Acton Green is a residential neighbourhood in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

and the London Borough of Ealing, in

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

, England. It is named for the nearby Acton Green common. It was once home to many small laundries and was accordingly known as "Soapsuds Island".

History

The public parkland of Acton Green common adjoins Chiswick Back Common; before they were divided by the railway embankment for the

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

and

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...

s, both were part of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

battlefield of the Battle of Turnham Green. South Acton, especially the Acton Green district, was once famous for its laundries, and was known as "Soapsuds island". There were some 60 laundries in 1873, rising to over 170 in 1890, most of the washing being done by hand. The 1901 census recorded as laundry workers 568 men and 2,448 women. The number of laundries fell to 50 in 1956, by then all automated: still the largest concentration of such businesses in Britain at that time. The business supported light industries that produced laundry requisites, including baskets, laundry hampers, mangles, washing machines, tubs, and wringers. Facing the east of the common is

St Michael and All Angels, Bedford Park St Michael and All Angels is a Grade II* listed Church of England parish church in Bedford Park, Chiswick. It was designed by the architect Norman Shaw, who built some of the houses in that area. The church was consecrated in 1880. It is construc ...

; it and The Tabard Inn facing it across Bath Road, were built in 1880. This is based on The 1894

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

map shows Acton Green bounded to the west by railway lines, and to the east by the boundary of Bedford Park; at that time, both the west of Bedford Park and the east of Acton Green consisted of

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

s. File:Acton Green to St Michael's by Frederick Hamilton Jackson.jpg, Painting, looking east, of Acton Green common to St Michael's and The Tabard Inn by

Frederick Hamilton Jackson Frederick Hamilton Jackson (1848–1923), also known as Frank, was a painter, designer, and author. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy and in other places. Biography F. Hamilton Jackson was born in 1848 in Islington, London. He ...

, 1882. The Victorian era Bedford Park development is on the left, the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

railway embankment on the right.

Housing

Most of the housing of Acton Green is to the northwest of the common; to its east is the Bedford Park area, developed speculatively as a place for artists at the same time as St Michael's and The Tabard. There were formerly numerous small shops in the centre of Acton Green on Cunnington Street and Kingswood Road. These included confectioners, fish and chip shops, grocers, and off-licences. The area also held a variety of schools, now all closed. File:Corner house on Church Path, Acton Green.jpg, A corner house with end pediment and swag,
Church Path File:Providence Villa, Cunnington Street, Acton Green.jpg, Providence Villa,
Cunnington Street File:A former corner shop, Antrobus Road - Cunnington Street, Acton Green.jpg, A former corner shop,
Antrobus Road File:The Gothic House, Rothschild Road, Acton Green.jpg, The Gothic House,
Rothschild Road File:The Mosaic House, Fairlawn Grove, Acton Green.jpg, The Mosaic House,
Fairlawn Grove File:Red brick terraced houses, South Parade, Acton Green.jpg, Red brick terraced houses,
South Parade File:Decorative Swag, South Parade, Acton Green.jpg, Decorative swag,
South Parade

St Alban's Church

On the north side of the common, facing South Parade, is the red-brick with stone facings neo-Gothic Victorian era

St Alban's Church, Acton Green St Alban's Church, Acton Green, also called St Alban the Martyr, is a church on South Parade, Acton Green in Chiswick, west London, designed by Edward Monson Jr. and opened in 1888. History The church was designed by Edward Monson Jr. in a neo- ...

by Edward Monson Jr; it was opened in 1888. It is described as the focus of the Acton Green Conservation area; the church building is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The nearby

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

uses the same red brick and stone window surrounds and

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

s. File:St Alban's, Acton Green from the East.jpg, St Alban's Church, opened 1888 File:Old Vicarage, South Parade, Acton Green.jpg, Old Vicarage, South Parade, sharing architectural idioms with its church

West side of the common

Facing the west of the common are the

mansion flat An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ...

s of the locally listed four-storey red brick Fairlawn Court, built around 1900. Just to its north are the loft apartments of Chiswick Green Studios, a "modish conversion" of a group of industrial buildings. The buildings from 1930 and 1950 had been the military electronics components factory of

Evershed & Vignoles Megger Group Limited (also known as Megger) is a British manufacturing company that manufactures electronic test equipment and measuring instruments for electrical power applications. The company is known for its electrical insulation tester ...

