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Uxbridge () is a
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
an town in
west London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...
, England, and the administrative headquarters 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 ...
, northwest of
Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...
. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of
Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...
in 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 ...
. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century it expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1955, and part of
Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
in 1965. Attempted negotiations between King
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
and the
Parliamentary Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to ...
during the
English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
took place at a
public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
called the
Crown and Treaty The Crown and Treaty is a pub on Oxford Road in Uxbridge, London, England, where Charles I and his Parliamentary opponents during the English Civil War held negotiations (the Treaty of Uxbridge) between 30 January and 22 February 1645. It is a ...
.
RAF Uxbridge RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years b ...
houses the
Battle of Britain Bunker The Battle of Britain Bunker is an underground operations room at RAF Uxbridge, formerly used by No. 11 Group Fighter Command during the Second World War. Fighter aircraft operations were controlled from there throughout the War but most notab ...
, from where the air defence of the south-east of England was coordinated during the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...
especially from its No. 11 Group Operations Room, also used during the
D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
. Today the town serves as a significant retail and commercial centre; it also houses
Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...
as well as a campus of
Buckinghamshire New University Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) is a public university in Buckinghamshire, England, with campuses in High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Uxbridge and Great Missenden. The institution dates from 1891, when it was founded as the School of Science and A ...
. A part of the town which has large converted flour mills adjoins
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, the boundary being the River Colne. According to the 2021 census the population is 17,962


History


Toponymy

The name of the town is derived from "Wixan's Bridge", which was sited near the bottom of Oxford Road where a modern road bridge stands, beside the ''Swan and Bottle'' public house. The Wixan were a 7th-century
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
tribe from
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
who also began to settle in what became
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 ...
.Cotton 1994, p. 8.
Anglo-Saxons 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 ...
began to settle and farm in the area of Uxbridge in the 5th century, clearing dense woodland. Two other places in Middlesex bore the name of the Wixan: '' Uxendon'' ("Wixan's Hill"), a name preserved only in the street names of Uxendon Hill and Crescent in Harrow, and ''Waxlow'' ("Wixan's Wood") near
Southall Southall () is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...
. Archaeologists found
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 ...
remains (before 700 BC) and medieval remains during the construction of ''
The Chimes ''The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In'', commonly referred to as ''The Chimes'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in 1844, one year after ''A Christmas Carol''. It is the second ...
'' shopping centre; two miles (3.2 km) away at Denham, Upper
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 ...
remains have been found. Uxbridge is not mentioned 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 ...
'' of the 11th century, but a hundred years late
St Margaret's Church
was built. The town appears in records from 1107 as "Woxbrigge", and became part of the
Elthorne Hundred Elthorne was a hundred (ancient subdivision) of the historic county of Middlesex, England. Toponymy The name is a standard contraction in Old English of El(ɘ's) thorn – El likely being a man, perhaps one of the eorls (earls) in the sa ...
with other settlements in the area.


Early developments

The Parliamentary Army garrisoned the town upon the outbreak of the
English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
in 1642 and established their headquarters there in June 1647 on a line from Staines to
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
,Cotton 1994, p. 23. although the king passed through Uxbridge in April 1646, resting at the Red Lion public house for several hours. Charles I met with representatives of Parliament at the Crown Inn in Uxbridge in 1645, but
negotiations Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more parties to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or Collective bargaining, collective, or craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. The parties aspire to agree on m ...
for the end of hostilities were unsuccessful due in part to the king's stubborn attitude. The town had been chosen as it was located between the Royal headquarters at
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
and the Parliamentary stronghold of London. The covered market was built in 1788, replacing a building constructed in 1561. In the early 19th century, Uxbridge had an unsavoury reputation; the jurist William Arabin said of its residents "They will steal the very teeth out of your mouth as you walk through the streets. I know it from experience." For about 200 years most of London's flour was produced in the Uxbridge area. 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 ...
opened in 1794, linking Uxbridge with
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
and the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
at
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 ...
. By 1800 Uxbridge had become one of the most important market towns in
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 ...
, helped by its status as the first stopping point for stagecoaches travelling from London to Oxford. The development of Uxbridge declined after the opening of 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, ...
in 1838, which passed through
West Drayton West Drayton is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and from 1929 was part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District, which became part of Greater London in 1965. The s ...
. A branch line to Uxbridge was opened in 1856, but it was the opening of the Metropolitan Line in 1904 which restarted Uxbridge's growth by giving the town its first direct link to London. Harman's Brewery was established in Uxbridge by George Harman in 1763, and moved into a new headquarters in Uxbridge High Street in 1875. The eventual owners of the brewery,
Courage Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...
, closed the headquarters in 1964. It was demolished and replaced by a Budgen's supermarket, which in turn was demolished with the construction of The Chimes shopping centre. The brewery building in George Street remained in place until it was demolished in 1967. The office building Harman House was built on the site in 1985, named after the brewery.


