London Photo Gallery - Hammersmith Park

Hammersmith Park sits on the former White City Exhibition Grounds, which was created for the Franco-British Exhibition in 1908 to celebrate friendship between the two countries. Spanning 200 acres with palaces, halls, stadiums, and canals, this was on London's fringes back in those days. It hosted a number of international exhibitions until World War I, including the Japan-British Exhibition in 1910, an expensive promotional event funded by the Japanese government to showcase the country being civilized, modern, and an imperial power just like Britain. The event was a success, attracting 8 million visitors at a time when international travel to such a distant place was not common. The exhibition included building 2 gardens with materials from Japan, with the Garden of Peace having survived redevelopment when the White City Estate was built in the 1930s and 40s. Today, new residential buildings line one edge of the site, a showcase of how London evolves over the decades while the public park continues to be their playground.