. They were converted to form apartments, including new penthouses through the addition of a curved roof; a third building retained only the original frame and was made into cheaper "loft style" apartments. File:Fairlawn Court, Acton Lane, Acton Green.jpg, Detail of Fairlawn Court, Acton Lane File:Chiswick Green Studios, Acton Green.jpg, Chiswick Green Studios, formerly an

factory

Public houses

Duke of Sussex

Nearby, facing the north of the common is the 1898 Duke of Sussex public house; it replaced an earlier beerhouse founded by 1842. The current "elaborately decorated" building was designed by the pub architects Shoebridge & Rising, and is Grade II listed. It has two storeys, with dormer windows for the attic and cellars below. The main front faces east on to Beaconsfield Road, with three bays, two of them with dormers, separated by a small half-round

Diocletian window Diocletian windows, also called thermal windows, are large semicircular windows characteristic of the enormous public baths (''thermae'') of Ancient Rome. They have been revived on a limited basis by some classical revivalist architects in more m ...

, and the third an extension to house the kitchens and staircase. The walls are covered in white

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

, with the first storey hung with flat red tiles. The first storey and attic windows below the dormers are "Ipswich oriels" under ornamental cornices. The ground floor bar area has big arched windows, and an elaborate corner doorway; the doorway to the north is adorned with ornamental ironwork. Parts of the original interior partitioning survive, providing "an unusually rich, turn-of-the-century pub interior". File:Duke of Sussex Corner View.jpg, Exterior File:Duke of Sussex ornamental ironwork.jpg, Ornamental ironwork

Other

On the corner of Bollo Lane, which marks the western edge of the area, and Montgomery Road is the Bollo, a

gastropub A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s. Etymology The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when David E ...

. It opened soon after 1900 as 'The Railway Hotel', complete with a painting of a railway locomotive on the outside wall. It then became in turn 'The Railway Tavern', 'The Orange Kipper' (1988), 'The Bollo House', and finally the Bollo. On the corner of Evershed Walk and Acton Lane is The Swan, opened in 1871 by the Phoenix Brewery of Latimer Road in what had been a beerhouse owned by James Brown. Its exterior featured in a 1980s television

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

. It is described by

Harden's ''Harden's'' is a UK restaurant guide, publishing print, online and mobile reviews and ratings for both London and UK restaurants. Like New York's Zagat Survey (which no longer has a London edition), the ratings and reviews are based on the result ...

guide as a "lovely panelled pub" with attractive garden, serving good food. File:The Bollo pub, Bollo Lane.jpg, The Bollo, Bollo Lane File:The Swan, Acton Lane, Chiswick.jpg, The Swan, Acton Lane

Transport

Chiswick Park tube station Chiswick Park is a London Underground station in the Acton Green district of Chiswick in West London. The station is served by the District line and is between Turnham Green and Acton Town stations. It is located at the junction of Bollo Lane a ...

on the District line, and

Turnham Green tube station Turnham Green is a London Underground station in Chiswick of the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. The station is served by the District and Piccadilly lines although currently Piccadilly line trains normally stop at the station only at ...

on the District and

Picadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...

s, are at the western and eastern ends of Acton Green common. South Acton is the nearest National Rail station and is on the

North London Line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rou ...

Chiswick railway station Chiswick railway station is a railway station within the Grove Park residential area of Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow. The station is on the Hounslow Loop Line, and all trains serving it are operated by South Western Railway. Jour ...

is the closest for services into

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...

. The

London Buses route 94 London Buses route 94 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Acton Green and Piccadilly Circus, it is operated by London United. History Route 94 commenced operating on 22 September 1990 to repl ...

to Piccadilly Circus terminates at the northwestern corner of Acton Green common.

References

{{London Districts Acton, London Areas of London Common land in London Districts of the London Borough of Ealing