West Twyford (also known as Twyford Abbey)Vision of Britain
West Twyfordhistoric map
is a small residential area forming a northeastern corner of the

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London borough in West London. It comprises seven major towns: Acton (W3), Ealing (W5, W13, NW10), Greenford (UB6), Hanwell (W7), Northolt (UB5), Perivale (UB6) and Southall (UB1, UB2). With a population ...

directly northeast of Hanger Lane station and north of Park Royal, south of the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow to the north-west, London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the north-east, London Borough of Camden ...

and the

River Brent The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tideway stretch of the Thame ...

. It was historically an

extra-parochial area In England and Wales, an extra-parochial area, extra-parochial place or extra-parochial district was a geographically defined area considered to be outside any ecclesiastical or civil parish. Anomalies in the parochial system meant they had no ch ...

, then

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

(1866-1926), in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.
West Twyford: Introduction
', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982). Date accessed: 7 January 2008.

Extent

Traditionally defined as , it is today by common consensus smaller, bounded by the

Hanger Lane gyratory The Hanger Lane gyratory is a multi-lane rectangular gyratory – having the Hanger Lane underpass, under its southern limb, for the Western Avenue ( A40). It enables intersection with the North Circular (A406) and the inceptive Ealing Road ...

to the west, the A406 North Circular and the

to the north, Park Royal to the south and

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towards ...

to the east. The long circular road Lakeside Drive in the south is historically part, a contemporaneous section of Park Royal reinforced by being in that part in the London Borough of Brent. The Borough of Ealing has west London postcodes save for the NW postcode of West Twyford shared with its neighbours including

North Acton North Acton is a part of Acton in west London, and is within the London Borough of Ealing. It runs adjacent to the industrial district of Park Royal. Historically part of the Municipal Borough of Acton in the county of Middlesex, it has formed p ...

and Park Royal.

History

Twyford Abbey - western elevation - geograph

The area now known as West Twyford began as a manor house in the thirteenth century. A small community built up to the west around St Mary's Church which had originally been a chapel belonging to the manor house. The house was rebuilt from 1807 and renamed as Twyford Abbey, despite not housing any religious order. In 1902 the Alexian Order took over the manor house as a nursing home. The brothers ran short of funds in 1988 and joined another part of their order in Manchester. The house, which is a Grade II

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 ...

, now lies derelict. Various applications for planning permission have been made but not granted. The best view of this beautiful building is from next to St Mary's Church in the wintertime. The name Twyford relates to Twyford Brook. The brook now runs almost entirely underground. It formerly fed the

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

brewery in Park Royal. The word itself 'Twyford' is said to mean 'Two Fords'. The area became a civil parish under the

Extra-Parochial Places Act 1857 In England and Wales, an extra-parochial area, extra-parochial place or extra-parochial district was a geographically defined area considered to be outside any ecclesiastical or civil parish. Anomalies in the parochial system meant they had no chu ...

and formed part of

Greenford Urban District Greenford Urban District was an urban district of Middlesex, England from 1894 to 1926. It was formed from the parishes of Greenford, Perivale and West Twyford. It replaced the Brentford rural sanitary district, which covered these parishes. ...

from 1894. In 1901 it occupied an area of and had a population of 97. When the urban district was abolished in 1926 the parish was transferred to the

Municipal Borough of Ealing Ealing was a local government district from 1863 to 1965 around the town of Ealing which formed part of the built up area of London until 1965, where it became part of Greater London. History A local board of health was formed for the southern pa ...

. Then in 1934 it was transferred to the

Municipal Borough of Willesden Willesden was a local government district in the county of Middlesex, England from 1874 to 1965. It formed part of the Metropolitan Police District and London postal district. Willesden was part of the built-up area of London and bordered the C ...

. The area now forms part of

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. Much of the housing on Twyford Abbey Road was originally built by

in order to house employees working in at the brewery in Park Royal. Abbeyfields Close is one such residential development, built in 1984 around a series of communal gardens, on land formerly owned by Guinness. The parish of St Mary's was combined with the parish of th
Church of the Ascension
in neighbouring

Hanger Hill Hanger Hill or Haymills Estate is a local area and ward of the London Borough of Ealing around Hanger Lane (A406 road). It was developed in the interwar period when affluent Londoners began to move out of Central London for more green spaces. Th ...

