Lillie Rec in maps

Rocque's 16-sheet map is perhaps the finest map of what is now Greater London published in the 18th Century. It shows the area now occupied by Lillie Rec as Fulham Field. Crabtree farm is shown. "Munster" is still "Muster". Hammersmith Bridge (1827) doesn't exist yet, but Fulham Bridge (Putney) does. 

• View the 1747 map on LayersOfLondon.com 👉

The map shows 'By Rocque' just after Fulham Field, near the map maker's residence (according to Mitton & Geikie, p.49)

The map shows Fulham Common Fields where Lillie Rec is today. It's not shown on the map, but Sir John Scott Lillie had already started developing Fulham Recreation Ground from 1826 (source). You can also see "The New Road", built on land he donated to connect North End to Lillie Bridge. This was later renamed Lillie Road, but here is still called Crown Lane.

Other interesting details include West London (Brompton) Cemetery  (opened 1837), Crabtree farm, Dorset Cottage, Craven Cottage, Colehill House (aka Colehill Villa), and the Greyhound public house at the corner of Greyhound Lane. 

• View the 1837 map on OldMapsOnline.com 👉

This is a small section of a foldout map tracing the course of the Thames from Westminster to Richmond. This map is low on detail, but is interesting for how it shows the rural nature of London beyond Westminster, with Hammersmith, Fulham, Parsons Green, and Walham Green (today Fulham Broadway) still separate hamlets. West London Cemetery (Brompton) is also shown.

• View the 1849 map on Hathitrust 👉

• Read pp.36-39, concerning Fulham and Hammersmith  👉

This map shows Fulham Common Fields where Lillie Rec is today, and the market gardens north of Lillie Road (here still named Crown Lane). Fulham Palace Road is still named Hammersmith and Fulham Road. The Greyhound inn, at the end of Greyhound Lane, is indicated for the first time. It was known by that name until at least 1990 but is now permanently closed.

• View the 1859 map on OldMapsOnline.com 👉

The area that will be occupied by the recreation ground is still completely blank and depicted the same as the other farmland. (It's unknown whether the paths and hatching depict actual farm fields and dirt tracks.) The map shows the surrounding cottages, and especially the Hammersmith area, in great detail and high resolution. The Halfway House inn on Fulham Cross is indicated for the first time. It was known by that name until at least 1990 and the name is still visible on the wall. Today it is a supermarket.

• View the map on London1864.com 👉

This map, as well as the 1872 and 1878 editions, erroneously labels Rosebank villa as "Rose Cottage".

This map is interesting for being the first one showing Fulham Cemetery, opened in 1865, in its original size before the extensions of 1874 and 1880. Fulham Recreation Ground does not exist yet. Lillie Road is still called Crown Road. The Crabtree farm and surrounding cottages are shown in great detail.

• View the 1865 map on OldMapsOnline.com 👉

Fulham Recreation Ground (Lillie Rec) does not exist yet (it opened in 1892, although it was developed by Sir John Scott Lillie since 1826), and the area is indicated the same as other farmland. Details of the surrounding farms and cottages are also shown. This map also shows Fulham Cemetery soon after its opening, in its original size. What is today Charing Cross Hospital is still the Fulham Union Workhouse.

• View the 1865 map on National Library of Scotland 👉

The area that will become Fulham Recreation Ground in 20 years' time is still shown as farmland. This map still shows Fulham Cemetery in its original size, before the extension of 1874. Charing Cross Hospital is shown as Hammersmith and Fulham Workhouse. 

• View the 1872 map on London1872.com 👉

This map erroneously labels Rosebank villa as "Rose Cottage".

This is a small section of a 3-part foldout map tracing the Thames from the City to Oxford. Fulham is charmingly depicted from Eel Brook Common to Hammersmith Bridge. Depictions of buildings are not very realistic, but this is the earliest map to show Lillie Rec as as a park. The map shows its location amidst farm fields, and gradually encroaching housing from the east and north. 

