View source for Wormwood Scrubs

{{short description|Common land in the United Kingdom}}
{{for|the prison|HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
[[Image:Wormwood Scrubs.JPG|thumb|Looking east from the south-western edge of Wormwood Scrubs]]

'''Wormwood Scrubs''', known locally as '''The Scrubs''' (or simply '''Scrubs'''), is an open space in [[Old Oak Common]] located in the north-eastern corner of the [[London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham]] in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, at {{convert|67|ha|acres}},<ref name="H&F">{{cite web |title=Wormwood Scrubs open space |url=https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/arts-and-parks/parks-and-open-spaces/wormwood-scrubs-open-space |website=LBHF |access-date=25 June 2021 |date=17 December 2015}}</ref> and one of the largest areas of [[Common land|common]] in London. The eastern part, known as [[Little Wormwood Scrubs]], is cut off by Scrubs Lane and the [[West London line]] railway. It has been an open public space since the [[Wormwood Scrubs Act 1879]].

The southern edge of the Scrubs is the site of two locally important institutions. At the western end is [[Her Majesty's Prison Service|HM Prison]] [[Wormwood Scrubs (HM Prison)|Wormwood Scrubs]], built between 1875 and 1891 by convict labour. To the east of the prison is the [[Hammersmith Hospital]] campus, which includes the relocated [[Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital]].

Within the area are several sports facilities, including the [[Linford Christie Stadium]], tens of football pitches, and a pony centre. [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers Football Club]] played on Wormwood Scrubs between 1893 and 1896.

==History==
[[File:Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) women at a 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun site at Wormwood Scrubs in London, 22 October 1941. H14878.jpg|thumb|[[Auxiliary Territorial Service]] (ATS) women at a 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun site 22 October 1941]]
The area is first mentioned in 1189 as Wormhold Scrubs ({{lit|[[shrubland]] [by] snake-forest}});<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glias.org.uk/news/141news.html|title=Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society|website=www.glias.org.uk}}</ref> the area was cleared woodland used for pasture for the cattle and pigs of the local manor. In 1801, the northern section was cut off by the building of the [[Paddington Arm]] of the [[Grand Junction Canal]].<ref name="ARB">{{cite book |title=Around the Bush |date=1998 |publisher=Shepherds Bush Local History Society |location=London |isbn=0950942103 |edition=Millennium}}</ref>{{rp|35–36}} In 1812 an area of {{convert|77|ha|acre}} known as Wormholt Scrubs was leased by the [[War Office]] from the Manor of Fulham.<ref name="H&F"/> This was in order to exercise [[cavalry]] horses, which until then had been exercised in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]], [[Belgrave Square]] and [[Regent's Park]] – then known as St. Marylebone's Park. This [[common land]] became known as Wormwood Scrubs. The [[London and Birmingham Railway]] removed a section north of the canal in 1837, followed by the [[Great Western line]] removing a section to the south of the canal in 1838. 1844 saw the [[West London line|Birmingham, Bristol and Thames Junction Railway]] slice off a sizable section of the eastern half, becoming [[Little Wormwood Scrubs|The Little Scrubs]]. In 1872, the manorial rights were purchased under the [[Military Forces Localisation Act 1872]] with a view to creating a military exercise ground.<ref name="ARB"/>{{rp|36–37}} 
The [[Wormwood Scrubs Act 1879]], which aimed to create a "metropolitan exercising ground" for the military and to provide the Scrubs for "the perpetual use by the inhabitants of the metropolis for exercise and recreation". Under this Act, the military were empowered to expel civilians from the area whenever they were training, but they allowed civilians free use of it when they were not. To ensure that it was kept as open land for all to enjoy, the act banned the military from building any permanent structures other than [[Rifle range|rifle butts]],<ref name="ARB"/>{{rp|37}} one of which survives today as a wall in the [[Linford Christie Stadium]]. 1873 saw the purchase of the southern part of the Scrubs for the building of Wormwood Scrubs Prison, and in 1889 an area adjacent to the prison for the building of [[Hammersmith hospital]].<ref name="ARB"/>{{rp|40–41}}

In 1908, the [[1908 Summer Olympics|Olympic Marathon]] route from [[Windsor Castle]] to the [[White City Stadium|Olympic Stadium]] at [[White City, London|White City]] went across the Scrubs. In 1910 Wormwood Scrubs became part of aviation history when a pioneer [[airship]] took flight from an improvised landing ground; ''The [[Daily Mail]] [[Airship hangar|Airship Garage]]'' was built shortly afterwards—the site is now occupied by the Linford Christie Stadium. In 1914 all air-related activities on the Scrubs passed to the authority of the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]], and there are records in [[The National Archives (UK)|The National Archives]] of a base here called [[RAF Wormwood Scrubs|Wormwood Scrubs Naval Air Station]]. The airship shed was used to train [[Royal Naval Air Service#RNAS Armoured Car Section|RNAS armoured car]] crews.<ref>The Devil's Chariots, John Glanfield, Sutton Publishing Ltd 2001, {{ISBN|0-7509-4152-9}} (p.58)</ref> It remained as an emergency landing ground until the 1930s. In 1939, with the onset of the [[Second World War]], Wormwood Scrubs again played host to an innovative military department—the Chief Cable Censorship Department, an [[Y station|outstation]] of the [[Government Code and Cypher School]] (GC&CS) at [[Bletchley Park]]. In 1928 [[St Clement Danes School|St. Clement Danes Grammar School]] moved from [[Holborn]] to a newly built school on Du Cane Road next to Hammersmith Hospital; the school buildings were demolished in 1975, when the school moved out of London.

It was served by [[St. Quintin Park and Wormwood Scrubs railway station]] on the [[West London Line]]. On 3 October 1940 the station was struck by an [[incendiary bomb]] and destroyed by fire. <ref>{{cite web |title=West London Line |url=http://www.abandonedstations.org.uk/West_London_Line.html |website=www.abandonedstations.org.uk |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref>

The prison is located just yards from the scene of the [[Massacre of Braybrook Street]] in 1966, in which three policemen were shot dead by three armed men after stopping their suspicious car.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/AZzJiPtl2cM Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140611023034/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZzJiPtl2cM Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZzJiPtl2cM |title=Harry Roberts |publisher=YouTube |date=12 August 1966 |access-date=2 November 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1986 local birdwatcher [[Lester Holloway]] set up a campaign to save Scrubs Wood,<ref>{{cite web |title=unavailable |url=http://scrubs.ground-level.org/stories/storyReader$158 |access-date=23 February 2009 |archive-date=5 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205020451/http://scrubs.ground-level.org/stories/storyReader$158 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the area of railway land along the north side of Wormwood Scrubs, from destruction as part of plans by the then [[British Rail]] to build cleaning depots (see [[North Pole depot]]) to service Channel Tunnel trains. Holloway and his campaign petitioned the House of Lords,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1987/jul/06/channel-tunnel-bill-1 |title=Channel Tunnel Bill (Hansard, 6 July 1987) |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=6 July 1987 |access-date=2 November 2010}}</ref> supported by the then MP for Fulham [[Nick Raynsford]], and won concessions. The existing nature reserve includes an area known as 'Lester's Embankment'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scrubs-online.org.uk/Documents/Bird%20Reports/2008/BirdsOctober2008.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006153614/http://www.scrubs-online.org.uk/Documents/Bird%20Reports/2008/BirdsOctober2008.pdf |archive-date=6 October 2011 |url-status=live |title=October 2008 Sightings at Wormwood Scrubs|access-date=2 November 2010}}</ref> The campaign attracted considerable national publicity in 1987, and even a musical.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ashleyhutchings2.tripod.com/thewildsideoftown.html |title=The Wild Side of Town |publisher=Ashleyhutchings2.tripod.com |access-date=2 November 2010 |archive-date=6 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006153603/http://ashleyhutchings2.tripod.com/thewildsideoftown.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

From 1965 until 1994 the western part of Wormwood Scrubs lay in the [[London Borough of Ealing]], and was known as ''Old Oak Common''. The name is still shown on maps today. In 1994 the whole park became part of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1993/1346/made|title=The Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Hounslow (London Borough Boundaries) Order 1993 |website=UK Government|date=1993|access-date=19 October 2024}}</ref>

==Finances==
The Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust, a charity set up under the Act of Parliament to manage this public space "for the exercise and recreation of the inhabitants of the metropolis", receives a substantial income stream from the lease to Hammersmith Hospital of a car park on its southern boundary. Other sources of income from the space include the rental of sports fields, advertising billboards, and two public car parks. The accounting for costs and revenues of the charity has been a matter of debate between the council, currently the charity's sole trustee, and the Friends of Wormwood Scrubs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://friendsofwormwoodscrubs.org.uk/?p=80|title=friendsofwormwoodscrubs.org.uk|website=friendsofwormwoodscrubs.org.uk}}</ref>

===Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust===
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust
| formation                = {{start date and age|1994|02|23}}
| founder                  = [[London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham]]
| type                     = [[Charitable Trust]]
| headquarters             = [[Hammersmith Town Hall]]
| website                  = https://democracy.lbhf.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=467
}}
The '''Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust (WSCT)''' is a [[charitable trust]] that manages the Wormwood Scrubs. In 1879, the [[Wormwood Scrubs Act 1879]] ([[42 & 43 Vict.]] c. clx) was passed, which vested the land to the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]], to be maintained as a place of public recreation, subject to the rights of use by the [[War Office]] (now the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]).<ref name="Act2">{{cite legislation UK|type=local act|year=Vict/42-43|chapter=160|act=Wormwood Scrubs Act 1879}}</ref> Following the disbandment of the Metropolitan Board of Works, responsibility for the management of Wormwood Scrubs fell to its successors, the [[London County Council]] on 21 March 1889, the [[Greater London Council]] on 1 April 1965 and eventually to the [[Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council]] on 1 April 1986.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|year=1986|number=148|si=The Local Government Reorganisation (Property etc.) Order 1986}}</ref>

