Turnham Green

Turnham Green was a village on the main road between London and the west. It was recorded as 'Turneham' in 1235 and 'Turnhamgrene' in 1369. On 13 November 1642, the Battle of Turnham Green was fought nearby during the First English Civil War resulting in the Parliamentarians blocking the King's advance on London. In 1680 the homicidal Philip Herbert, 7th Earl of Pembroke murdered a watchman, William Smeeth, after a drunken evening in the local tavern. A similar but far less serious episode in the tavern, the Old Packhorse Inn, in 1795 saw the young Daniel O'Connell arrested for drunken and riotous behaviour. From 1912 until its closure in 1959, the Chiswick Empire theatre stood facing the…

At the eastern end of the green stands Chiswick war memorial. It is in the form of a stone obelisk at the top of a flight of five steps, encircled by a metal fence and a yew hedge. It was unveiled on 13 November 1921 by the 9th Duke of Devonshire and Arthur Winnington-Ingram, the Bishop of London. It is made of Cornish granite. It was designed by a local architect, Edward Willis. It was given Grade II listed status in 2015. In the middle of the green stands the tall Christ Church, Turnham Green, designed in the Gothic Revival style by George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1843. The chancel was extended in 1887. Along the southern side of the green is Heathfield Terrace; its largest buildings…