Wormwood Scrubs

Wormwood Scrubs is a large open space in Old Oak Common, in the north-east of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It covers 67 hectares and is one of London’s biggest commons. The eastern part, Little Wormwood Scrubs, is separated by Scrubs Lane and the West London line railway. The land has been public since the Wormwood Scrubs Act of 1879. The southern edge holds HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs, built between 1875 and 1891 by convict labour. Nearby is the Hammersmith Hospital campus, which includes Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital. The area has strong military and aviation links. In 1812 the War Office leased part of it to exercise cavalry horses. In 1910 an airship took off from an improvised landing ground on the Scrubs. During the Second World War the site housed the Chief Cable Censorship Department, an outstation of the Government Code and Cypher School. The prison lies close to the scene of the 1966 Massacre of Braybrook Street, where three policemen were killed. Local birdwatcher Lester Holloway led a campaign in 1986 to save Scrubs Wood, now a nature reserve. Visitors find wide grasslands, sports pitches and the Linford Christie Stadium. There is a pony centre and many football pitches. A surviving rifle butt from the 19th century forms part of the stadium’s wall. The reserve includes Braybrook Wood and Lester’s Embankment. Paths cross the open land, offering views of the prison and hospital. The airship shed once stood where the stadium now stands. The whole space remains a place for exercise and recreation, managed by the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust.