Wood Lane(A219;formerlyA40) is a street inLondon.It runs north fromShepherd's Bush,under theWestway(A40) pastWormwood Scrubswhere it meets Scrubs Lane. The road is wholly in theLondon Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham(W12postal district). It is probably best known as the home of theBBC Television Centre,alsoBBC White Cityand formerly BBC Woodlands the offices ofBBC Worldwide.
History
editIn the 1780s, the road was known asTurvens Laneafter Turvens House located a short distance north of Shepherd's Bush Green. By the 1830s it had received its current name. In the 1860s the railway arrived with a line running parallel with Wood Lane but the area was still rural in character with the buildings of Wood Lane Farm, Eynam Farm and Hoof's Farm to the east of the road and a plant nursery to the west covering the land east of present-day Frithville Gardens and south of the BBC Television centre. Even into the 20th century the land either side of Wood Lane remained undeveloped until the area was chosen for the site of the 1908Franco-British exhibitionand1908 Summer Olympics.
The area to the west of Wood Lane, north ofLoftus Roadstadium, south of Du Cane Road and east of Bloemfontein Road was laid out as the exhibition site. The numerous pavilions faced with white stone earned the exhibition the nickname "the White City"which subsequently remained with the area, even after the exhibition closed and its pavilions were demolished.
White City Stadiumbuilt to host the Olympics was located on the site of BBC White City.
Wood Lane Underground stations
editTheCentral London Railway(CLR, now theCentral line) openedWood Lanestation in 1908 on the north side of itsWood Lane depotto serve the exhibition. Originally intended to be a temporary service it survived until 1947 when it was replaced byWhite Citystation a short distance to the north.
TheMetropolitan Railwayalso opened a station on its line betweenPaddingtonandHammersmith(now theHammersmith & City line). The station, also calledWood Lanealthough separate from the CLR's station, was adjacent to the railway bridge over Wood Lane. This station survived until it was destroyed by fire in 1959.
To serve the newWhite City shopping centredevelopment, a new station on the Hammersmith & City line, also calledWood Laneopened on 12 October 2008 to the east of Wood Lane.
External links
editMaps
- MotcoExtract ofFifteen Miles Round London,J. Cary, 1786, showing Turvens Lane
- LondonancestorExtract ofThe Environs of London,H Waters, 1832, showing Shepherd's Bush and Woodlane Farm
- MappalondonExtract ofLibrary Map of London & Its Suburbs,Edward Standford, 1862, showing Shepherd's Bush
- Old-maps.co.ukExtract of Ordnance Survey First Edition Map, 1874, showing Wood Lane
