Wormholt Park has a multi-use games area and two play areas, one for under 8s and one for over 8s.
History
Origins
The first reference to "Wormeholt" appeared in 1189, when the Bishop of London granted tithes of the newly cleared land to the St Paul's Cathedral School.[1][2] The name was a combination of the Old English "Worme" or "Wyrm" and "Holt", meaning "snake-infested wood".[1]
The land became part of the Manor of Fulham, owned by the Bishop of London, and then descended to become the Manor of Wormholt Barns.[3] For 200 years from 1548, Wormholt was leased to the Duke of Somerset.[3] A family named Atley ran the land by the beginning of the 17th century, but the poor quality of the land led to frequent changes of tenancy.[3]
By the 19th century, the Manor was split into two parts, Wormholt Farm and Eynham Farm.[3] By 1828, these parts became Wormholt Farm and Old Oak Farm.[2] A survey of 1833 described the the soil of Wormholt Farm as as "strong loam, making good grazing fields near Uxbridge Road, but towards Wormholt Wood Scrubs it becomes too stiff and too wet in winter."[3] The north of the farm remained arable and was used for grazing, whereas the south of the farm was used for bricklaying, valued at £4,000 per acre.[3]
By 1845 Old Oak Farm consisted of over 368 acres divided into 32 fields.[1]
In October 1903, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners decided to sell parts of the Wormholt Farm and Old Oak Farm for development. As part of the development deal, the commissioners offered to donate the land between Bryony Road and Sawley Road road, also known as Barn Field,[3] to the Hammersmith Metropolitan Borough Council,[1] which was conveyed on 9 December 1909.[4] Potential names considered by the council included Oakland’s Park, Old Oak Park or Wormholt Park.[1]
In his speech opening the park, the mayor said:[1]
“I am pleased indeed to come here today to open the park for you as I consider it to be a great acquisition to your Borough”. Adding “The park was not so large as they would like to see and the trees were not quite so leafy as they would like to see, but they had the grass green, and if they had patience to wait the trees would give a quantity of leaf” and in conclusion he said: “I have, therefore, the pleasurable duty and honour of declaring this Wormholt Park open and to be dedicated for ever to the use of the inhabitants of the Borough of Hammersmith.”
Following concern about the park's state of disrepair, the Friends of Wormholt Park community group was formed in 2009.[7]
In 2015-2016, Hammersmith & Fulham Council funded a landscape refurbishment, which included excavation and removal of the remains of the Janet Adegoke Leisure Centre, the over-grown former bowling green and the former tennis court.[8][9]
In 2024, the W12 festival was held in the park.[10]
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