Although Lillie Rec was only opened in 1892, Sir John Scott Lillie started to develop the area that became the Recreation Ground in 1826, and Fulham Football Club played here in 1884 and 1885. (Source). 

• View the full map on HathiTrust.org 👉

• View the Fulham section only 👉

The map is undated, but the District Railway is shown (extended from West Brompton to Putney Bridge in 1880), as well as the new Putney Bridge, opened in 1885.

This is the first map showing Fulham Recreation Ground, two years after it opened in 1892. It has the same familiar layout as today, consisting of two triangles, large and small. The mapmaker shows the triangles lined by trees, which suggests that the London plane trees bordering the larger triangle today may date from the creation of the park. (This was the case for the plane trees in Bishop's Park, which were planted in 1893 when the park opened.) The bandstand (added in 1894) is not yet shown.

Lillie Road now has its present-day name (after Sir John Scott Lillie). Everington Street school (opened in 1884) is shown, as is the North Fulham Police Station (opened in 1887). The gradual encroachment of urbanisation  from the north and east is visible, following the extension of the District Railway from West Brompton to Putney Bridge in the 1880s.

• View the 1894-96 map on National Library of Scotland 👉

This map is not very detailed, but it shows the bandstand for the first time (added in 1894), and 2 quadrangles which could be the "gymnasium". The map also shows staggering transformation of Fulham from farmland to dense residential streets over the preceding 20 years is evident. Gone is Crabtree Farm, the last farm to close (in 1910). Gone is the Munster Road Nursery. You can see both Everington Street school (opened 1884) and Fulham Cross school (opened 1908). 

• View the 1912 map on National Library of Scotland 👉

This map from 1913 depicts the recreation ground in excellent detail, showing the playing fields in the smaller triangle and what may be gardens around the bandstand.  Only the west line of trees is shown, but they were probably omitted from the diagonal for reasons of illustration. 

A tramway runs down Fulham Palace Road. (The LCC electric trams can be seen in this aerial photo from 1928 or on Facebook – they ran from 1906 until the introduction of the trolleybus in 1935.) You can also see the police station at the northeast corner.

• View the 1913 map on National Library of Scotland 👉

The S-shaped symbols across many lines are areas braces, and they indicate that the spaces so connected are all included within the same reference number (8•439) and area (source, under Areas).

The attack on London between 1939 and 1945 is one of the most significant events in the city's modern history, the impact of which can still be seen in its urban and social landscapes. As a key record of the attack, the London County Council Bomb Damage Maps represent destruction on a huge scale, recording buildings and streets reduced to smoke and rubble. The hand-coloured maps indicated damage from Total Destruction (Black), through Seriously Damaged (Dark Red) to Clearance Areas (Green). 

• View the 1945 bomb damage map on Layers of London 👉

Although the bomb damage map was published after WW2, the map used for this area is an old one, apparently from the 1890s, before the bandstand was there. So this cannot be used as an indication of the park details in the 1940s.

It's not clear exactly when this area was surveyed, but it is after the one above and there are several signs of the War: the small building along the diagonal was used in wartime, and the houses around Purcell Crescent and part of Strode Road have been demolished. Most of the subdivided spaces have been removed, and any iron railings that enclosed them would have been removed for the war effort.

The North Fulham Police Station was closed in 1938, and used until 1944 to help with the war effort. After this, it was demolished and only the section houses remained. Mackenzie Trench House is shown.

• View the 1944-73 map on National Library of Scotland 👉

This larger map shows the industrial Thames riverside in its heyday, as well as Riverside Studios (est. 1933). None of the present-day housing estates exist yet (Bayonne Estate, Aintree Estate, etc.) – built after 1960. This is the first map to show Fulham Hospital instead of Fulham Union Workhouse, although in 1973 it became Charing Cross Hospital.

This is not a very detailed map. It is mainly interesting as it shows that the bandstand was still there in the 1950s.

• View the 1950-58 map on National Library of Scotland 👉