Urban development

The main
enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...
s effected in the parish of Hillingdon, by statute in 1819, saw the reduction of Uxbridge Common, which at its largest had been in circumference. It originally straddled Park Road, north of the town centre, and covers . In 1871 the town's first purpose-built police station was built in Windsor Street. The building included three cells and stables. The Metropolitan Police continued to use the building until 1988, when operations moved to a new site in Harefield Road. The building subsequently became the ''Old Bill'' public house in 1996, renamed the ''Fig Tree'' in 2006. In the early 1900s the Uxbridge and District Electricity Supply Company had been established a
power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
in Waterloo Road, and much of the town was connected by 1902, although some houses still had gas lighting in 1912. A water tower on Uxbridge Common was built in 1906, resembling a church tower, to improve the supply to the town. Wood panelling from a room in the ''Crown & Treaty'' public house was sold in 1924 to an American businessman, who installed it in his office in the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...
in New York. It was returned in 1953 as a gift to the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II and returned to the house, although the monarch retained ownership. On 31 August 1935 Uxbridge Lido, an outdoor swimming pool built in the "Moderne" or
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 ...
style, was officially opened. Before the opening, many residents swam in a section of the
Frays River Frays River is a semi-canalised short river in England that branches off the River Colne at Uxbridge Moor and rejoins it at West Drayton. It is believed to be a mainly man-made anabranch north of the confluence with the River Pinn to feed wate ...
near Harefield Road, and the
Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...
. The pool, pavilion building, entrance building and both fountains were designated
Grade II 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 ...
listed buildings in 1998. Despite the listing, the pool was closed to the public and the buildings became subject to heavy vandalism. The Uxbridge open-air pool was fully refurbished during 2009 and re-opened in May 2010. Added to the site, renamed Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex, was a 50 m indoor competition pool, a leisure pool, a 100-station gym, a wide range of exercise classes, an athletics stadium and track, 3G floodlit pitches, a sports hall, a café and a crèche. The Grade II listed buildings are still standing. During the Second World War Uxbridge adopted the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
in 1942, to help towards the ship's costs; ''Intrepid'' was lost to enemy action the following year. The town and surrounding areas suffered bombing by the
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
. V1 flying bombs fell on the town between June 1944 and March 1945. The first recorded bombing using a V1 was on 22 June 1944 at 07:00, when the bomb passed over the top of a bus and hit four houses nearby. Seven people were killed and 25 injured, leaving 46 houses in the area uninhabitable. In all the Uxbridge Urban District suffered 79 civilian deaths through enemy action in the war. In 1958 the Lowe & Shawyer
plant nursery A nursery is a place where plants are plant propagation, propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which se ...
to the west of RAF Uxbridge entered voluntary liquidation. The nursery had stood in Kingston Lane since 1868, and was the largest producer of cut flowers in the country. Demolition work began in 1962, and the construction of
Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...
commenced.
Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums ( ), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants in the Asteraceae family. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia, and the center of diversity is in China. Co ...
