Northfields is an area in Ealing, west

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is centred on Northfield Avenue, a shopping street of mostly independent shops and restaurants. It lies partially in the Ealing W5 and partially in west Ealing's W13 postcode. It lies in the southwest corner of Ealing. From the 14th century this area was part of the manor of Coldhall, or West Ealing. Great and Little Northfields were two large fields in the late Middle Ages, lying in the extreme west of Ealing parish. By the mid-17th century, Northfields Road as it was first called, was constructed to connect Little Ealing (next to South Ealing) to the road to Uxbridge (the current Uxbridge Road running from Shepherds Bush to Uxbridge). Yet the area remained rural, covered in apple orchards into the late nineteenth century. Today the area is served by the

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a Deep level underground, deep-level London Underground line running between the west and the north of London. It has two western branches which split at Acton Town tube station, Acton Town and serves 53 stations. The li ...

from

Northfields tube station Northfields is a London Underground station in Northfields, London, Northfields, in the London Borough of Ealing. It is on the Heathrow Airport, Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line, between Boston Manor tube station, Boston Manor and South ...

Charles Holden Charles Henry Holden (12 May 1875 – 1 May 1960) was an English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadwa ...

and by the E2 and E3 bus services running to

Greenford Greenford () is a large town in the London Borough of Ealing in West London, Greater London, London, England, lying west from Charing Cross. It has a population of 46,787 inhabitants. Greenford is served by Greenford station, Greenford Stati ...

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

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 ...

, Acton and

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 the N11, a

night bus Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, is a mode of public transport service operated during the night hours. As an intermediate approach – between providing full service around the clock and stopping services altogether – it p ...

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

. Northfields is a middle-class area, with high levels of education, employment and home ownership. It is home to three local authority primary schools, Little Ealing Primary School, Fielding Primary School and Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School. Northfield Avenue has an annual street festival organised by the local trade association, NABA (Northfield Avenue Business Association). The first festival was held in summer 2007.

History

The Plough Inn which marks the junction of Little Ealing Lane and Northfield Avenue was in existence by 1722. Maps of Ealing from 1890 and before show Northfields as almost entirely rural, with just a few houses along Little Ealing Lane. The rest of the area was largely orchards. The arrival of the

District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London, England, from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the ...

in 1883, and the opening of the Northfields Halt in 1908, prompted development of the area.

Notable residents

The acrobat and tightrope walker

Charles Blondin Charles Blondin (born Jean François Gravelet, 28 February 182422 February 1897) was a French tightrope walker and acrobat. He toured the United States and was known for crossing the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope. During an event in Dublin i ...

was best known for his crossing of

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

on a tightrope. Blondin retired to live in Northfields from 1886 until his death in 1897 in a house on the site of what is now Niagara House, opposite The Plough pub on Northfield Avenue. Blondin Avenue, Blondin Park and Niagara Avenue are named after him; they were formerly the site of part of

Hugh Ronalds Hugh Ronalds (4 March 1760 – 18 November 1833) was an esteemed nurseryman and horticulturalist in Brentford, who published ''Pyrus Malus Brentfordiensis: or, a Concise Description of Selected Apples'' (1831). His plants were some of the first ...

' renowned nursery. Between 1815 and 1817

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

, later to become the 6th President of the United States lived with his family at Little Boston House in Windmill Road in Little Ealing in Northfields. The pop singer

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 ...

was a pupil at St Anne's Convent School on Little Ealing Lane in the 1950s. The BBC Weather presenter

Tomasz Schafernaker Tomasz Schafernaker (born 8 January 1979) is a Polish-British meteorologist who currently works for BBC Weather. Early life Tomasz Schafernaker was born on 8 January 1979 in Gdańsk, Poland, and attended school both in his native Poland and ...

lives in this area.

Notable buildings

A former cinema on Northfield Avenue is a Grade 2*

listed building 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, Hi ...

. Built in 1932 in an unusual Spanish style, it closed in 1987 and was converted into the Ealing Christian Centre in 1994. Other Grade 2 listed buildings in Northfields are: * Rochester House * Place House (Ealing Fields High School) * The Forester public house, architect

Nowell Parr Thomas Henry Nowell Parr Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (1864 – 23 September 1933) was a British architect, best known for designing public houses, pubs in West London (sub-region), west London. Many of these were built while Pa ...

* 53 Northfield Road (Orchard Lofts)

References

{{Areas of London Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Ealing