Hayes, Middlesex
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Hayes is a town in west London. Historically situated within the county of
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
, it is now part of the
London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is a London borough in Greater London, England. It forms part of outer London and West London, being the westernmost London borough. It was formed in 1965 from the districts of Hayes and Harlington Urban Distr ...
. The town's population, including its localities Hayes End, Harlington and
Yeading Yeading ( ) is a settlement in west London, forming part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, having been developed after the Second World War. Etymology Yeading is very early Saxon and was originally ''Geddingas'' or ''Geddinges'', meaning " ...
, was recorded in the 2021 census as 93,928. It is situated west of Charing Cross, or east of
Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...
. Hayes is served by the
Great Western Main Line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs between London Paddington and . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. The GWML is presently a part of t ...
, and Hayes & Harlington railway station is on the
Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...
. The
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...
flows through the town centre. Hayes has a long history. The area appears in the ''
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
'' (1086). Landmarks in the area include the
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
Parish Church, St Mary's – the central portion of the church survives from the twelfth century and it remains in use (the church dates back to 830 A.D.) – and Grade-II-listed Barra Hall, the Town Hall from 1924 to 1979. Hayes is known as the erstwhile home of EMI. The words "Hayes,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
" appear on the reverse of
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
' albums, which were manufactured at the town's Old Vinyl Factory. The town centre's "gold disc" installation marks the fiftieth anniversary on 1 June 2017 of the Beatles' ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (often referred to simply as ''Sgt. Pepper'') is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept ...
'' album, manufactured in Hayes in 1967. Nearby
London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingd ...
is the largest single provider of employment. Notable historical residents include the
early modern The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
"father of English music",
William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...
, and a pre-eminent figure of twentieth-century
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
,
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...
.


Etymology

The place-name ''Hayes'' comes from the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
''Hǣs'' or ''Hǣse'': "(land overgrown with) brushwood". In the Domesday book (1086), it is spelt Hesa. The town's name is spelt ''Hessee'' in a 1628 entry in an Inquisition post mortem held at The National Archives.


History

Hayes is formed of what originally were five separate villages: Botwell, Hayes Town, Hayes End, Wood End and Yeading. The name ''Hayes Town'' has come to be applied to the area around Station Road between Coldharbour Lane and Hayes & Harlington railway station, but this was historically the
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
called Botwell. The original Hayes Town was the area to the east of St Mary's Church, centred around Church Road, Hemmen Lane and Freeman's Lane. A 2007
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
study looks back to earliest times. It describes finds such as
flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
tools dating to the
Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
period (500,000 BC - 10,000 BC) at the sites of Botwell, EMI Company works, and Colbrook Avenue (near Dawley Road) .1.2 more finds dating to the
Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
period (10,000 BC - 4,000 BC) at the site of Lake Farm Country Park .1.3 The site of Wyre Grove (off North Hyde Road) produced finds including pottery from the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
(2,400 BC - 700 BC),
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
(700 BC - AD 43),
Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...
period (AD 43 - 410) and early
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
period (AD 410 - 1066) .1.6-11 The report cites an 831 grant as evidence that the Botwell area has existed as a settlement since Anglo-Saxon times .1.12 For some 700 years up to 1546, Hayes formed part of the
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
's estates, ostensibly owing to grants from the
Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
n royal family. In that year, the then-Archbishop
Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a theologian, leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a Oxford Martyrs, martyr ...
was forced to surrender his land to King
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
, who subsequently granted the estate to Edward North, 1st Baron North. The area changed hands several times thereafter, but by the eighteenth century, two family-names had established themselves as prominent and long-time landowners: Minet) and Shackle.
John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...
(1703–1791) and
Charles Wesley Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English Anglican cleric and a principal leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It ...
(1707–1788), founders of the
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
movement, preached in Hayes on at least ten occasions between 1748 and 1753.
The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
– founded in 1865 in London by William Booth – registered a
barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...
in Hayes between 1887 and 1896; their hall, or "citadel", at 71 Coldharbour Lane was registered in 1927. The Hayes division served the
local community A local community has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. The word is often used to refer to a group that is organized around common values and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical l ...
for just short of a century, and in years gone by their own Salvation Army brass band performed around the town's streets.) In 2024, the Salvation Army hall closed and was put up for sale. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Hayes was home to several private boarding schools catering for wealthy families. The former
Manor House A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
on Church Road was by the 1820s a boys' school called Radnor House Academy (a.k.a. Manor House Academy); Grove Cottage, Wood End, a school for young men, opened in the 1830s; Belle House School for Boys opened on Botwell Lane in the 1840s (it is now St Mary's Convent); in the first half of the 19th century, the Wood End House School for Young Ladies stood on the site of what is now the Norman Leddy Memorial Gardens; the former Magdalen Hall on Hayes End Road was also a 19th-century private School for Young Ladies. Wood End House (before 1848, the site of the Wood End House School for Young Ladies) was used – from 1848 to c. 1905 – as an asylum. Notable psychiatrist John Conolly (1794–1866) was one of its licensed proprietors, between 1848 and 1866. The building was demolished in 1961. Until the end of the nineteenth century, Hayes's key areas of work were agriculture and
brickmaking A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
. The
Second Industrial Revolution The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution, was a phase of rapid Discovery (observation), scientific discovery, standardisation, mass production and industrialisation from the late 19th century into the early ...
brought change in the late nineteenth century, up to
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The town's location on the
Grand Junction Canal The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the English Midlands, Midlan ...
(later called the Grand Union) and the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
Hayes & Harlington railway station had opened in 1868 – made it well-placed for industry. The town's favourable location caused the Hayes Development Company to make available sites on the north-side of the railway, adjacent to the canal, and Hayes became a centre for engineering and industry. HDC's company secretary, Alfred Clayton, is commemorated in the name of Clayton Road. Residential districts consisting of dwellings of the garden suburb type were built to house workers after World War I. In 1904, the parish council created Hayes Urban District (from 1930, Hayes and Harlington Urban District) in order to address the issue of population growth. Hayes and Harlington Urban District continued until 1965 when Hayes became part of the newly established London Borough of Hillingdon. Barra Hall
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
since 1974 – was Hayes
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
between 1924 and 1979. Originally a
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
called Grove House, in the late 18th century it was home to Alderman Harvey Combe,
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
in 1799. It became Barra Hall in 1875, after Robert Reid – descendant of the Reid baronets of Barra – became owner. Army Cavalry were stationed at Barra Hall during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. After Hayes Urban District Council bought the Hall and its grounds in 1923, the grounds of the new Town Hall were given over to public use as a
public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...
– with
playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...
, tennis courts and paddling pool; it was opened by actress Jessie Matthews. In July 2024, a century on from Hayes Urban District's 1923 purchase, Hillingdon Council sold Barra Hall, t
HRUC
Notwithstanding the sale, the Council claimed it would safeguard the building for the future, such that it would remain a key asset to local residents. Writer Mabel Lethbridge (1900-1968) was a munitions worker in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
at National Filling Factory No. 7, Hayes when on 23 October 1917 she was severely injured in an explosion: others were killed. Lethbridge was at the time the youngest person to receive the
British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...
– in recognition of her service – and she wrote about her experience at the Hayes munitions factory in her first book, ''Fortune Grass'' (1934). National Filling Factory No. 7 was situated on land south of the
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
which would later become Nestles Avenue, extending almost down to where the M4 at Cranford is now. The Hayes munitions factory employed approximately 10,000
women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
and 2,000 men. Author
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...
, who adopted his pen name while living in Hayes, lived and worked in 1932-3 as a schoolmaster at The Hawthorns High School for Boys, situated on Church Road. The school subsequently closed and the original building survived until 2022 as the Fountain House Hotel. The hotel displayed a plaque commemorating its distinguished former resident. Returning several times to Hayes, Orwell was at the same time characteristically acerbic about his time in the town, camouflaging it lightly as West Bletchley in '' Coming Up for Air'', as Southbridge in '' A Clergyman's Daughter'', and grumbling comically in a letter to Eleanor Jacques:
Hayes . . . is one of the most godforsaken places I have ever struck. The population seems to be entirely made up of clerks who frequent tin-roofed chapels on Sundays and for the rest bolt themselves within doors.
The present-day Hayes Police Station – at 755 Uxbridge Road, UB4 8HU – opened on 19 June 1938. The
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...
at Cherry Lane Cemetery on Shepiston Lane commemorates what is believed to have been the most serious single incident (in respect of casualties) in Hayes during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Thirty-seven workers of the
Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited was a British phonograph manufacturer and record label, founded in April 1898 by Emil Berliner. It was one of the earliest record labels. The company purchased the His Master's Voice painting and trademark righ ...
, Blyth Road – then the town's largest employer – were killed on 7 July 1944 when a German
V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...
or "doodle-bug" hit a factory surface
air-raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but ...
. The original bomb census form, now held in the
National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...
, confirms that it was a flying bomb which landed at 14.59 hours, killing twenty-four people and seriously injuring twenty-one (some of the seriously injured died later). The bomb came down at the main entrance to one shelter, causing the concrete roof to collapse. Some of the badly injured were able to be rescued from the emergency exit at the rear, but others were trapped for some hours. Twelve of the victims are buried in a
mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of exec ...
in Cherry Lane Cemetery. The Sound of Hayes Clock is located at the junction of Station Road and Station Approach. The
Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...
granted special permission for the clock to be inscribed in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee. The inscription reads: "installed on 12 September 2023 to mark the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II". Hayes featured in a 2011
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
debate about social housing in London. It was alleged in the
Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
debate (as recorded in ''
Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...
'') that a "sort of ruthless developer is taking over entire sites in he Hayesarea to build the
slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...
s of the future."