s are included the coat of arms of the Borough of Uxbridge in memory of the nursery. The Uxbridge (Vine Street) railway branch line, which partly ran alongside the site, was closed in 1964 and in 1966 the university opened, purchasing the land where the railway had run from the local council for £65,000. The Uxbridge Cricket Club moved from Cricketfield Road in 1971 to make way for the new Civic Centre. The club had been at Cricketfield Road since 1858, but moved to a new site on part of Uxbridge Common on Park Road. The Market Square shopping precinct in the town centre was built in the late 1970s, but its lack of shelter made it unpopular and it did not attract the expected levels of custom. Many buildings along the High Street and Windsor Street had been demolished to make way for the new precinct, which was eventually sold to the
Prudential Assurance Company Prudential plc is a British-domiciled multinational insurance and asset management company headquartered in London and Hong Kong. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working people. Prudential has dual p ...
and redeveloped with a roof in the early 1980s to become the Pavilions Shopping Centre.Cotton 1994, p. 138 The ''Peacock'' public house (later renamed The Chequers) in one of the two main squares was built partially underground having two flights of steps down into the pub at either end. It was demolished and replaced with a café named also named The Chequers, which remains. Rayner's pharmacy shop was also demolished during the Market Square development, although the shopfront was saved by the
Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...
and is held in storage.
The Chimes ''The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In'', commonly referred to as ''The Chimes'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in 1844, one year after ''A Christmas Carol''. It is the second ...
shopping centre was built beside Uxbridge station in 2001, incorporating many of the existing buildings into the new structure. The centre was originally to be named St George's Centre in plans dating back to the early 1990s, though this name was eventually taken by
another Another may refer to: * anOther or Another Magazine, a culture and fashion magazine * ''Another'' (novel), a Japanese horror novel ** ''Another'' (film), a Japanese 2012 live-action film based on the novel ** ''Another'' (TV series), a Japanese ...
shopping centre in
Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...
. Instead, The Chimes was said to refer to the sound of the bells from the nearby
market house A market house or market hall is a covered space historically used as a marketplace to exchange goods and services such as provisions or livestock, sometimes combined with spaces for public or civic functions on the upper floors and often with a ...
on the High Street. An Odeon cinema opened as a major part of the centre, with the smaller cinema at the opposite end of the High Street closing. Some houses on Chippendale Way and the St George's car park were demolished to allow for the construction of the new shopping centre car park. The offices of the local building company Fassnidge were also included in the new development; built in the 19th century, they house a
Pizza Express PizzaExpress (Restaurants) Limited, trading as Pizza Express (also called Pizza Marzano or Milano), is a British multinational pizza restaurant chain. It has over 500 restaurants across the United Kingdom and 100 overseas in Europe, Hong Kong, ...
restaurant. Preserved timber from earlier demolished buildings in Uxbridge was used in the construction of a new building beside the former offices of Fassnidge, designed to resemble a much older structure. In 2002 the dry ski slope near Park Road and the Uxbridge Lido was closed and the remaining buildings and structures removed. The Hillingdon Ski Centre had been subject to several arson attacks during 2001 and the company operating it became insolvent. The slope, which had been built in 1977, was left to return to nature. Work began in 2008 to extensively refurbish and extend Uxbridge Lido, and it reopened to the public in February 2010 as the Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex. On 8 September 2010 the 75th anniversary of the first opening of the Lido was celebrated at the pool.


