Northfields is an area in Ealing, west
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. It is centred on Northfield Avenue, a shopping street of mostly independent shops and restaurants. It lies partially in the Ealing W5 and partially in west Ealing's W13 postcode. It lies in the southwest corner of Ealing.
From the 14th century this area was part of the manor of Coldhall, or West Ealing. Great and Little Northfields were two large fields in the late Middle Ages, lying in the extreme west of Ealing parish. By the mid-17th century, Northfields Road as it was first called, was constructed to connect Little Ealing (now South Ealing) to the road to Uxbridge (the current Uxbridge Road running from Shepherds Bush to Uxbridge). Yet the area remained rural, covered in apple orchards into the late nineteenth century.
Today the area is served by the
Piccadilly line from
Northfields tube station
Northfields is a London Underground station in Northfields, in the London Borough of Ealing. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line, between Boston Manor and South Ealing stations. It is located on Northfield Avenue ( B4 ...
designed by architect
Charles Holden
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
and by the
E2 and
E3 bus services running to
Greenford
Greenford () is a suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, England, lying west from Charing Cross. It has a population of 46,787 inhabitants, or 62,126 with the inclusion of Perivale.
Greenford is served by Greenford Station (L ...
,
Ealing,
Brentford,
Hanwell
Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...
,
Acton and
Chiswick, and the
N11, a
night bus
Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, refers to the public transport services operated during the night hours. These services are operated, mainly using buses but in certain cases using trams (or streetcars), not including int ...
to
Central London. Northfields is a middle-class area, with high levels of education, employment and home ownership. It is home to three local authority primary schools, Little Ealing Primary School, Fielding Primary School and Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School.
Northfield Avenue has an annual street festival organised by the local trade association, NABA (Northfield Avenue Business Association). The first festival was held in summer 2007.
History
The Plough Inn which marks the junction of Little Ealing Lane and Northfield Avenue was in existence by 1722. Maps of Ealing from 1890 and before show Northfields as almost entirely rural, with just a few houses along Little Ealing Lane. The rest of the area was largely orchards. The arrival of the
District Railway in 1883, and the opening of the
Northfields Halt in 1908, prompted development of the area.
Notable residents
The acrobat and tightrope walker
Charles Blondin
Charles Blondin (born Jean François Gravelet, 28 February 182422 February 1897) was a French tightrope walker and acrobat. He toured the United States and was known for crossing the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope.
During an event in Dublin in ...
, who was best known for his crossing of
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...
on a tightrope. Blondin lived in Northfields from 1886 until his death in 1897 in a house on the site of what is now Niagara House, opposite The Plough pub on Northfields Avenue. Blondin Avenue,
Blondin Park
Blondin Park is an public park in Northfields in the London Borough of Ealing. It has allotments area and sports pitches. It is owned by Ealing Council and managed by the Council together with the Friends of Blondin Park. An area of in the sout ...
and Niagara Avenue are named after him; they were formerly the site of part of
Hugh Ronalds
Hugh Ronalds (4 March 1760 – 18 November 1833) was an esteemed nurseryman and horticulturalist in Brentford, who published ''Pyrus Malus Brentfordiensis: or, a Concise Description of Selected Apples'' (1831). His plants were some of the first ...
' renowned nursery.
Between 1815 and 1817
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...
, later to become the 6th President of the United States lived with his family at Little Boston House in Windmill Road in Northfields.
The pop singer
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dram ...
was a pupil at St Anne's Convent School on Little Ealing Lane in the 1950s.
The
BBC Weather
BBC Weather is the department of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) responsible for both the preparation and the broadcasting of weather forecasts.
On 6 February 2018, BBC Weather changed supplier from the government Met Office to Me ...
presenter
Tomasz Schafernaker
Tomasz Schafernaker (born 8 January 1979) is a Polish-British meteorologist who currently works for BBC Weather.
Early life
Tomasz Schafernaker was born on 8 January 1979 in Gdańsk, Poland, and attended school both in his native Poland and i ...
lives in this area.
Notable buildings
A former cinema on Northfield Avenue is the area's only Grade 2*
listed building
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 ...
. Built in 1932 in an unusual Spanish style, it closed in 1987 and was converted into the
Ealing Christian Centre in 1994.
Other Grade 2 listed buildings in Northfields are:
* Rochester House
* Place House (Ealing Fields High School)
* The Forester public house, architect
Nowell Parr
Thomas Henry Nowell Parr FRIBA (1864 – 23 September 1933) was a British architect, best known for designing pubs in west London. Many of these were built while Parr was "house architect" for Fuller's Brewery. Parr designed various buildings i ...
*
Northfields tube station
Northfields is a London Underground station in Northfields, in the London Borough of Ealing. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line, between Boston Manor and South Ealing stations. It is located on Northfield Avenue ( B4 ...
* 53 Northfield Road (Orchard Lofts)
References
{{Areas of London
Areas of London
Districts of the London Borough of Ealing