Industry

Hayes has, over the years, been heavily involved with industry, both local and international, having been the home of EMI,
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
and H. J. Heinz Company. As well as
Fairey Aviation The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes, Hillingdon, Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire that designed important military aircraft ...
(later merged with Westland). The first large factory established was that of the British Electric
Transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...
Company (affectionately known as the B.E.T.), which moved to Hayes in 1901. The B.E.T.'s main product was the Berry transformer, invented by A. F. Berry (the company's technical adviser and a member of the board of directors); Berry also invented the Tricity cooker. The most significant early occupier was the
Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited was a British phonograph manufacturer and record label, founded in April 1898 by Emil Berliner. It was one of the earliest record labels. The company purchased the His Master's Voice painting and trademark righ ...
/ EMI. The Hayes factory's
foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...
was laid by Dame Nellie Melba. The EMI archives and some early reinforced concrete factory buildings (notably
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
Enterprise House 912on Blyth Road, the first known work of Evan Owen Williams – described by
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
as "the most significant engineer turned architect in twentieth-century British architecture") remain as The Old Vinyl Factory. It was here, in the Central Research Laboratories (generally known as "CRL"), that Isaac Shoenberg developed (1934) the all-electronic 405-line television system (called the ''Marconi-EMI system'', used by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
from 1936 until closedown of the Crystal Palace 405-line transmissions in 1985). Alan Blumlein carried out his research into binaural sound and
stereophonic Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...
gramophone recording here. "Trains at Hayes Station" (1935) and "Walking & Talking" are two notable films Blumlein shot to demonstrate stereo sound on film. These films are held at the Hayes EMI archive. In 1939, working alongside the electrical firms A.C. Cossor and Pye, a 60 MHz radar was developed, and from 1941 to 1943 the
H2S radar H2S was the first airborne radar system, airborne, Airborne ground surveillance, ground scanning radar system. It was developed for the Royal Air Force's RAF Bomber Command, Bomber Command during World War II to identify targets on the ground f ...
system. During the 1990s, CRL spawned another technology: Sensaura 3D positional audio. In an echo of Blumlein's early stereo recordings, the Sensaura engineers made some of their first 3D audio recordings at Hayes & Harlington railway station. During the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the EMI factories produced aircraft. Charles Richard Fairey was seconded there for a short time, before setting up his own company,
Fairey Aviation The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes, Hillingdon, Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire that designed important military aircraft ...
, which relocated in 1918 to a large new factory across the railway in North Hyde Road. Over 4,500 aircraft were subsequently produced here, but Fairey needed an airfield to test these aircraft and in 1928 secured a site in nearby
Heathrow Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...
. This became the Great West Aerodrome, which was requisitioned by the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
in 1944. It was initially developed as a heavy-bomber base intended for Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, but when the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
ended in 1945, it was taken over by the
Ministry of Aviation The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply. ...
and became
Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...
. In 1913, German
bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...
and
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
performer Eugen Sandow – famous in his time as "Sandow the Great", a contender for the title of world's strongest man – opened a cocoa factory in Hayes. Sandow's fortunes plummeted in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. The Sandow Cocoa Company went into liquidation, and the building and assets passed to the Hayes Cocoa Company in 1916. Hayes Cocoa was owned by Swiss chocolate company Peter, Cailler, Kohler. In 1929, the
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
company bought out Peter, Cailler, Kohler and located its major chocolate and
instant coffee Instant coffee is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans that enables people to quickly prepare hot coffee by adding hot water or milk to coffee solids in powdered or crystallized form and stirring. The product was first invented in Inver ...
works on the canal, adjacent to the railway east of the station; it was for many years the company's UK headquarters. The factory's elegant
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
façade was long a local landmark. The road that led to the factory was renamed Nestlé's Avenue (from Sandow Avenue, so-named after the German strongman); Sandow Crescent, a ''cul-de-sac'' off Nestlé's Avenue, remains. The Hayes Nestlé factory closed in 2014 at a cost of 230 jobs. Developers Segro bought the 30-acre Nestlé site in early 2015. Opposite Nestlé, on the other side of the canal, the Aeolian Company and its associates manufactured pianolas and rolls from just before
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
until the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. That, and the increasing sophistication of the
gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...
market, led to its demise. Its facilities were subsequently used by, among others,
Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...
and Wall's, a meat processor and ice cream manufacturer. Only one of the Aeolian Company's striking
Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...
buildings remains. Designed by notable English architect Walter Cave, Benlow Works (post-
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
owner Benny Lowenthal renamed the factory after himself) on Silverdale Road is a four-storey structure with
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 neo-classical architecture, classical rev ...
s on the top floor. It is
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
. Food company
Heinz The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. ...
's UK headquarters was located at South Building, Hayes Park, Hayes between 1965 and 2017. The
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
Heinz buildings were culturally significant as the only British example of the work of influential American architect Gordon Bunshaft (then principal design partner of distinguished architectural firm
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by enginee ...
) and one of only two designs by him in Western Europe. In February 2024, Hillingdon Council heard an application in relation to the buildings' Grade II* listed status.
Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
raised concerns, saying the existing buildings were "highly significant for their sophisticated sculptural form". But the planning officers decided that conversion of significant architecture in Hayes meant "less than substantial" heritage harm, and approved the conversion of Bunshaft's designs into 124 flats.
United Biscuits United Biscuits (UB) is a British multinational food manufacturer, makers of McVitie's biscuits, Jacob's Cream Crackers, and Twiglets. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In ...
– makers of
McVitie's McVitie's () is a British snack food brand owned by United Biscuits. The name is derived from the original Economy of Scotland, Scottish biscuit maker, McVitie & Price, Private company limited by shares, Ltd., established in 1830 on Rose Street ...
biscuits and Jacob's Cream Crackers – long had its UK headquarters in Hayes. The company formally changed its base to
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
in June 2021. Callard & Bowser manufactured a popular line of English
toffee Toffee is an English confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepar ...
s and other confectionary at its Pump Lane, Hayes factory between 1956 and 1983. 635 jobs were lost in the two years leading up to the factory's closure. The first factory to produce the iconic Marshall amplifier opened in June 1964 in Silverdale Road, Hayes. Guitar-amplification pioneer Jim Marshall employed fifteen people to build
amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power su ...
s and cabinets in a 5,000-square-foot space. Hayes has been home to businesses in various industries over the years. Among others: UK caravan manufacturer Car Cruiser built caravans in North Hyde Road for a short time in the early 1930s. From the early 1970s to 2003, McAlpine Helicopters Limited (Operational Support Services Limited) – later renamed McAlpine Aviation Services Limited – operated from two purpose-built helicopter
hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
s in Swallowfield Way, Hayes. Damont Audio was a
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
pressing plant based in Hayes from the 1970s to 2005. "DAMONT" or "Damont Audio Ltd" is typically inscribed in the run-out groove of vinyl produced at the plant. In 2024, industry was impacted when Hillingdon Council acquired industrial site HPH3, Hyde Park for
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...
into more accommodation. In 1971, Neville Sandelson, MP for Hayes and Harlington 1971–1983, articulated concern about ''de''-industrialisation in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
: "The position in Hayes . . . is causing grave anxiety both in regard to the present and the long-term prospects. The closure of long-standing industrial firms in the area has become a contagion which shows no sign of abating". By 1982, Sandelson said the ''contagion'' had become ''an epidemic'', reiterating: "a subject of great concern to every family in Hayes and Harlington . . . the progressive decline of industry."


