STAMFORD BROOK (District Line)
There are two different routes to take here, one involves an urban ramble, the other a visit to Chiswick House and Hogarth’s House.
For both routes start from the Tube station, with its small classical facade and turn right into Goldhawk Road. Shortly you will be in Chiswick High Road. Go right again. At first the road is mainly residential, with an early nineteenth century terrace housing the Chiswick Club Sciety. The shops on the right hand side of the road are small scale and interestingly varied. After a few minutes you will see Nos. 62-64 , Burlington House, c1800, set back from the road. No.62 has a pretty fanlight. 
Just down the road is the The Power House (scroll down). This was built at the end of the nineteenth century to provide power for the London United Electrical Tramway Company. Trams ran from the adjacent depot – now a bus garage.To discover this stately edifice, go under the green wrought-iron arch and down the service road. It was reduced in status to a sub-station after the construction of Lots Road in 1917, but continued to function until the closure of the trolley bus service in 1962.
The power station has been converted to flats, and a recording studio makes use of the huge lower floor areas. However, the exterior is well preserved with carved images of Electricity and Locomotion over the entrance.To the left is what is now Stamford Brook Bus Depot. If you look up to the roof behind the clock you will see a little wooden shed for maintenance. When the depot was built the clock would have played an important part in the smooth running of the tram time-table. Please do not attempt to go into the depot from here. It is not a public area and could be dangerous because of moving vehicles. To see the simple facade return to the High Road and peep into the bus station yard.
Now cross over the road and continue walking, crossing Chiswick Lane. The neatly proportioned building on the corner dates back to the eighteenth century. Chiswick High Road now becomes more commercial, but the shops remain mostly small with an entertaining mix of businesses. On the other side a late Victorian pub, The Roebuck, looms large, with gilded stag reliefs on the top storey. Near the corner of Annandale Road is a statue of William Hogarth and his pug dog (Jim Mathieson 2001. )
Over the main road you will see the handsome ex-police station, brick-built with carved coat of arms above the door, now a restaurant. On the side where you are walking there is a Georgian terrace. No.183 with its old bow window is everyone's idea of how a secondhand bookshop should look.
Near the modern Police station is the old Fire Station of 1891 with an early example of a hose-drying tower – look out for the carvings of firemen’s helmets above the windows. At Dukes Road turn left and then right into Bourne Place where Afton House (c. 1800), the Chiswick Memorial Club, has a handsomely glazed doorway. This short road leads to Dukes Avenue.
Here you can deviate from the main route by walking all the way down Dukes Avenue to get to Chiswick House and Hogarth House (see below) otherwise cross to Barley Mow Passage with an old industrial building (the Devonshire works, original name of Sanderson’s Wallpaper factory) on one side and a Roman Catholic church on the other). A little further on the old factory building faces Voysey House, C.F.A. Voysey’s 1902 extension to the factory. It is constructed in white glazed brick and has a graceful curving parapet. If you turn right at the end of the passage, having passed the Barley Mow pub, you get a better view of the roofline.
There is seating in this area and an info board about the Civil War Battle of Turnham Green (1642) – a decisive event in the Civil War. The large green and white building in Chiswick High Road that can be seen from here across the Green is a 1980’s design by John Taylor. It cleverly echoes the roofline of the Voysey House. The intrusive blue mirror tower is the Chiswick Centre (1959, cladding later). Go back and cross Heathfield Terrace, walking with Turnham Green on your right. No. 2 is a Georgian cottage in front of what used to be the Army & Navy repository. Next comes a nineteenth century terrace with attractive arched windows.
After the Town Hall (not to be lingered over) is an early Victorian stucco terrace, the first house of which has been painted a surprising green. All these houses have large front gardens with iron railings. Christ Church on the green dates from the 1840’s. At the end of Heathfield Terrace is an Arts and Crafts style Church Hall (1913). Walk over towards the Green via a zebra crossing and then go through the gap in the iron railings to get to Arlington Gardens. (Careful, it’s an awkward place to cross.) Behind Arlington Park House look for the tucked-away rural survival, Arlington Cottages, originally a farmhouse.
From here you can get to Chiswick Park Underground station by returning to Chiswick High Road. Cross over and walk up Acton Lane - you will soon see the station straight ahead.
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Chiswick House and Hogarth's House: From the top of Dukes Avenue it is about ten minutes walk to the public parkland surrounding Chiswick House. (To negotiate the major road, Hogarth Lane, you will need to use the subway.On emerging into the road again walk on a few yards until you see the main iron gates of the park.)
This summer retreat was built in the 1720’s for Lord Burlington. He was known as the ‘architect earl’ because of his leading part in the revival of Palladian architecture. The exquisite building is surrounded by 65 acres of landscaped gardens containing many statues and other ornamental features. It was originally intended as a place to enjoy peace and quiet away from the city and to house Lord Burlington’s art collection. There is a magnificent range of glasshouses dating back to 1828 which houses an important camellia collection, part of which is thought to be the original planting. I should point out that Chiswick House has just been given a £12.1 million grant by English Heritage for a restoration/regeneration project. Although this is excellent news in the long term, it will presumably mean some disruption while the work is taking place.
To get to Hogarth's House return to Hogarth Lane and turn right. Cross Sutherland Road. Soon you will see the high brick wall of Hogarth's House, once the country home of William Hogarth, the eighteenth century satirist. He described this building as ‘a little country box by the Thames’. Now only a 100 yards from the Hogarth Roundabout, it is a surprisingly tranquil house, painted pale green throughout. In the small walled garden is a mulberry tree so old that it was already mature in Hogarth’s time. Please note the opening hours – afternoons only and closed on Monday. Well worth a detour. Afterwards it is interesting to walk to the A4 and look across to Church Street to imagine how Chiswick village looked before the road was built.MAP
Stamford Brook is just one walk from the many to be found at London Tube Rambles. There are architectural gems, beautiful country views, historic places and whacky buildings to be found, even in the most unpromising areas covered by the Greater London Underground stations. Usually the places listed are within a mile of the Tube - often only five minutes walk away. If you reached this as an individual page via a search engine, you might like to go to www.londontuberambles.co.uk to see the other destinations explored . You'll be amazed at what's out there!
© DR2008