It is named after Sir John Scott Lillie, who first laid out the easternmost section of the road across his North End Hermitage estate in 1826 running from Gunter's footbridge over the tidal Counter's Creek to the T junction of the old Crown Lane with North End Lane. The intention was to link traffic from the new Hammersmith Bridge with the North End wharves of the planned Kensington Canal, thus obviating passage through Hammersmith and Kensington, or following the entire loop of the River Thames to Chelsea. Lillie's development also included late Georgian housing, terraces called, 'Rosa Villas' and 'Hermitage Cottages', on the north side of his 'New' road, some of which remain and recall Hermitage House that once stood here. He also built a brewery on the opposite side of the road in 1832. Only its 1835 public house, 'The Lillie Arms' remains, renamed the Lillie Langtry, due to the surmise that the Jersey actress had her assignations with the futureEdward VII in one of the Georgian houses in Lillie Road. The Lillie Langtry is one of the oldest extant pubs in Fulham, while the 1883 Prince of Wales, opposite, rebuilt by Watney Combe & Reid in the Arts and Crafts style in 1938, is destined for imminent demolition, unlike the former Fuller'sSeven Stars, West Kensington, around the North End Road corner, also from 1938, which has been preserved as flats. Lillie Road is historically associated with the eponymous bridge over the West London Line, the Lillie Bridge Grounds, a popular 19th-century sports destination, with the Lillie Bridge Depot, the London Underground maintenance workshops, the Sir John Lillie Primary School and, at its western extremity, with the Lillie Road Recreational Grounds, where Sunday league football has been played for generations. Lillie Road was formerly the address of Beaufort School which commemorated Beaufort House and the South Middlesex Rifle Volunteers. There are a number of statutorily and locally listed buildings in Lillie Road. A little known resident of 62 Lillie Road was a very specialised builder and decorator called, Joseph Bickley. He ran his business from Seagrave Road nearby and patented a plaster formula which became the mainstay of indoor tennis and Real tennis courts throughout Britain and in the United States. Its main virtue was to withstand condensation and damp. His courts, and courts he was consulted about, survive to this day, at Petworth House, Jesmond Dene House, Moreton Morrell, Queen's Club and at Hampton Court Palace. He faced bankruptcy proceedings in 1913 when he was in his late 70s. Described as the 'Stradivarius' of the indoor court, he took his secrets with him to the grave.
Commerce
Much of Lillie Road - with the exception of the blighted eastern end - retains some of Fulham's old character and individuality through the presence of small shops and businesses, that include upholstering and picture framing, a famous toy shop, along with a collection of antique shops by Fulham Cross.