Churches

St Mary the Virgin Church, Hayes on Church Road is the oldest building in Hayes. It is
Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
. The central portion of the church, the
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
and the
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
, was built in the 13th century, the north aisle in the 15th century (as was the
tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
), and the south aisle in the 16th century, along with the
lychgate A lychgate (from Old English ''līc'', corpse) or resurrection gate is a covered gateway found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style churchyard. Examples also exist outside the British Isles in places such as Newfoundland, the ...
and the south
porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...
. The lychgate and wall to the south are
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
. Hayes's entry in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
(1086) makes no mention of a church or chapel, and the name of St Mary suggests a 12th-century dedication as it was at this time that church dedications in this name first appeared in England. Besides the church, the other main building in
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
villages was the
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
. The manor house formerly associated with the church was assigned to
Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...
by Christian priest Warherdus as far back as 830 AD. The site of the original manor house is not known, but it is likely to have been on or near the site of the building latterly on Church Road called the Manor House, parts of which dated from the early 16th century. At the time of the
Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
, Archbishop Lanfranc had contacts with the parish. St Mary's has a 12th-century
font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...
, and many interesting memorials and brasses. The brass to Robert Lellee, Rector somewhere between 1356 and 1375, is purportedly the oldest brass in Middlesex. Adjacent to it is another to Rector Robert Burgeys (1408–1421). (The first recorded Rector was Peter de Lymonicen 259. There are tombs in the church to Walter Grene (1456), Thomas Higate (1576), and Sir Edward Fenner (1611), Judge of the King's Bench. The latter tomb covers earlier tiling on the wall and floors. Some partly uncovered pre-
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
wall-paintings and a large mural (dating from the 14th century) of
Saint Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximin ...
with the infant Child are on the North wall. A brass to Veare Jenyns (1644) relates to the Court of Charles I, while other Jenynses, who were
Lords of the Manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
, link with Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Judge John Heath, after whom ''Judge Heath Lane'' was named, is also buried at St Mary's. Victorian restorers donated a number of windows, and more recent additions include windows to Saints Anselm and
Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...
. The
Coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...
window is in the north aisle above the
Triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...
painted by the
pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), later known as the Pre-Raphaelites, was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, ...
Edward Arthur Fellowes Prynne. His brother George Fellowes Prynne carved the
Reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...
with St Anselm and
St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...
in the niches. The embossed roof of the
Nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
reflects the
Tudor period In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with ...
with emblems of the crucifixion and the arms of Henry and
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
(the lands passed to
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
as a consequence of the
English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...
). Cherry Lane Cemetery on Shepiston Lane was founded in the mid-1930s to provide a new burial ground when the churchyard at St Mary's Church had run out of space. St Anselm's Church was completed in 1929 to the design of architect Hubert Christian Corlette. Noted designer MacDonald Gill was responsible for the panelled ceiling. The church's
foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...
was laid on 13 May 1927 by Sir John Eldon Bankes. The east window is by James Powell and Sons of Whitefriars, London. The church was
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
in November 2019. St Anselm's is so-named because
William Rufus William II (; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third son of William the Co ...
(1056 – 1100) sent Archbishop (later Saint)
Anselm of Canterbury Anselm of Canterbury OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also known as (, ) after his birthplace and () after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Canterb ...
(c.1033 – 1109) to stay in the
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
of St Mary's Church, as it was the nearest of the Archbishop's manors to Windsor, where William Rufus resided. The Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Roman Catholic church in Botwell, was built in 1961, replacing the earlier church built in 1912. The adjacent school, Botwell House Catholic Primary, opened on 25 August 1931. The church's picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (which measures 5½m x 3m) was painted by Pietro Annigoni (1910–1988) in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, and took nine months to complete. The
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
, early nineteenth-century presbytery, "Botwell House", was originally the home of Hayes's principal landowner, John Baptist Shackle.


