Yiewsley and West Drayton was a local government district 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 ...

from 1929 to 1965. Its area became the south-west of the

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

Establishment and expansion

The Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District evolved from the Yiewsley Urban District which had been established on 14 April 1911 by an Order of the Middlesex County Council granting the Civil Parish of Yiewsley urban powers. Historically

Yiewsley Yiewsley ( ) is a large suburban village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, 2 miles (3 km) south of Uxbridge, the borough's commercial and administrative centre. Yiewsley was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Hillingdon, Middl ...

had been a district in the Parish of

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

and became part of the Parish of Hillingdon East when the Hillingdon Parish was divided under the Local Government Act of 1894, also becoming part of the new

Uxbridge Rural District Uxbridge Rural District was, from 1894 to 1929, a local government district in Middlesex, England. Prior sanitary and poor law bodies This entity amounted to a widening of the functions and powers of Uxbridge rural sanitary district formed in 1 ...

. Yiewsley became a Civil Parish in 1896, remaining in the Uxbridge Rural District until becoming an Urban District in 1911. On 7 December 1928

Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the coun ...

issued an Order for the Uxbridge Rural District to be amalgamated into the Uxbridge Urban District, with the exception of the Parish of Northolt and the Parish of

West Drayton West Drayton is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and from 1929 was part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District, which became part of Greater London in 1965. The se ...

. The Parish of West Drayton was to be transferred to the Urban District of Yiewsley with the Urban District being renamed Yiewsley and West Drayton. The Urban District Council was to increase in size to have 15 members, 9 representing the Yiewsley Ward and 6 representing the West Drayton Ward. The Order was to come into force on 31 March 1929. Elections for the Council took place on Saturday 23 March 1929 and the first meeting of the new Council members was held on Wednesday 3 April 1929. On 31 March 1930 an Order of the Middlesex County Council dissolved the

Staines Rural District Staines Rural District was a rural district of Middlesex in England from 1894 to 1930. It was created in 1894 replacing the 1875-created Staines rural sanitary district. It co-governed with varying degrees of input from the civil parish counci ...

with the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District amalgamating the Parish of

Harmondsworth Harmondsworth is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the county of Greater London with a short border to the south onto Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow Airport. The village has no railway stations, but adjoins the M4 motorway and t ...

which included the villages of Longford, Sipson and Heathrow. The composition of the Urban Council was changed with the number of Ward members increased to 22. Yiewsley Ward members were increased to 12, West Drayton Ward members reduced to 5 and Harmondsworth Ward members having also 5 (In line with the estimated population of each Ward: Yiewsley 6,134 - West Drayton 2,499 - Harmondsworth 2,600). Urban District elections took place on Saturday 22 March 1930 with the new Ward members attending their first meeting of the Urban District Council on Tuesday 1 April 1930. On Friday 23 May 1930 the Urban District's new Town Hall in Yiewsley was officially opened by Mr. F. E. Dominey, J.P., the Chairman of the Council. After the Second World War the Town Hall became too small to meet the needs of the Urban District. Drayton Hall in West Drayton was purchased with the official opening taking place on 5 April 1952. The building was extended in 1955. West Drayton Drayton Hall 2

Abolition

The Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District, with the whole County of Middlesex, formed part of the review area of the

Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London, also known as the Herbert Commission, was established in 1957 and published its report in 1960. The report made recommendations for the overhaul of the administration of the capital. They ...

. Its report published in 1960, proposed 52 Greater London Boroughs with one being formed from the

Municipal Borough of Uxbridge Uxbridge was a local government district in north west Middlesex, England, from 1849 to 1965, seated in the town of Uxbridge. History Uxbridge was one of the first towns in England to adopt the Public Health Act 1848 in 1849 and form a local boar ...

, the

Ruislip-Northwood Urban District Ruislip-Northwood was an urban district in west Middlesex, England, from 1904 to 1965. From its inception Ruislip-Northwood fell within the Metropolitan Police District and from 1933 it was part of the London Passenger Transport Area. The urban ...

and the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District. The UK Government produced a

White paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

on 29 November 1961 which proposed fewer, larger boroughs. With the introduction of legislation in 1962 the number of boroughs had been reduced to 32 with the

Hayes and Harlington Urban District Hayes and Harlington (until 1930, Hayes) was a local government, urban district in west Middlesex, England from 1904 to 1965. It was created in 1904 as Hayes Urban District - covering the Hayes parish transferred from Uxbridge Rural District (in ...

joining the three other administrative areas in forming a new borough. The

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

created the

in the new county 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 ...

on 1 April 1965.

Civic history

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Yiewsley and West Drayton, which included

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

, was granted in 1953 shortly before the

coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

. It was: The coat of arms of the London Borough of Hillingdon replicated in its logo re-uses splayed eagle wings, the Tudor rose and the main feature of its crest above is a red demi-lion with silver/white wings whose undersides (one visible as the lion is side-on) have the red cross of St George.

References

External links

* {{London Government Act 1963 Districts abolished by the London Government Act 1963 History of the London Borough of Hillingdon History of local government in Middlesex Urban districts of England