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Join the Kew: a short history of Kew Green

Kew Green is one of the delights of west London. Around its picturesque cricket field lie a number of very attractive 18th- and 19th-century houses, where a number of famous people made their homes. Its history goes back to the medieval period, not least because there was a ferry crossing where the bridge now lies. Kew Pond, whose history may well date as far back as 996, was used as a fish pond for centuries. We know Kew was a hamlet in the 1300s, then called ‘Cayho’, which was derived from the Old English word ‘hoh’, meaning spur. In the 16th century Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and brother-in-law of Henry VIII held estates here but it...

Dead fascinating

  Brompton Cemetery lies within the shadow of Chelsea FC’s football stadium but you’ll find many more famous people buried under its 40 acres. It’s one of the 7 great cemeteries that sprung up around London from the 1830s to solve the chronic shortage of burial plots. Highgate Cemetery might be the most famous one but Brompton gives it a run for its money. The construction of the cemeteries coincided with the coming of the railways, which meant the trains could transport the stone and granite needed to construct the impressive monuments that fill the grounds. For the first time funeral directors sprung up, and you could order your memorial f...

A Bridge over Hammersmith

Currently closed for 3 years, Hammersmith Bridge is one of London’s most attractive crossings. There’s been a bridge connecting Hammersmith and Barnes for nearly 200 years, and ever since the first one was opened in 1827 there have been complaints about its strength. With Hammersmith becoming an important agricultural and industrial part of west London there had been an increasing need to add more river crossings. With this in mind the authorities turned to local engineer William Tierney Clark, who’s best known for the Széchenyi Chain Bridge that spans the Danube in Budapest. Even at the start of the work, when the Duke of Sussex blessed the bridge,...