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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...

Do the Strand

Strand-on-the-green is an often overlooked part of West London but its riverside location and pretty houses make it one of Chiswick’s most charming areas. Many of the houses date from the 18th century but its history goes back much further. In the Museum of London you’ll find pottery dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as Roman artefacts, collected by local antiquarian Thomas Layton. In the medieval period fishing was the main industry, with rights granted by Henry II to the Prior of Merton. Later the Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s allowed locals to fish there for an annual rent. It was the arrival, however, of Frederick Prince of...

Chiswick Rocks!

Island Records, St Peter's Square   Chiswick has a surprisingly rich musical heritage, Handily placed for Heathrow, away from the hustle and bustle of the West End and considerably more affordable,  the borough has been home to recording studios, record labels, music venues and artists.   The Chiswick Empire, demolished in 1959, played host to the likes of Alma Cogan and Marty Wilde, and when Cliff Richard performed there, a riot broke out. Down the road, the Rolling Stones, supported by Marianne Faithfull, filled the Commodore Theatre, which was then a rival to the Hammersmith Odeon. The Stones’ presence in W4 has continued: in 2005 they used Mark...

Going Dutch in the City

     Though the City today seems dominated by high rise developments and soaring skyscrapers, you can still find some pockets of earlier office buildings. One such gem is Holland House, tucked away in Bury Street, behind the iconic Gherkin. This impressive Art Nouveau structure was designed for the Dutch shipping magnate Kroller-Mullers by a fellow countryman Hendrik Petrus Berlage. It dates from 1914-1916 is quite unlike any other building within the Square Mile. Berlage was inspired by a visit to the United States; indeed Holland House wouldn’t seem out of place in Chicago or New York. It has a narrow, 4-storey frontage that faces south ea...

Can City

London loves to give its skyscrapers nicknames, and one of the newest has been christened the ‘Can of Ham’. Its actual name is 70 St Mary Axe, and even that street has an interesting derivation. The Can of Ham has been designed by Foggo Associates, whose distinctive work can also be seen above Cannon Street Station and along Queen Victoria Street. Their latest construction has been designed in response to local views and comprises 24 floors and 28,000 square metres of office space. Its unique design could be said to incorporate just 3 facades and no roof; instead, curved glass and anodised aluminium wrap around the building - almost like a tin (...

Hidden London

    In an anonymous-looking warehouse in Hackney you’ll find the Museum of London Archaeology Archives. And behind the brick and steel building in N1 I recently had the pleasure of enjoying a tour, led by two enthusiastic volunteers. Here are all manner of finds, from masses of bones to shards of pottery and large items deemed to big to store, are safely stored in buff-coloured boxes, clearly labelled. When anything is found at a dig they are deemed either ‘registered’ - of significant interest or man-made - or ‘general’, for items like broken shards or fragments of bone. Whenever a developer wants to build a new structure they have to...