page_title: History of Shepherd's Bush
section_title: Urbanisation
hierarchical_section_title: History of Shepherd's Bush / Nineteenth century / Urbanisation
caption_attribution_description: English: The Passmore Edwards Library Shepherds Bush, now the home of the Bush Theatre.
context_page_description: Shepherd's Bush is a neighbourhood in west London in the historic County of Middlesex centred on Shepherd's Bush Green which was largely developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Originally a pasture for shepherds on their way to Smithfield market, in 1844 the West London Railway officially opened, and in 1864 the Metropolitan Railway built the original Shepherd's Bush station, making it possible to commute into central London for the first time, thereby opening up the area to residential development. Businesses soon followed, and in 1903 the west side of Shepherd's Bush Green became the home of the Shepherd's Bush Empire, a music hall whose early performers included Charlie Chaplin.
  In 1908 Shepherd's Bush became one of the principal sites for the Summer Olympics and, in the same year, hosted the Franco-British Exhibition, a large public fair, which attracted 8 million visitors and celebrated the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 by the United Kingdom and France. Many other exhibitions would follow until interrupted in 1914 by the Great War.
context_section_description: Residential development of the area began in earnest in the late 19th century, as London's population expanded relentlessly, requiring new housing. The Anglican church led the way with the building of St Stephen's, an Anglican church on the Uxbridge road somewhat west of the Green. It was built circa 1849–50, designed by architect Anthony Salvin, and built in the Gothic Revival style with a tower.
  In 1895 the Passmore Edwards Public Library was built on the Uxbridge Road, funded by the journalist and philanthropist Passmore Edwards, whose name the building bears to this day, though it is now a theatre.
  In 1898 the Shepherd's Bush Village Hall was opened on Wood Lane, and the DIMCO buildings were constructed, a red brick structure (Now Grade II listed) originally built as a shed for a London Underground power station, Europe's first electricity generating facility.
  Towards the end of the century a number of residential streets were developed, aimed at the urban middle classes. One example is Hopgood Street, a typical Victorian terrace of four storey brick buildings, faced with neo-classical stucco enrichments, completed c1899.
caption: The Passmore Edwards Public Library, built in 1895
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