Governance

Uxbridge is known from tithe assignments to the vicar of Hillingdon in 1281 and hundreds of later documents as a
chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...
in the large parish of
Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...
;Diane K Bolton, H P F King, Gillian Wyld and D C Yaxley, 'Hillingdon, including Uxbridge: Churches', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4, ed. T F T Baker, J S Cockburn and R B Pugh (London, 1971), pp. 87-91. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol4/pp87-9 the town core was upgraded to a full parish (and thus its large chapel to a church) in 1827. Eleven years later a parish of Saint John was added in Uxbridge Moor, Hillingdon. A parish of Saint Andrew, Uxbridge, was added in 1865. From Tudor times, parishes had a select or elect
vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...
which determined much local maintenance, including poor relief, but under the
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 76) (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the British Whig Party, Whig government of Charles ...
, broader local poor law unions took on the relief role and shifted funds towards workhouses and associated hospitals. Uxbridge was in the first main wave of the new, secular system of
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
es, gaining a council and territory in 1866, and an
Urban District An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...
under the
Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...
. In 1955 the council successfully petitioned for a charter of incorporation and became a
municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...
. This stood for ten years, followed by incorporation into the new system of London Boroughs, as 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 ...
. Uxbridge gave its name to a
parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
from 1885 until 2010, when boundary changes led to the creation of the
Uxbridge and South Ruislip Uxbridge and South Ruislip is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation. The seat has been held by Danny Beales of the Labour Party since July 2024. From 2015 to 2023, th ...
constituency. The seat is currently held by
Danny Beales Danny Boy Beales (born 1988) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he was previously a member of Camden London Borough Council from 2014 until his ...
of the Labour Party.


Geography

Uxbridge lies at a mean elevation of above mean sea level. Like much of the rest of the UK its climate is generally
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
, with few extremes of temperature or weather. The landscape upon which the settlement of Uxbridge was established is largely unchanged from 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 ...
era. Much of it was covered by oak and elm trees, which were gradually cleared by early settlers. An archaeological excavation by the
Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...
in the 1990s found evidence of flint items shaped by Mesolithic hunters, as well as various animal bones and traces of charcoal from the remains of campfires. The
River Pinn The Pinn is a suburban, outer west London river. It has dendritic headwaters, the furthest is considered its sourcein Harrow Weald. Its confluence with Frays River makes it a tributary of the Colne. It is one of three principal rivers wholly in ...
runs through Uxbridge, passing through the former site of RAF Uxbridge and the grounds of Brunel University. It joins the
Frays River Frays River is a semi-canalised short river in England that branches off the River Colne at Uxbridge Moor and rejoins it at West Drayton. It is believed to be a mainly man-made anabranch north of the confluence with the River Pinn to feed wate ...
, which branches off from the River Colne and acts as the boundary between Uxbridge and the neighbouring county of
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
. Uxbridge is centred from
Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...
in Central London; from Hayes; from
Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is a suburb in the London Borough of Hillingdon in northwest London. Prior to 1965 it was in Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...
; from
Northolt Northolt is a town in North West London, England, spread across both sides of the A40 trunk road. It is west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the seven major towns that make up the London Borough of Ealing and a smaller part in th ...
; from
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 ...
; and from
High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
.


Demography

The table below shows housing data for Uxbridge, broadly defined, and its neighbourhoods. The population of Uxbridge North was estimated in 2009 by the Office for National Statistics as 11,812, and 11,887 for Uxbridge South.. Around 85% of residents of Uxbridge North are
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 6% more than both the borough average and Uxbridge South. Other residents are mixed-race, Asian or
Asian British British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6% of the popu ...
,
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
Black British Black British people or Black Britons"Black Briton, N." ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford UP. December 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1136579918. are a multi-ethnic group of British people of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Sub-Saharan ...
, and
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
or other ethnic groups. Uxbridge South has more Black and Chinese residents than any other Hillingdon ward. By the time of the
2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...
, the population of Uxbridge had reached 12,048 in Uxbridge North and 13,979 in Uxbridge South. The most common ethnic group in Uxbridge North was White British (69.8%), followed by Asian or Asian British (19.5%) and Black or Black British (4.1%). The remaining percentage was made up of mixed-race and other unspecified ethnic groups. White British was also the largest ethnic group in Uxbridge South, at 62.1%, followed by Asian or Asian British (22.6%), Black or Black British (7.3%) and mixed-race (4.3%). The remaining percentage was made up of other unspecified ethnic groups. Uxbridge North's largest sector of employment, according to the
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
and 2011 censuses, was management. The life expectancy for men was estimated at 77 years in Uxbridge North, compared with 74 years in Uxbridge South. The figures for women are 83 years in Uxbridge North and 81 years in Uxbridge South.


