Fulham is a district inside the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in southwest London. It is 3.7 miles south-west from Charing Cross, making it an Inner London district. It is on the north bank of the River Thames, in between Hammersmith and Kensington and Chelsea, facing Putney and Barnes. Formerly, it had been a parish in the county of Middlesex. It is identified in the London Plan as among the 35 major centres in Greater London.
Fulham's reputation of industrial enterprise dates back to the 15th century, with its Mill at Millshot on the south side of what's now Fulham Palace Road. There was also a pottery, tapestry-weaving, paper-making and brewing industry during the 17th and eighteenth centuries in the location of what's now called Fulham High Street. The subsequent two centuries were identified for energy production, transportation, the automotive industry, food production and laundries.
For the first part of the twentieth century, Fulham remained mostly working class with pockets of wealth in the North End, along the top of Lillie Road and New King's Road. Particularly rich locations were Parsons Green, Eel Brook Common, South Park along with the area surrounding the Hurlingham Club. The area attracted waves of immigration, and swift changes meant that there was poverty - Charles Dickens and Charles Booth noted this, and there were poorhouses that attracted benefactors.
These days, Fulham is rated as one of the most costly parts of London and the United Kingdom overall. The typical sale price of all property in 2007 was £639,973 - and is likely to be significantly more now.