The trust was formed on 23 February 1994 "to encourage sporting and recreational use of Wormwood Scrubs through the provision and maintenance of an environment that is conducive to its objective. In addition to supporting the recreational activities provided by the Council through the Linford Christie stadium, the Trust's main activity relates to the maintenance of the scrubs itself."<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=WORMWOOD SCRUBS CHARITABLE TRUST - Charity 1033705 |url=https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/1033705/charity-overview |access-date=4 March 2025 |website=prd-ds-register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The trust is governed by the provisions of the act and a [[Charitable trusts in English law|scheme]] of the [[Charity Commission for England and Wales|Charity Commissioners]] dated 25 March 2002.<ref name=":0" /> The [[Hammersmith and Fulham Council]] acts as the sole corporate trustee and manages the trust through the '''Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust Committee''',<ref name=":2">{{cite web |author=London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham |title=Scheme of Delegation |url=https://democracy.lbhf.gov.uk/documents/s113630/Scheme%20of%20delegation.pdf}}</ref> which is "charged with managing the affairs of the Trust, improving its focus and performance, and ensuring it achieves its charitable objectives."<ref>{{cite web |date=4 March 2025 |title=Committee details – Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust Committee |url=https://democracy.lbhf.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=467 |access-date=4 March 2025 |website=www.lbhf.gov.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> The committee consists of three councillors and two non-voting co-opted members, who tend to be members of the '''Friends of Wormwood Scrubs'''.

Under a scheme of delegation, daily management of the trust estate is undertaken by the Trust Manager, with senior support provided by the assistant director for Parks and Leisure and the Director of Public Realm.<ref name=":2" /> The de facto Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the trust are the council's Chief Executive and Director of Finance, respectively.<ref name=":1" />

==Local nature reserve==
[[File:Thymelicus lineola in Wormwood Scrubs Park in London, July 2013 (7).JPG|thumb|[[Essex skipper]] (''Thymelicus lineola'') in Wormwood Scrubs]]
Areas of Wormwood Scrubs are a [[local nature reserve]]. These areas include Braybrook Woods, Martin Bell's Wood and the Central Woodland Copse. Habitats include woodland (plantation), scrub and grassland. Animals include common lizards, over 100 species of bird and 20 species of butterfly. This site is currently being managed by the [[London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham]] in collaboration with [[Groundwork UK]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=17&N=&ID=874|title=Wormwood Scrubs|date=8 March 2013|series=Local Nature Reserves|publisher=Natural England|access-date=5 December 2013|archive-date=19 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019132138/http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=17&N=&ID=874|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=lnrIndex&query=REF_CODE%3D%271009566%27|title=Map of Wormwood Scrubs LNR|series=Local Nature Reserves|publisher=Natural England|access-date= 5 December 2013}}</ref>

==Conservation efforts==
Conservation work  being carried out in Wormwood Scrubs by Groundwork London has been a subject of controversy among users of the Scrubs. The primary goal is to connect each patch of the [[Local Nature Reserve]] within the grounds by a [[wildlife corridor]] in the form of low hedges and trees.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} Ultimately, it is claimed that this will benefit [[biodiversity]] in the park and create better foraging routes for bats such as the [[common pipistrelle]].

Habitats for the local [[common lizard]]s are also being changed, e.g. by the removal of scrub to create basking areas. This work includes planting trees, and it is feared{{By whom|date=July 2020}} that this could jeopardise the open nature of the common. The bulk of the work is currently{{When|date=July 2020}} being undertaken by volunteers for Groundwork London, a government quasi non-governmental organisation funded largely through a levy on landfill.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

==Facilities==
The trust maintains responsibility for {{Convert|76.8|ha|acre}} of open, green space and associated assets in Wormwood Scrubs, including 2 outdoor gym areas, 2 children's play areas, a pony riding centre, an athletics stadium, numerous grass sports pitches, grounds maintenance and green waste processing depot, a BMX cycling track and a temporary secondary school site.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search?p_p_id=uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=2&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&p_p_resource_id=%2Faccounts-resource&p_p_cacheability=cacheLevelPage&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_objectiveId=A16339860&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_priv_r_p_mvcRenderCommandName=%2Faccounts-and-annual-returns&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_priv_r_p_organisationNumber=1033705 |title=WSCT Annual Report 2023–24 |date=March 2024}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Wormwood Scrubs Park}}
*[http://scrubs.ground-level.org/lnr/ Notes on Wormwood Scrubs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050910114417/http://scrubs.ground-level.org/lnr/ |date=10 September 2005 }}

{{LNRs in Greater London}}
{{Parks and open spaces in London}}

{{coord|51|31|17|N|00|14|20|W|type:landmark_scale:3000|display=title}}

[[Category:Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham]]
[[Category:Local nature reserves in Greater London]]
[[Category:Nature reserves in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham]]
[[Category:Common land in London]]