Fulham

Coordinates: 51°28′58″N 0°11′42″W / 51.4828°N 0.1950°W / 51.4828; -0.1950

Fulham (/ˈfʊləm/) is an area in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in southwest London. It is an inner London district located 3.7 miles (6.0 km) south-west of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Fulham was formerly the seat of the diocese of "Fulham and Gibraltar", and Fulham Palace served as the former official home of the Bishop of London (now a museum), the grounds of which are now divided between public allotments and an elegant botanical garden.

Having been through many transformations in its history, Fulham is today a green London area within very close reach of many famously extravagant places such as Chelsea and Kensington; this is reflected in the high local house prices. It was included within Savills' 2007 list of "prime" London areas. Two football clubs, Fulham and Chelsea, are situated within Fulham, although Chelsea is located along the border with the adjacent borough of Chelsea. The former Lillie Bridge Grounds (which hosted the second FA Cup Final and the first ever amateur boxing matches) was also in Fulham.

West Ham

Coordinates: 51°32′05″N 0°00′28″E / 51.5347°N 0.00769°E / 51.5347; 0.00769

West Ham is in the London Borough of Newham in London, England. In the west it is a post-industrial neighbourhood abutting the site of the London Olympic Park and in the east it is mostly residential, consisting of Victorian terraced housing interspersed with higher density post-war social housing. The area has been one of the most deprived in the country and as part of the New Deal for Communities programme it forms, with neighbouring Plaistow, a regeneration area. The place lends its name to West Ham United F.C. and West Ham Church School.

History

Toponomy

A settlement in the area named Ham is first recorded as Hamme in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 958 and then in the 1086 Domesday Book as Hame. The earliest recorded use of West Ham, as distinct from East Ham, is in 1186 as Westhamma. It is formed from Old English 'hamm' and means 'a dry area of land between rivers or marshland', referring to the location of the settlement within boundaries formed by the rivers Lea, Thames and Roding and their marshes.