Religion

In the 2011 census, 72.8% of residents in the Uxbridge North ward answered that they had a religion, compared with 19.3% who did not and 7.9% who did not answer. Of those who answered, 53% identified as Christian, followed by 6.7% who identified as Muslim and 6.2% as Sikh. The percentage identifying as Hindu was 5.4%. Figures for residents identifying as either Jewish, Buddhist or other unspecified religions were each below 1%. Within the Uxbridge South ward, 69.2% of residents answered that they had a religion, compared with 23.8% who did not and 7% who did not answer. As with Uxbridge North, the majority (46.4%) identified as Christian, followed by 13.4% who identified as Muslim and 5% as Hindu. The percentage identifying as Sikh was 2.3% and those identifying as Buddhist were 1.2%. Figures for residents identifying as either Jewish or other unspecified religions were each below 1%.


Churches


St Margaret's Church

This is the original parish church of Uxbridge, and one of the oldest buildings in the town. Located in Windsor Street, it is known to have existed since at least 1245, when a series of hearings took place there in which the Abbot of Bec in
Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
brought an action against the rector of Great Wratting in
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
for non-payment of tithes. On parchments kept at
St. George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar (a church und ...
, in connection with this event, St. Margaret's is mentioned by name, and there are several other references between 1245 and 1247 to the "chapel at Uxbridge". The oldest portion of the existing building is part of the north tower, which was built in the late 14th century. The north aisle, together with the nave and its arcades, dates from the early 15th century, while the south aisle, with its fine hammer-beam roof, was added about 1450. The carved stone
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 ...
was placed in the church soon afterwards, dating from about 1480. For most of its history, St Margaret's served as a
chapel-of-ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...
to St John the Baptist's Church in Hillingdon; it was not until 1827 that it was given its own parish.


St Andrew's Church

By the 1850s the population of both Hillingdon and Uxbridge was beginning to rise. With new housing being built between the two centres the then Vicar of Hillingdon, Richard Croft (served 1856–69) gained permission to build a new local church for a newer part of the town traditionally called Hillingdon West. He asked architect
Sir George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...
"to draw up plans to build a church without unnecessary ornament but in handsome proportions suitable to its position at the entrance to Uxbridge Town..." Scott produced his plans and local Uxbridge builder William Fassnidge was employed to construct the church. On St Peter's Day, 29 June 1864, the foundation stone was laid at the south end of the chancel arch by the Lord Bishop of London,
Archibald Campbell Tait Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 18113 December 1882) is an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England. Life Tait was born ...
. He returned to consecrate and open the church on the feast day of saints Philip and James, 1 May 1865. The spire was completed the following year. Together with the bells, vestry and organ and other embellishments, the building cost £12,000 ().


Church of Our Lady of Lourdes and St Michael

After the
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 ...
in the 16th century, there was no official Roman Catholic place of worship in Uxbridge until after the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act in the late 19th century. In 1892 Father Michael Aloysius Wren bought a presbytery at 37 Lawn Road, next to which a temporary church of corrugated iron was built, dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes and St Michael. St Mary's School was also founded on Rockingham Road at this time. Fr Wren was helped by his nephew John, who acted as his assistant priest. They covered an extensive area, including the modern Catholic parishes of Ruislip and Hillingdon. The mission grew and by 1907 the congregation numbered 150, with school attendance at 60. In time plans were made for a larger, more permanent church. This was led by Father Thomas Moloney, who bought the current presbytery and acquired the land that stood at the back so that a church could be built. The foundation stone was eventually laid on Low Sunday 1931 by Archbishop Alban Goodier, an English Jesuit who had been
Archbishop of Bombay The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay is a particular church celebrating the Latin Rite of worship, centred in the Bombay (Mumbai) city of the northern Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The archdiocese has been a Metropolitan see since i ...
between 1919 and 1926. The new church, in Oxford Road, was designed by the diocesan architect, T. H. B. Scott. It was built of brick in the Romanesque style, seating 350. The church was opened by
Cardinal Bourne Francis Alphonsus Bourne (1861–1935) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the fourth Archbishop of Westminster from 1903 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911. Biography Early life Francis ...
on 29 September 1931 and was officially consecrated on 14 May 1936, after its debts were cleared.