Culture

Hayes's Beck Theatre opened in 1977, and offers a wide range of touring shows in a welcoming modern building. "The Beck" is very much a community theatre, offering one-night concerts, comedy, drama, films, opera, and pantomime. The Open Air Theatre, Barra Hall Park originated in 1951 as a community venue for music, theatre and dance. The local community raised funds for a 2005 rebuild. Hayes's Botwell Green Library is situated in the Leisure Centre (address: East Avenue, UB3 2HW), which in 2010 replaced both the old Hayes Library (opened 1933 on Golden Crescent) and the old swimming baths (opened 1967 on the opposite side of Central Avenue). Following its 2010 closure, the derelict old Hayes Pool building was close to being used as a
location In geography, location or place is used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ambiguous bou ...
for 2012
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
film ''
Skyfall ''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy thriller film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, ...
'', but in late 2012 the Council demolished it, and in 2017 a branch of
Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...
opened on the former baths site. Pubs in Hayes include: ''The Botwell Inn'', Coldharbour Lane; ''The Old Crown'', Station Road; ''Captain Morgan's'', Clayton Road; ''Wishing Well'' & ''Five Rivers'' (''Ye Olde Crowne''), Uxbridge Road; ''Brook House'', Kingshill Avenue; ''Music Box'', Bourne Avenue; and ''Great Western'', Dawley Road. Th
''Hayes Working Men's Club''
is on Pump Lane (from 1918 to 1974 it was in a large house called Sandgate on Station Road, where
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
now stands). Th
''Hayes Conservative Club''
is on Church Road; the Irish Social Club (''Fáilte'') – originally associated with the ''Botwell Club'' – operates here. Hayes had a vibrant, social pub culture for most of the 20th-century: in 1988, a long list of the town's pubs could still include the words: "many of which exist today". Pubs began to close in subsequent years, being demolished for
development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...
or converted for other uses. The ''Adam and Eve'' – formerly at 830 Uxbridge Road – was the town's earliest recorded and longest surviving inn. Though not the original seventeenth-century structure, the pub stood on the same site for over 350 years (1665-2021). Lost pubs include some other longstanding town landmarks: ''Vine'', Angel Lane (closed 1992); ''Firefly'', Welbeck Avenue (1999); ''Royal Oak'', Church Road (2002); ''Tumbler'', Station Road (2003); ''White Hart'', Uxbridge Road (2003); ''Curran's'', Uxbridge Road (2005); ''Blue Anchor'', Printing House Lane (2008); ''Ram'', Dawley Road (2008); ''Waggon & Horses'', Uxbridge Road (2008); ''Royal Standard'' (''King's Arms''/''Bad Bob's''), Coldharbour Lane (2010); ''George Orwell'', Coldharbour Lane (2012); ''Golden Cross'', Botwell Lane (2014); ''Victoria'', North Hyde Road (2014); ''Queen's Head'' (''The Grange''/''Tommy Flynn's''/''Blue Lagoon''), Wood End Green Road (2015); ''Hambro Arms'' (''Lounge''), Dawley Road (2016); ''Crane'', North Hyde Road (2017); ''Angel'', Uxbridge Road (2018); ''Carpenter's Arms'', Uxbridge Road (2023); ''Grapes'', Uxbridge Road (2024).
Social club A social club or social organization may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation or activity with in an organizational association known as a Club (organization), club. Exampl ...
s likewise began to close in the 21st-century. ''St Claret's'' (known locally as the ''Botwell Club'') at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Botwell Lane was officially established in 1966, but its roots went back to the 1930s, when an increasing number of
Irish people The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has be ...
began coming to live in Hayes. In its 1970s/1980s heyday, the ''Botwell Club'' was (in common with the working men's club) a "thriving community hub". The Church closed the club on its long-established footing in September 2008, and despite organisers' attempts to keep going on a new lease agreement basis, in 2013 '' The Irish Post'' noted the ''Botwell Club'' was facing closure, owing in large part to high rent. The bar & social club attached to Hayes F.C.'s century-old Church Road home-ground closed in 2010 when the football club was forced to make way for a large
housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...
development. ''Glenister Hall'' (a former annex of the working men's club) and an adjacent sports-ground at the end of Minet Drive were closed and demolished in advance of a controversial 2011 housing development. Much-loved entertainer Dame
Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was a British actress, singer and comedian. A star of cinema and music hall, she was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...
visited Hayes's Gramophone factory in 1933;
Pathé News Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as "British Pathé". I ...
footage shows Gracie pressing her four millionth record alongside factory employees and singing the title song of her 1932 film '' Looking on the Bright Side'' to huge cheers. Earlier, several noted
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
performers came to record at Hayes's Gramophone studios:
George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961), was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he ...
's father, George Formby Sr, recorded
Grandfather's Clock
' on 12 April 1916; G. H. Elliott recorded ''Mississippi Honeymoon'' on 17 November 1922; and
Harry Lauder Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a S ...
recorded
Roamin' In The Gloamin'
' and other songs in March 1926, as well as visiting Hayes on other occasions in the 1910s and '20s. Music hall strongman Eugen Sandow (1867–1925) – whose 1913 cocoa factory was significant to Hayes's history in industry (see the ''Industry'' section, above) – is commemorated in a 28-metre-high
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
completed in 2022. The period-inspired artwork is on the
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
-end of a ten-storey building, viewable from the
Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...
. Botwell House hosted early performances by
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
(5 August 1963) and
The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
(19 April 1965). Accounts of a Whit Monday pop festival organised at Botwell House in 1963 and 1964 – where performers included
Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...
,
The Animals The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...
and Screaming Lord Sutch – suggest these were arguably the first examples of an open-air pop festival in the UK (excluding jazz festivals). The ''Blue Moon'' club on Church Road – next to Hayes F.C., 1964–1966 – hosted performances by bands including:
The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...
(10 June 1964),
The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
(20 June 1965), and
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
's
Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...
(18 September 1966).
Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex (band), T. Rex. Bolan strongly i ...
of
glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...
band T. Rex visited Hayes EMI's record pressing plant on 19 June 1972. A song title
‘Hayes, Middlesex’
features on indie singer/songwriter David Westlake's 2022 album '' My Beautiful England''. Artist
Jeremy Deller Jeremy Deller (born 30 March 1966) is an English people, English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is Collaboration, collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the Idealiz ...
's installation ''Sacrilege'' (an inflatable life-size model of
Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...
) was installed in Barra Hall Park, Hayes from 10.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday 5 August 2012; an estimated 1,400 people attended to view the artwork on the day.


Cinemas

Hayes has had six cinemas in its history. (1.) The town's first cinema, in the silent era, opened in 1913, and was named simply ''The Hayes Cinema''. It was situated at 53–55 Station Road, Hayes – now the site of a branch of Poundland (formerly Woolworths). The Hayes Cinema was renamed ''Gem Cinema'' before its closure in the middle of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, in 1916. (2.) ''The Regent Cinema'' stood between 1924 and 1938 at 16 Station Road, Hayes – now the site of a branch of
NatWest National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major Retail banking, retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the Corporate merger, merger of National Provincial Bank and We ...
bank. The Regent Cinema subsequently became ''The Regent Theatre'' (1948–54). Playwright
John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...
performed at the theatre as a young actor, and stars including
Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was a British actor and comedian. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 ''Carry ...
,
Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a Bombshell (slang), blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Mamie Van ...
and
John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation com ...
performed there also early in their careers. Sylvia Rayman's groundbreaking "all-women play" '' Women of Twilight'' (1951) was
premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...
d at Hayes's Regent Theatre. (3.) ''The Corinth Cinema'' opened in 1933 at 1040 Uxbridge Road. Renamed ''The Essoldo'' in 1949, it was the first cinema in the area to be equipped with
CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...
and stereophonic sound. After purchasing an alternative building nearby in 1957 (''infra''), the Essoldo chain closed this cinema in 1961. The address is now the site of the town's Point West Building. (4.) ''The Ambassador Theatre'' existed between 1938 and 1961 on the area of East Avenue, Hayes which is now occupied by the British Telecommunications Centre (formerly a GPO
telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...
). Actress Valerie Hobson made a personal appearance on the occasion of the Ambassador Theatre's opening on 19 December 1938; she starred in the film screened for the occasion: '' This Man Is News''. (5.) ''The Savoy Cinema'' existed from 1939 to 1957 at 466 Uxbridge Road, Hayes. The building was designed by noted cinema architect George Coles. Some famous artists performed on stage at Hayes's Savoy Cinema over the years – Max Miller,
Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...
and
Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. As a British rock and roll teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK singles chart with " What ...
among them. The Essoldo chain bought the Savoy in 1957, renaming it ''The Essoldo'' in 1962 (after closing its nearby namesake in 1961). This incarnation of the Essoldo closed in 1967. Coles' building was converted into an Essoldo Bingo Club; it became a Ladbrokes Lucky 7 Club, then a branch of Mecca Bingo. A bingo hall since 1967, residents fought unsuccessfully against closure in 2023. (6.) ''The Classic Cinema'' (1972–1986) was located above a
Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...
supermarket, at 502 Uxbridge Road, Hayes. Subsequently, demolished, its entrance was immediately to the left of the former Savoy (see 5, above).


