Brook Green

The hamlet of Brook Green was established in the 16th century, originating as an outlying farm or grange to a manor, or as a small freehold estate. The area was originally marshland with a brook running through it and where an annual fair was held until 1823.

The name was mentioned in 1493, in association with a man-made tributary of the Stamford Brook called Black Bull Ditch or Parr's Ditch, which flowed through the green and joined the Thames south of the Chancellors Wharf. At this time Brook Green was a hamlet, to the north of the village of Hammersmith.

The brook became polluted and highly odoriferous from waste from the nearby brickfields and finally was converted into a contained sewer in 1876.

From the 18th and 19th centuries, the area around the green was used for market gardening. The area which is now the Olympia Exhibition Hall was previously the Lee and Kennedy nursery garden. The well-known company was responsible for introducing many hundreds of overseas and exotic species into the UK in the late 18th century.

The green is surrounded by residential buildings, most of which were built at the end of the 19th century. A small area centred on the green became a conservation area in 1971, which has grown slightly over the last 40 years.

Several of the surrounding houses carry Blue Plaques.