Faith Assembly, Uxbridge

The Redeemed Christian Church of God is based at 2 Harefield Road, worship is in the Kate Fasnidge Hall, it is contemporary and Pentecostal.


Economy

As of 2012, Uxbridge had of town centre floorspace. Uxbridge has two shopping centres,
The Pavilions The Pavilions is an indoor shopping centre in Uxbridge, Greater London, England. It was opened in 1973 and refurbished in 1985 and has previously been known as the Pavilions Shopping Centre and before that, The Cedars Shopping Centre. Between 200 ...
and
The Chimes ''The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In'', commonly referred to as ''The Chimes'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in 1844, one year after ''A Christmas Carol''. It is the second ...
(formerly Intu Uxbridge). Much of the town centre is pedestrianised. Just off the High Street is Windsor Street, a short street with older shops. The town centre consists of retail outlets and office buildings, including the main UK and European offices of international companies such as
Coca-Cola European Partners Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plc, also known as CCEP, is a British multinational bottling company operating as world's largest independent Coca-Cola bottler by net revenue. Involved in the marketing, production, and distribution of Coca-Cola ...
,
Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...
,
Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...
,
General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...
, F. Hinds, PAREXEL,
Arri Arri Group () (stylized as "ARRI") is a German manufacturer of motion picture film equipment. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1917. It produces professional motion picture cameras, lenses, lighting and post-production equipment. It ...
,
Bristol-Myers Squibb The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consist ...
, Monster Energy, APL, Herbalife Europe. Other employers include
NetApp NetApp, Inc. is an American data infrastructure company that provides unified data storage, integrated data services, and cloud operations (CloudOps) solutions to enterprise customers. The company is based in San Jose, California. It has ranked ...
,
Anixter International Anixter International Inc. is a company based in Glenview, Illinois, United States and founded in 1957. The company supplies goods and services for communications, security, networking, audio-visual, and industrial control applications. The com ...
,
PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, alon ...
, WMS Gaming, IBB Solicitors and
Nexen Nexen may refer to: * Nexen Energy, now CNOOC Petroleum North America, a Canadian oil and gas company * Nexen Tire, a Korean tire manufacturer *NEXEN, an online platform used by BNY {{disambiguation ...
. Within the London Borough, 55.1% of residents travel to the Uxbridge North and Uxbridge South wards to work, and only 8% of residents working there who also live within the wards. The 2001 census measured a total of 6,007 (35.9%) of residents leaving the North ward to go to work. Uxbridge South had a figure of 5,666 (26.5%) of residents leaving the ward to work elsewhere. In 2005 retail footprint research, Uxbridge ranked 9th in terms of retail expenditure in Greater London at £311 million. A terraced landmark with tower on Vine Street is what was
Randalls Randalls Food & Drug L.P. is an American supermarket chain which operates 32 supermarkets in Texas under the ''Randalls'' and ''Flagship Randalls'' banners. The chain consists of 13 stores located around the Houston, Texas, Houston area and 15 sto ...
, the
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 ...
-architecture department store owned by relations of John Randall MP. It is a 1939, remodelled rebuilding of a 1900 building. The building has the initial, mainstream category of
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 ...
since October 2008. The store closed in January 2015.