Media

Hayes FM (91.8 FM) is the town's
community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
-focused, non-commercial local radio station. The station provides a platform for discussion of local matters, and besides playing
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
caters musically to a variety of tastes and genres, including indie,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
, and urban music. The
Hillingdon & Uxbridge Times
' website provides news for the London Borough of Hillingdon, including Hayes and Uxbridge. The website took over from former weekly freesheet tabloid newspaper the ''Hillingdon & Uxbridge Times'', published by
Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Limited is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in pr ...
. Paper publication ceased in 2008 as a result of costs issues. The
MyLondon
' website provides news from across the capital, Hayes included. The former ''GetWestLondon'' website was subsumed into ''
MyLondon MyLondon is a British news website operated by Reach plc, publishers of the ''Daily Mirror'', covering the wider London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the ...
'' in December 2018 by
Reach plc Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...
. A
digital archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organi ...
of the defunct
Hayes & Harlington Gazette
' offers free access to issues dating from 1986 to 1999.


Education

Primary and junior schools in Hayes include: Botwell House, Dr Triplett's, Minet, Pinkwell, William Byrd, Hayes Park, Hewens Primary, Grange Park, and Rosedale Primary; Cranford Park Academy, Lake Farm Park Academy, and Wood End Park Academy are part of the Park Federation Academy Trust. Secondary schools in Hayes include: Barnhill Community High School, Global Academy, Guru Nanak Sikh Academy, Harlington School, Hewens College (formerly Mellow Lane School), Parkside Studio College, and Rosedale College. Uxbridge College has a Hayes Campus, situated on the former Townfield School site, accessible from Coldharbour Lane.


Sport

Hayes & Yeading United F.C. formed on 18 May 2007, following a merger of the former Hayes F.C. and Yeading F.C. Hayes & Yeading F.C.'s home-ground is (since 2016) on Beaconsfield Road, Hayes. The former Hayes F.C. started out as ''Botwell Mission'' in 1909, taking the name ''Hayes F.C.'' in 1929. The team's home-ground was on Church Road, Hayes. The Church Road stadium continued in May 2007 as Hayes & Yeading's ground until 19 April 2011, when the team played at Church Road for the last time, beating
Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...
3–1. The former Church Road ground was demolished in 2011, and is now the site of housing. The team played in the interim at
Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...
's
Kingfield Stadium Kingfield Stadium, currently known as The Laithwaite Community Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Association football, football stadium in the Kingfield area of Woking, Surrey, and is the home of Woking F.C., Woking Football Club which has a ...
and
Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...
's York Road. Persevering with initial setbacks, the team is rightly back in Hayes. The Church Road ground saw the start of the career of a number of players who went on to play at higher levels, among them Les Ferdinand, Cyrille Regis and Jason Roberts MBE. Hayes has a second
Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
team, A.F.C. Hayes; they were known until 2007 as Brook House F.C. Hayes Cricket Club's records date back to 1797. The club joined the Middlesex Cricketers League in the 1970s, becoming three-time League champions in the 1980s. The club subsequently entered the Thames Valley Cricket League. Hayes Cricket Club's ground is situated behind the Beck Theatre and Botanical Gardens.
Rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...
is represented by two Hayes clubs. ''Hayes RFC'' compete in the Middlesex Merit Development League, alongside London Welsh Amateurs, and teams from
Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is about west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post town. Hanwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. St ...
,
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
and Whitton; Hayes RFC's home-ground is The Pavilions, Grosvenor Playing Fields, Kingshill Avenue, Hayes UB4 8BZ. ''Hillingdon Abbots RFC'' compete in the Herts/Middlesex 2 league; Hillingdon Abbots RFC's home-ground is Pole Hill Open Spaces, Gainsborough Road, Hayes UB4 8PS. Hayes
Amateur Boxing Amateur boxing is the variant of boxing practiced in clubs and associations around the world, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as at the varsity sports, collegiate level. Amateur boxing bouts comprise three ...
Club was formed in 1948. Trainer Dickie Gunn started the club at Hayes's Townfield School. Interim locations included St Christopher's Approved School and Harlington Scout Hut, until in 1978 the club was granted a piece of land at the back of Judge Heath Lane Sports Centre. A concerted effort by club-trainers, boxers and committee-members produced for the club a purpose-built gym. In 2006 the land on which the gym was built was sold for development, and, following a campaign, a replacement facility was built to the front of the former Hayes Stadium. From its formation, the club has produced successful boxers at national competition level. Chris Finnegan represented the pinnacle of the club's success, winning the 1966 Amateur Boxing Association
Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...
title, before going on to win the Olympic
Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...
gold medal in 1968. Hayes
Bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...
Club (at Botwell Green, Central Avenue) is one of thirteen bowling clubs in Hillingdon. On 24 July 2012, Hayes was the gateway for the
Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...
's passage into Hillingdon borough in the
2012 Summer Olympics torch relay The 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 19 May until 27 July, prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012 Summer Olympics. The torch bearer selection process was announced on 18 May 2011. As well as touring the United Kingdom the ...
; the route traversed North Hyde Road and Dawley Road.


