Hammersmith, Fulham and Putney | Page 7

1902. Near it is the West London Hospital,
instituted May, 1856, and opened in July of the same year. Since that
time it has been greatly enlarged, and an immense new wing
overlooking Wolverton Gardens has been added. The hospital was
incorporated by royal charter, November 1, 1894. It is entirely
supported by voluntary contributions.
Near the Broadway is the Convent of the Sacred Heart, standing on
ground which has long been consecrated to religious uses, for a
nunnery is said to have existed here before the Reformation. In 1669 a
Roman Catholic school for girls was founded here, and in 1797 the
Benedictine nuns, driven out of France, took refuge in it. The present
buildings were erected in 1876 for a seminary, and it was not until 1893
that the nuns of the Sacred Heart re-established a convent within the
walls. The present community employ themselves in teaching, and
superintend schools of three grades.
There stood in the Broadway until within recent years a charming old
building called The Cottage--one of those picturesque but obstructive
details in which our ancestors delighted. Behind the Congregational
Chapel there is an old hall, used as a lecture-hall, which was originally
a chapel, and which is said by Faulkner to be the oldest place of
worship in Hammersmith. It was built by the Presbyterians. The first

authentic mention of its minister is in 1700, when the Rev. Samuel
Evans "collected on the brief for Torrington at a meeting of Protestant
Dissenters held at the White Hart, Hammersmith, 13s. 6d."
In the Brook Green Road Nos. 41 to 45 contain an orphanage called St.
Mary's Catholic Orphanage for Girls. On Brook Green itself one or two
old cottages with tiled roofs are still to be seen--reminiscences of old
Hammersmith. The long strip of grass, in shape like a curving tongue,
justifies the name of "Green." Dr. Iles' almshouses, known as the Brook
Green Almshouses, have long been established here, though the present
buildings date only from 1839. They stand at the corner of Rowan
Road, and are rather ornately built in brick with diamond-paned
windows. The charity was founded in 1635 by Dr. Iles, who left
"houses, almshouses, and land on Brook Green, and moiety of a house
in London." The old almshouses were pulled down in 1839. At the
north end of Brook Green, next door to the Jolly Gardeners
public-house, stood Eagle House, a very fine old mansion, only
demolished within the last twenty years. Bute House stands on the site.
Eagle House was built in the style of Queen Anne's reign, and had a
fine gateway with two stone piers surmounted by eagles. The back of
the house was of wood, and the front of brick, and there was a massy
old oak staircase. Like many other old houses, it became for a time a
school.
Sion House is a square stuccoed building, plain and without decoration
either interior or exterior. This was used as a nunnery until about three
years ago, and the wall decorations in the room used by the nuns as a
chapel are still quite fresh. This room is ugly and meagre, and without
attractiveness. It has a fine garden at the back, stretching out parallel to
that of its neighbour, and the two together embrace an area of close
upon four acres, which will make a fine playground for the projected
school. These gardens are at present neglected tangles of evergreen
creepers and trees, but with a little care might be admirably laid out. On
Brook Green is now established St. Paul's School for girls, a
companion to the large school for boys already described. This is likely
to be a very popular institution.

Near the corner of Caithness Road is the Hammersmith and West
Kensington Synagogue, opened on September 7, 1890, which forms
one of the thirteen synagogues in London that constitute together the
United Synagogue, of which Lord Rothschild is the President. The
building was designed by Mr. Delissa Joseph, F.R.I.B.A. The leading
features of the design are a gabled façade with sham minarets, and a
recessed porch with overhanging balcony. The façade is flanked by
square towers containing the staircases.
At the south end of the Green there is quite a Roman Catholic colony.
The Almshouses stand on the west side, facing the road, behind a
quadrangle of green grass. They were founded in 1824, and contain
accommodation for thirty inmates of either sex. Five of the houses are
endowed, and the pensioners pass on in rotation from the unendowed to
the endowed rooms. They must be Roman Catholics and exceed the age
of sixty years before they are received. On the north side of the
quadrangle is the Roman Catholic parish church, a fine building in the
Gothic style, with a high spire and