. In the 1950s the chapel of St Mary's was extended with a new large church building, which later fell into disrepair and disuse, due to safety issues. In 2010 the new church was totally renovated to become a community hall and the original chapel was re-dedicated to St Mary to become the church again. The church itself is quite tiny, having originally been the chapel of Twyford Abbey, located just behind. St Mary's churchyard contains one of the oldest headstones in Middlesex.

Transport

Bus route 226 runs through Twyford Abbey Road towards Ealing Central and

Golders Green Golders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in England. A smaller suburban linear settlement, near a farm and public grazing area green of medieval origins, dates to the early 19th century. Its bulk forms a late 19th century and ea ...

(via

). Routes 83, 95 and 112 also stop nearby on the Hanger Lane Gyratory and the A406 North Circular Road, respectively. These buses run towards

Ealing Hospital Ealing Hospital is a district general NHS hospital, part of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, located in the Southall district of the London Borough of Ealing, West London, England. It lies on the south side of the Uxbridge ...

(via Ealing Broadway),

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

and

Brent Cross Brent Cross is originally the name of a crossroads that today forms a major interchange for traffic in the London Borough of Barnet, England. Located a mile from the centres of Hendon and Golders Green, the area also contains the Brent Cros ...

, as well as Golders Green (via

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

). West Twyford is close to two London Underground stations: *

Hanger Lane Hanger Lane is a major road in Ealing, London, England. The majority of the road forms the westernmost part of the A406 North Circular Road, running north from the A4020 Uxbridge Road at Ealing Common to the A40 Western Avenue at the Hanger L ...

( Central line) * Park Royal ( Piccadilly line)

Amenities

West Twyford is well served for groceries, banking, post office and health services at the nearby 'Park Royal Neighbourhood Centre' where there is also a Lebanese Restaurant, a Spice Shack restaurant and Subway cafe. A new building is going up at the moment on Acton Lane next to the

Central Middlesex Hospital Central Middlesex Hospital is in the centre of the Park Royal business estate, on the border of two London boroughs, Brent and Ealing. It is managed by the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. History The hospital was establish ...

which will have retail and restaurant space on the ground floor. The Royale Leisure Park in Park Royal, is situated immediately to the south of the A40 and West Twyford and accessed by the underpass by

Park Royal tube station Park Royal is a station on the Piccadilly line of the London Underground. It is between and and is in Travelcard Zone 3. It is situated on the south side of the east–west Western Avenue (A40), surrounded by residential Ealing and industr ...

. The Boden flagship store is located next to Park Royal Tube station.

Education

West Twyford Primary School caters for children from 3 to 11 years old.

Sport and Leisure

West Twyford Park was formerly called Bodiam Fields, after the area of the same name in Sussex, where hops were grown for the Guinness brewery. There are plans for improvements to West Twyford Park as well as new lakeside walks and cycle paths nearby. The

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...

runs through West Twyford and provides level pathways alongside for walking a running. It is a short walk along the canalside to the Grand Junction Pub, which has much outdoor seating alongside the canal. The pathway continues to

Little Venice Little Venice is a district in West London, England, around the junction of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, the Regent's Canal, and the entrance to Paddington Basin. The junction forms a triangular shape basin. Many of the buildi ...

and

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

Culture and community

There are a number of active community projects in West Twyford, including the 'West Twyford Community and Youth' project and 'West Twyford Children’s Centre'. The latter provides a range of services and activities, including mother and toddler groups, health services, daycare, before and after school clubs, Women into Work and English classes. St Mary’s Church Community Hall, on Brentmead Gardens provides a range of activities for local people.

Future

West Twyford will soon benefit from a new public plaza with shops, cafes, a restaurant and health and fitness club. There will also be new public play, games and fitness areas in West Twyford Park. There will be an improved pedestrian/cycle route from West Twyford to Park Royal Underground station, and the station itself is also due to be improved. The public park, walkways two children's playgrounds plus a new games court are now completed, however the plaza seems to be on hold for the time being. Flats in the Royal Waterside development (Bodiam Court and Abbey Court) are due to be finished from summer 2015. In the Mayor's plans for the Park Royal Opportunity Area, it says that one of their objectives is to obtain public access to the grounds of Twyford Abbey heritage site.

References

{{reflist Areas of London Places formerly in Middlesex History of local government in Middlesex