Economy

Nearby
London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingd ...
is the largest single provider of employment. The airport's presence generates numerous associated businesses – retail, international
distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...
and cargo-handling among them. Hotels – such as the Sheraton Hotel on Bath Road, Hayes – benefit, too, from the town's proximity to the airport. West London Film Studios – situated on Springfield Road, Hayes – is a film and television studio equipped to accommodate everything from small TV productions to big-budget feature films. ''
The Imitation Game ''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 American biographical film, biographical thriller film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore (writer), Graham Moore, based on the 1983 biography ''Alan Turing: The Enigma'' by Andrew Hodges. The ...
'' (2014), '' Bridget Jones's Baby'' (2016) and ''
Killing Eve ''Killing Eve'' is a British spy thriller television series produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC Three (streaming service), BBC Three. The series follows Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a British intelligence age ...
'' are just a few well-known productions filmed at the Hayes studios. Lombardy Retail Park, UB3 3EX is located near the Uxbridge Road/ The Parkway crossing. The park is in size with 865 parking spaces. Shops include:
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
(replaced the popular Pump Lane branch, 1997),
Currys Currys (branded as Currys PC World between 2010 and 2021) is a British electrical retailer and aftercare service provider operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, specialising in white goods, consumer electronics, computers and mobile phon ...
, TK Maxx,
Next NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...
, H&M,
Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...
,
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
, Pizza Hut and Costa. A smaller development to the east, Hayes Bridge Retail Park, has branches of
Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5–20 minutes, althou ...
and Metro Bank. TMD Technologies (Thorn Microwave Devices) is located in Swallowfield Way, Hayes. The firm dates back to the 1940s and EMI's high-power
klystron A klystron is a specialized linear-beam vacuum tube, invented in 1937 by American electrical engineers Russell and Sigurd Varian,Pond, Norman H. "The Tube Guys". Russ Cochran, 2008 p.31-40 which is used as an amplifier for high radio frequenci ...
group. It manufactures
transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...
s and
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
equipment, and employs about 220 people.
Cloud computing Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...
company
Rackspace Rackspace Technology, Inc. is an American cloud computing company based in San Antonio, Texas. It also has offices in Blacksburg, Virginia, Blacksburg, Virginia and Austin, Texas, as well as in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Dubai, Sw ...
operates its U.K. offices from Hyde Park Hayes. Harnam Engineering Works is situated on Swallowfield Way, Hayes. Established in 1988, the company specialises in premium
laser cutting Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to vaporize materials, resulting in a cut edge. While typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, it is now used by schools, small businesses, architecture, and hobbyists. Laser cutt ...
,
precision engineering Precision engineering is a subdiscipline of electrical engineering, software engineering, electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, and optical engineering concerned with designing machines, fixtures, and other structures that have except ...
, sheet metalwork and fabrication. Leemark Engineering is situated on Rigby Lane, Hayes. Founded in 1967, the
machining Machining is a manufacturing process where a desired shape or part is created using the controlled removal of material, most often metal, from a larger piece of raw material by cutting. Machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, which util ...
service specialises in high precision CNC
milling Milling may refer to: * Milling (minting), forming narrow ridges around the edge of a coin * Milling (grinding), breaking solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting in a mill * Milling (machining), a process of using ro ...
and
turning Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool, typically a non-rotary tool bit, describes a helix toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates. Usually the term "turning" is reserved for the generation of ...
. Wellington Engineering is situated on Betam Road, Hayes. Established in the mid-1980s, the company specialises in multiaxis and CNC machining serving a variety of industries.


Governance and public services

Hayes is in the Hayes and Harlington UK Parliament constituency. Hayes's current MP is
John McDonnell John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. He has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington ...
( Labour). The Metropolitan Police Service is responsible for
law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
and the prevention of crime in Hayes. Th
Hillingdon Neighbourhood Watch
website contains details of Police Station opening times, news, appeals, events and meetings. Crime information may be given anonymously to Crimestoppers UK. Hillingdon Council encourages residents to report: incidents o
fly-tipping
problems involvin
illegally parked vehicles
an
potholes and road issues
Hayes Fire Station is at 65 Shepiston Lane, UB3 1LL. The
London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...
puts information regarding Hayes Fire Station, and risk and incidents in Hayes on it
website
Hayes is served by Hillingdon Hospital on Pield Heath Road, UB8 3NN.


Transport


Rail

Hayes & Harlington railway station is the town's main railway station on the
Great Western Main Line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs between London Paddington and . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. The GWML is presently a part of t ...
, and the station is on the
Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...
. It provides direct connections eastbound to Paddington railway station, London Paddington and beyond, and westbound to Reading railway station, Reading. It is also served by trains on the Heathrow Spur, connecting it to the airport without an intermediate stop. Hayes & Harlington station was redeveloped ahead of the opening of the Elizabeth line.


Buses

London Buses serving Hayes are:


Road

The town is close to junctions 3 and 4 of the M4 motorway. The A312 road, A312 is the main north-south route. The A4020 Uxbridge Road is the main West-East route passing directly through Hayes.


Water

The
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...
runs through Hayes. Travellers by boat may moor at Hayes and take advantage of local amenities. Shops include branches of:
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
, Tesco,
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, Asda,
Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...
, Greggs, Boots UK, Boots, and WHSmith).


In popular culture


Film

Galton and Simpson-scripted comedy ''The Bargee'' (1964) stars Harry H. Corbett and Ronnie Barker as boatmen operating a canal-boat along the Bull's Bridge, Hayes section of the
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...
. ''Poor Cow'' (1967) – a noted example of Kitchen sink realism, kitchen sink drama starring Carol White and Terence Stamp – was filmed partly in Hayes.
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
' 1967 film ''Magical Mystery Tour (film), Magical Mystery Tour'' followed the band and their entourage on a surreal musical journey. Hayes is not listed among the featured locations, but the town's name features throughout. The famous ''Magical Mystery Tour'' coach – a Plaxton-bodied Panorama 1, based on the six-wheeled Bedford VAL 14 chassis, registered URO 913E and painted yellow and blue with Psychedelia, psychedelic logos – was chartered by EMI from Fox Coaches of Hayes, who purchased the vehicle new in March 1967. The firm's name – "Fox of Hayes" – is visible throughout the film, above the coach's licence-plate. Parts of ''Chocolat (2000 film), Chocolat'' (2000), starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, were filmed in Barra Hall, Hayes. The scene in ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002) where Jess (Parminder Nagra) meets Juliette (Keira Knightley) was filmed in Barra Hall Park, Hayes; the Hounslow Harriers' practice pitch in the film is the nearby old Hayes & Yeading United F.C., Yeading Football Club pitch. The Sheraton Hotel on Bath Road, Hayes features in four films: Otto Preminger's final film, ''The Human Factor (1979 film), The Human Factor'' (1979) starring Richard Attenborough, Michael Caine spy thriller ''The Whistle Blower'' (1986), director Ridley Scott's thriller ''The Counselor, The Counsellor'' (2013), and crime drama ''The Infiltrator (2016 film), The Infiltrator'' (2016) starring Bryan Cranston. Marvel Comics, Marvel superhero film ''Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) includes scenes filmed on the site of the old The Old Vinyl Factory, EMI complex on Blyth Road, Hayes. Brad Pitt caused a stir in Hayes in November 2012 when filming scenes for horror film ''World War Z (film), World War Z'' (2013) at locations off Hayes End Road; the actor reportedly dined at Tommy Flynn's Bar and Diner (formerly the ''Queen's Head'' & ''The Grange''; closed 2015), on Wood End Green Road. Keira Knightley returned to Hayes to co-star with Benedict Cumberbatch in ''
The Imitation Game ''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 American biographical film, biographical thriller film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore (writer), Graham Moore, based on the 1983 biography ''Alan Turing: The Enigma'' by Andrew Hodges. The ...
'' (2014), filmed at the town's West London Film Studios. Colin Firth came to Hayes to make ''The Mercy'' (2017), Set (film and TV scenery), studio-set scenes of which were filmed at West London Film Studios. Judy Garland biographical film ''Judy (film), Judy'' (2019), with Renée Zellweger, was made at the town's West London Film Studios. Comedians Freddie Starr (1993), Frank Carson (1993), and Mike Reid (actor), Mike Reid (1993) & (1998) have issued on video and DVD performances filmed at Hayes's Beck Theatre.


