The road is named after Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868), 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 future
Edward 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's Seven 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 the specialised builder and decorator Joseph Bickley (1835–1923). 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 (such as that at the
Tuxedo Club). 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==