History of Shepherd's Bush

rdf:langString History of Shepherd's Bush

rdf:langString Shepherd's Bush is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham centred on Shepherd's Bush Green. Originally a pasture for shepherds on their way to Smithfield market, it was largely developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1844 the West London Railway officially opened, followed in 1864 by the Metropolitan Railway who built the original Shepherd's Bush station, opening up the area to residential development. Businesses soon followed, and in 1903 the west side of Shepherd's Bush Green became the home of the Shepherd's Bush Empire, a music hall whose early performers included Charlie Chaplin. In 1908 Shepherd's Bush became one of the principal sites for the Summer Olympics and, in the same year, hosted the Franco-British Exhibition (also known as "The Bush Exhibition", and "The Great White City"), a large public fair, which attracted 8 million visitors and celebrated the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 by the United Kingdom and France. Other exhibitions followed until interrupted in 1914 by World War I. In 1915 the Gaumont Film Company constructed Lime Grove Studios, "the first building ever put up in this country solely for the production of films", later occupied by the BBC until their move to nearby White City. During World War II the area suffered from enemy bombing, especially from V-weapons which struck randomly and with little warning. Post war developments included the construction of the Westway and the M41 spur (now the West Cross Route) to the M40 motorway which cut Shepherd's Bush off from Holland Park, and in the process demolished much Victorian housing. In 2008 the Westfield London shopping centre opened its doors on the former White City exhibition site. With a retail floor area of 150,000m², it was reported to be the largest shopping centre in London, and the third-largest in Britain.