Television

The BBC filmed a 1949 performance of A.G. Macdonell's stage-comedy ''The Fur Coat'' in Hayes's Regent Theatre (in existence 1948–54); the cast included Richard Bebb and silent film star Chili Bouchier. ''Doctor Who'', first story of Series 9 (January 1972), saw third Doctor Jon Pertwee's first encounter with the Daleks in a four-week story titled "Day of the Daleks"; filming locations included the Bull's Bridge, Hayes section of the
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...
. Two episodes of 1970s police drama ''The Sweeney'' included scenes filmed on Blyth Road, Hayes: "Contact Breaker" (Series 1, Episode 12; broadcast 20 March 1975), and "Faces" (Series 2, Episode 2; broadcast 8 September 1975). Rowan Atkinson filmed a swimming-pool-based episode of his popular series ''Mr. Bean'' (Series 1, Episode 3; broadcast 30 December 1990) at the (since-relocated) old swimming baths on Central Avenue, Hayes. Channel 5 (UK), Channel 5 soap opera ''Family Affairs'' (1997–2005) was filmed at HDS Studios, Beaconsfield Road, Hayes, with outdoor scenes filmed at the nearby Willowtree Marina section of the
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...
. BBC sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'' featured the exploits of the curmudgeonly Victor Meldrew in an unnamed English suburb; Series 6, Episode 5 – "The Dawn of Man" (broadcast 13 November 2000) – included scenes filmed on Glencoe Road, Hayes. BBC crime-drama ''Waking the Dead (TV series), Waking the Dead'' two-part episode List of Waking the Dead episodes, "Multistorey" (Series 3, Parts 1 & 2; broadcast 14 & 15 September 2003) included scenes filmed around the car park above
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
supermarket on Station Road, Hayes. An early episode of detective drama ''Lewis (TV series), Lewis'' – "Expiation" (Series 1, Episode 3; broadcast 6 July 2008) – included scenes filmed at HDS Studios, Beaconsfield Road, Hayes. BBC crime-drama ''New Tricks'' episode "Things Can Only Get Better" (Series 10, Episode 7; broadcast 10 September 2013) included scenes filmed around Hayes & Harlington railway station. Ricky Gervais made the 2014 Christmas special of his comedy-drama ''Derek (TV series), Derek'' at Hayes's West London Film Studios. The final (9th) series of ''Peep Show (British TV series), Peep Show'' (2015) was made at Hayes's West London Film Studios. ITV (TV channel), ITV television film ''Churchill's Secret'' (broadcast: 28 February 2016), starring Michael Gambon, was filmed at Hayes's West London Film Studios. Apple TV+ comedy-drama television series ''Ted Lasso'', starring Jason Sudeikis, is filmed at Hayes's West London Film Studios, and Hayes & Yeading United F.C.


Notable people

* Frank Allen (bassist), Frank Allen (1943–), bass player of sixties pop groups Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers and The Searchers (band), The Searchers, was born in Hayes. * So-called "godfather of alternative comedy" Tony Allen (comedian), Tony Allen (1945-2023) was born in Hayes. *
Anselm of Canterbury Anselm of Canterbury OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also known as (, ) after his birthplace and () after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Canterb ...
(1033/4–1109), later Anselm of Canterbury, Saint Anselm, was stationed in Hayes by King William II of England, William II in 1095. * Buster Bloodvessel (1958–), frontman of 1980s pop group Bad Manners, once lived on a canal houseboat in Hayes. * Virtuoso French horn player Dennis Brain (1921–1957) – credited with producing arguably the definitive recordings of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart's Horn Concertos (Mozart), horn concerti – lived from 1945 in a bungalow in Hayes. * Robin Bush (historian), Robin Bush (1943–2010) of Channel 4's archaeological series ''Time Team'' was born in Hayes. * Composer
William Byrd William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continental Europe, Continent. He i ...
(1539/40-1623), "the father of English music", lived as a Recusancy, Catholic recusant in Hayes and Harlington 1578–88; a primary school in the area bears his name. * Alderman Harvey Combe (1752–1818) – Whigs (British political party), Whig politician;
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
in 1799 – lived in Hayes and is buried in St Mary's churchyard. * Brian Connolly (1945–1997), singer of
glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...
band The Sweet, Sweet, lived in Hayes and Harefield. * Disgraced disc jockey Chris Denning (1941-2022) was born in Hayes. * Actress Anne Marie Duff (1970–) – best known for playing List of characters from Shameless, Fiona Gallagher in ''Shameless (UK TV series), Shameless'' and Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth I in ''The Virgin Queen (TV serial), The Virgin Queen'' – grew up in Hayes, attending Hewens College, Mellow Lane School. * Greg Dyke (1947–), former Director-General of the BBC, BBC director general and former chairman of The Football Association, the FA, grew up in Hayes. * Pioneer in photography B. J. Edwards (1838–1914) lived at Wistowe House (which dates from the 17th century) on Church Road. * Chris Finnegan (1944–2009), Olympic boxing gold medalist, lived in Hayes. * Boxer Kevin Finnegan (1948–2008), brother of Olympic gold medalist Chris, lived in Hayes. * Bandleader Bert Firman (1906–1999) – popular in the 1920s, '30s and '40s – worked daily from 1924 to 1929 in Hayes's Zonophone recording studios. * Actor Barry Foster (actor), Barry Foster (1927–2002), best known as 1970s TV detective Van der Valk (1972 TV series), Van der Valk, grew up in Hayes. * Musician Paul Gardiner (1958–1984) of Gary Numan's Tubeway Army was born in Hayes. * James Grant (Waterloo), Major-General James Grant, C.B. (1778–1852), who served under Duke of Wellington, Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo, was a lifelong Hayes resident. * Celebrity tailor Doug Hayward (1934–2008) grew up in Hayes. * Sir Peter Hendy (1953–), chairman of Network Rail and former Commissioner of Transport for London, was born in Hayes. * England national football team, England footballer Glenn Hoddle (1957–) was born in Hayes. * Noted Atomic physics, atomic and Nuclear physics, nuclear physicist Fritz Houtermans, Friedrich Georg Houtermans (1903–1966) lived between 1933 and 1935 in Hayes, where he worked for EMI. * Golfer Barry Lane (1960–2022) was born in Hayes. * Honey Lantree (1943–2018), drummer of sixties pop group The Honeycombs, was born in Hayes. * Sir Francis Lee, 4th Baronet (1639–1667), politician and (from 1644) stepson of Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, was educated in Hayes by Thomas Triplett, Dr Thomas Triplett. His son Edward Lee, 1st Earl of Lichfield, Edward Lee at age 13 married the 12-year-old Charlotte Lee, Countess of Lichfield, Lady Charlotte Fitzroy, an illegitimate daughter of Charles II of England, Charles II. * Screenwriter, Audio Playwright and Graphic Novelist Tony Lee (1970–), whose work including ''Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'', ''Doctor Who'' and ''Star Trek'' have topped the The New York Times Best Seller list, ''New York Times'' Best Seller list, was born in Hayes, attending Hayes Manor School, Hayes Manor Secondary School. * Lady Harriet Mordaunt (1848–1906) – respondent in a sensational Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, divorce case in which King Edward VII, while still Prince of Wales, was embroiled – lived for several years from 1877 in Hayes Park Private History of psychiatric institutions, Asylum (now Barra Hall). * Author
George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...
(1903–1950) lived and worked in Hayes, 1932-3. * Malcolm Owen (1955–1980) and Paul Fox (1951–2007) of Punk rock, punk band The Ruts grew up in Hayes. * Larry Page (singer and manager), Larry Page (1936-2024), 1960s manager of pop groups The Kinks and The Troggs, was born in Hayes. * Colin Phipps (1934-2009) – geologist, Labour MP, and founding member of the Social Democratic Party (UK), SDP - was born and schooled in Hayes. * Steve Priest (1948–2020), bass player of
glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...
band The Sweet, Sweet, was born in Hayes. * Jane Seymour (actress), Jane Seymour (1951–), actress in the titular role in ''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' and Bond girl, was born in Hayes. * Tennis player Maud Shackle (1870–1962) – twice a The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon finalist, and the first ambidextrous player – was born in Hayes. * Nick Simper (1945–), founding member of Rock band Deep Purple, lived in Hayes. * West Ham United F.C., West Ham footballer John Sissons (footballer), John Sissons (1945-) was born in Hayes. * David Smart (circus proprietor), David Smart (1929–2007), co-owner of Billy Smart Jr., Billy Smart's Circus and Windsor Safari Park and a son of Billy Smart Sr., was born in Hayes. * Composer Stephen Storace (1762–1796), famous in his day and a friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart, lived from the late 1780s in Wood End, Hayes. Mozart created the role of Susanna in ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (1786) for his sister, Nancy Storace (1765–1817). * Prebendary and philanthropist Dr Thomas Triplett (1602–1670) was a schoolmaster in Hayes during the Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth period (see ''Sir Francis Lee'', above); a primary school in the area bears his name. * David Westlake (1965–), singer/songwriter of indie band The Servants, was born in Hayes. * Welsh international footballer Rhoys Wiggins (1987–) grew up in Hayes. * Football player/manager/pundit Ray Wilkins (1956–2018) grew up in Hayes. * Former Trades Union Congress, TUC leader Norman Willis (1933–2014) was born in Hayes.


