The parish of Hammersmith is mentioned in Doomsday Book under the name of Hermoderwode, and in ancient deeds of the Exchequer as Hermoderworth. It is called Hamersmith in the Court Rolls of the beginning of Henry VII.’s reign. This is evidently more correct than the present spelling of the name, which is undoubtedly derived from Ham, meaning in Saxon a town or dwelling, and Hythe or Hyde, a haven or harbour, “therefore,” says Faulkner, “Ham-hythe, a town with a harbour or creek.”

Hammersmith is bounded on the south by Fulham and the river, on the west by Chiswick and Acton, and on the east by Kensington. Until 1834 it was incorporated with the parish of Fulham, and on Ascension Day of that year the first ceremony of “beating the bounds” took place. The West London Railway runs in the bed of an ancient stream which rose north of Wormwood Scrubs and ended at Chelsea Creek, and this brook was crossed by a bridge at the place where the railway-bridge now stands on the Hammersmith Road. The stream was evidently the determining factor in the old parish boundary line between Kensington and Hammersmith, but Hammersmith borough includes this, ending at Norland and St. Ann’s Roads. On the south side it marches with Fulham that is to say, westward along the Hammersmith Road as far as St. Paul’s School, where it dips southward to include the school, and thence to the river. From here it proceeds midway in the river to a point almost opposite the end of Chiswick Ait, then northward up British Grove as far as Ravenscourt Gardens; almost due north to within a few yards of the Stamford Brook Road; it follows the trend of that road to the North and South Western Junction Railway. It crosses the railway three times before going northward until it is on a level with Jeddo Road. It then turns eastward, cuts across the north of Jeddo Road to Wilton Road West. Northward it runs to the Uxbridge Road, follows this eastward for a few yards, and strikes again northward up Old Oak Road and Old Oak Common Road until it reaches Wormwood Scrubs public and military ground. It then trends north-eastward, curves back to meet the Midland and South-Western Line as it crosses the canal, and follows Old Oak Common Road until on a level with Willesden Junction Station, from thence eastward to the Harrow Road. It follows the Harrow Road until it meets the western Kensington boundary running between the Roman Catholic and Protestant cemeteries at Kensal Town. It goes through Brewster Gardens and Latimer Road until it meets the line first indicated.