | 1 June 2010 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Hammersmith Terrace is a fine row of Georgian houses dating from c.1750. No 7 is the former home of Sir Emery Walker (1851-1933), founder of the Doves Press, and an eminent typographer, engraver and printer linked to the Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a friend and mentor to William Morris who lived nearby at Kelmscott House (q.v.). Emery Walker had lived in this area for many years; he lived in No. 3 from 1879 and in No. 7 from 1903, a house previously occupied by T J Cobden-Sanderson, the bookbinder. After Sir Emery's death in 1933, his daughter Dorothy Walker continued to live in the house until her own death in 1963 when she left the house and contents to her companion, Elizabeth de Haas. Miss de Haas lived here until her death in 1999 when in turn she bequeathed the house to the Emery Walker Trust, who first opened it to the public in 2005. The house has a complete Arts and Crafts interior, with William Morris wallpapers, textiles and furniture. The Trust's object is the 'advancement of the education of the public in arts and crafts design and architecture... by promoting... the study and appreciation of artists, craftsmen, designers and architects of the 19th and early 20th centuries and their works and the Arts and Crafts movement, and acquiring and thereafter conserving, maintaining and displaying 7 Hammersmith Terrace and its contents'. At the rear of the property is a delightful small cottage style garden with wisteria covering the back wall; a path leads to the back door up a short flight of steps.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ221782 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Emery Walker Trust |
| Site Management | Emery Walker Trust |
| Listed Structures | LBII*: 7 Hammersmith Terrace |
| 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 | The Mall |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Thames Policy Area |
Gallery
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
Upper Mall Open Space is a riverside public garden that occupies part of the former site of the West Middlesex Water Company's waterworks, which were demolished in 1965. At the western end of the gardens the site is bounded by a wall pierced with arches that previously formed part of the Water Company building. To the east of the gardens is the Old Ship Inn, which has been the site of a pub for centuries.
The origins of the Thames Path date from the 1750s onwards as the riverside towpath established by the Thames Commissioners when the Thames was an important trade route to London. In the C20th leisure use replaced trade and much of the old towpath is now the Thames Path, a national trail that opened in 1996 following the river from its source in the Cotswolds to the Thames Barrier. It represents important open space in the boroughs through which it passes, and in Hammersmith & Fulham it runs from the end of Chiswick Mall (Hounslow) in the west to Chelsea Creek (Kensington and Chelsea) in the east.
St Peter's Church was built in 1827-29 as part of the St Peter's Estate and is the oldest church in Hammersmith. The original burial ground measured 139 ft x 174 ft. Burials had ceased by 1855 and a small public open space and garden of rest was laid out in 1958 in the former churchyard, with gravestones along the north and east boundary walls. The church lost its close connection with the Thames when the Great West Road was constructed c.1960. On a remnant of land surplus to road building south of the church a small landscaped area was created and a sculpture, 'The Leaning Woman' by Karel Vogel was installed. Another area of public open space to the west of the church was laid out with trees, grass, paths and shrubbery.