Royal visits

In 1917, King George V and his wife Queen Mary of Teck visited the (pre-EMI)
Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited was a British phonograph manufacturer and record label, founded in April 1898 by Emil Berliner. It was one of the earliest record labels. The company purchased the His Master's Voice painting and trademark righ ...
in Hayes; they were accompanied by Rowland Baring, 2nd Earl of Cromer, Lord Cromer, and were received by pioneer of music-recording and cinema Alfred Clark (director), Alfred Clark, then Managing Director of the company. The Gramophone Company contributed a detailed miniature Phonograph, gramophone of mahogany and brass to Queen Mary's Dolls' House in 1924; it remains part of the Royal Collection. In January 1936, King Edward VIII visited Hayes (while still Prince of Wales) in order to view the production of the
Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited was a British phonograph manufacturer and record label, founded in April 1898 by Emil Berliner. It was one of the earliest record labels. The company purchased the His Master's Voice painting and trademark righ ...
's radio instruments. In 1940, King George VI and his wife Queen Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Elizabeth visited the EMI Factory in Hayes. On 12 March 1965, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, Princess Margaret, younger sister of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II, visited the Old Vinyl Factory, EMI factory. Her Royal Highness#United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms, Royal Highness was accompanied by her husband Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, Lord Snowdon. The Royal couple was received by former EMI chairman Joseph Lockwood, Sir Joseph Lockwood, who oversaw the company's expansion in the music industry, signing and marketing
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
and others. On 19 May 2006, Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II visited Hayes town centre as part of a programme of visits in celebration of her 80th birthday. On 23 March 2011, Queen Camilla (at the time, Duchess of Cornwall) visited Brookside Primary School on Perth Avenue, Hayes. On 14 February 2013, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Prince Andrew (seven years before withdrawing from his public role) visited TMD Technologies in Swallowfield Way, Hayes in recognition of its innovation and trade record. On 20 April 2017, William, Prince of Wales & Catherine, Princess of Wales (at the time, Duke & Duchess of Cambridge) and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry (at the time, a working Royal) visited Hayes, officially opening Global Academy, whose interest in mental well-being is in accord with the Royals' ''Heads Together'' mental health charity. On 9 March 2023, William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales visited Hayes in order to thank volunteers involved in the humanitarian response to the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.


Listed buildings

A listed building is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.


Conservation areas

Hillingdon Council lists four Protected area, conservation areas in Hayes. These areas are designated heritage assets of special architectural and historic interest, "the character and appearance of which is desirable to preserve or enhance."
Botwell (Nestlé's), Hayes
(
Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
-protected; subsequently levelled for development) * Botwell (Thorn EMI), Hayes (
Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
-protected)
Hayes Village

Bulls Bridge, Hayes
(
Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
-protected) Hayes has several parks and public gardens, the character and appearance of which it may also be said to be desirable to preserve: Barra Hall Park, Minet Country Park, the Norman Leddy Memorial Gardens, and Lake Farm Country Park.


Related listings

Grade II listings are given to early 20th century Transformer, electric transformer pillars bearing the town's name as part of the manufacturer's address: ''British Electric Transformer Company, Hayes, Middlesex''. The listings are made for these reasons: "[1] Design interest: the transformer pillars produced by the British Electric Transformer Company are handsome pieces of industrial design. [2] Historic interest: . . . survives from the early period of mass electricity supply, which was to have a revolutionary effect on British domestic life." * * * * * * *


External links


Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visits Hayes, 19 May 2006

1936 view of Hayes's Gramophone Factory

1938 view
of Kingsley Wood, Sir Kingsley Wood visiting
Fairey Aviation The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes, Hillingdon, Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire that designed important military aircraft ...
, Hayes
1930s view
of the
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...
(Hayes at 6:35)
1954 view of Lincoln's, 88 East Avenue
Pathé News, British Pathé
1956 view
of Hayes and Harlington Urban District
1956 view of Hayes and Harlington

1961 view of Hayes schoolchildren
''Our Future Citizens''
1962 view of Immaculate Heart of Mary church
Pathé News, British Pathé
1962 District Council film
''At Your Service''
2013 view of Hayes on television
in ''New Tricks''
‘Hayes, Middlesex’
song & video, 2022
Gramophone Company's 1925 ''Catalogue of Instruments'' made in Hayes

BBC interview, 1964 – munitions-factory worker
''The Great War (documentary), The Great War''
Life down the shelters
in Hayes BBC WW2 People's War
My wartime childhood
in Hayes BBC WW2 People's War
Doodlebugs
in Hayes 1944 BBC WW2 People's War
Large collection of photos of Hayes & Harlington
*


Hayes People's History

Memories of Mellow Lane School Girls’ Choir, Hayes
''British History Online'' entries concerning Hayes:


Nearest places

Cranford, Greenford, Harlington, Hillingdon, Northolt, Southall, Uxbridge, West Drayton,
Yeading Yeading ( ) is a settlement in west London, forming part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, having been developed after the Second World War. Etymology Yeading is very early Saxon and was originally ''Geddingas'' or ''Geddinges'', meaning " ...
, and Yiewsley.


References

{{Authority control Areas of London Places formerly in Middlesex Districts of the London Borough of Hillingdon District centres of London