Wendell Park is a well-loved and much used four acre green space in West London, halfway between Shepherds Bush and Chiswick.
The park has mature trees, flower-filled borders and a large central lawn area which is perfect for kicking a ball, exercising your dog or enjoying a family picnic on a sunny day.
The zoned-off playground is equipped for young children to safely run and play. There is also a large fenced area for exercising dogs, as well as a dog-free zone with tables and benches located opposite the playground.
The park opened in 1896, at a time when the orchards and open fields of Hammersmith were giving way to terraces of houses for workers and their families. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners offered the land, adjacent to the newly built St Saviour’s Church and Vicarage, to the Vestry of Hammersmith (the predecessors of the local council). In return, they were required to enclose the park with metal fencing and pave the surrounding roads.
Within a few months of the park opening the Vestry minutes record that it was ‘well attended and much enjoyed by the community of that locality’. It had a playground for boys and a separate one for girls. There was no shortage of staff; the park keeper was assisted by several gardeners.