Education

Primary schools in Uxbridge include Hermitage Primary School, St Andrew's Church of England Primary School, St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Whitehall Infant School, and Whitehall Junior School. Uxbridge High School is a comprehensive secondary school in the town. Uxbridge is also home to
Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...
and the
Buckinghamshire New University Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) is a public university in Buckinghamshire, England, with campuses in High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Uxbridge and Great Missenden. The institution dates from 1891, when it was founded as the School of Science and A ...
's nursing campus. The main campus of
Uxbridge College Uxbridge College is a large general further education college in the London Borough of Hillingdon. In 2017 the college has been merged with Harrow College and in 2023, Richmond upon Thames College became the latest member of the group as they mer ...
is also in the town.


Transport

Uxbridge tube station Uxbridge is a London Underground station in Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, north-west London. The station is the terminus of the Uxbridge branches of both the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines. The next station towards London is ...
is the western terminus of branches of the
Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...
and
Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...
lines of the
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
. The station, built in 1933, is fronted by a pedestrian high street and is connected to a bus terminus with connections to Hillingdon, Hayes, Ealing, Ruislip, and Slough. Uxbridge Belmont Road was the first underground station, built slightly outside the town centre to allow for a possible extension to
High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
. This was subsequently replaced by the current station. There were two
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, ...
branch lines to Uxbridge with terminus stations at Uxbridge Vine Street (originally just Uxbridge Station) and Uxbridge High Street. The two railway lines were planned to be joined, with a new Uxbridge station to be built on the west side of the town replacing the existing station at Vine Street which had been opened in 1856. Work on the new branch line from the north at Denham started in 1900. However with the Metropolitan Railway being extended into Uxbridge Belmont Road station in 1904 it was decided to temporarily terminate the line at a bridge over Uxbridge High Street. The extension through Uxbridge to join the lines was never completed. Uxbridge High Street station opened on 1 May 1907 but had low passenger numbers and closed on 1 September 1939 as a
war economy A war economy or wartime economy is the set of preparations undertaken by a modern state to mobilize its economy for war production. Philippe Le Billon describes a war economy as a "system of producing, mobilizing and allocating resources to su ...
and never reopened. By the 1960s the Uxbridge Vine Street branch line to West Drayton station was being affected by competition on London services from the town's faster Underground lines. Passenger services were stopped on 10 September 1962. Goods traffic ceased two years later. Uxbridge Vine Street station was demolished in 1969. The B483 road connects the centre of Uxbridge with the Swakeleys Roundabout junction of the A40. Uxbridge is also connected by major roads to Slough, Denham, Ickenham, Cowley,
Iver Heath Iver is a civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets of Shreding Green and Thorney. Geography, tr ...
, Hillingdon Heath and Hayes. 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 ...
, formerly 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 ...
, connects London with
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
and passes immediately to the west of Uxbridge, forming part of the borough boundary. The first stretch was built in the late 18th century from
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 ...
to Uxbridge. Further upstream is Uxbridge Lock, and nearby is a derelict flour mill formerly owned by Allied Mills. The mill was bought in the 19th century by William King, who named it "Kingsmill". Kingsmill continues to be used as a brand of bread by
Associated British Foods Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England. Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major pr ...
.
London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...
routes 222,
331 __NOTOC__ Year 331 ( CCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Bassus and Ablabius (or, less frequently, year 1084 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...
, 427, 607, A10, U1, U2, U3, U4, U5, U7, U9, U10 and N207 serve the area, alongside 8 non-
Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
(TfL) routes:
First Berkshire & The Thames Valley First Beeline Buses Limited, trading as First Beeline, is a bus operator providing services in and around Slough. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History In January 1986 Alder Valley North Limited, later renamed, The Berks Bucks Bus Compan ...
route 3, Green Line route 724 and
Carousel Buses Carousel Buses Limited, trading as Carousel Buses, is a bus company based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Originally an independent company, it is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group's Oxford Bus Company operation alongside Pearces Co ...
routes 101, 102, 104, 105, 581 & 583. The proposed West London Tram was postponed indefinitely by TfL in August 2007 after it was announced that the
Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...
project would be going ahead. TfL cited "an effective bus-based solution" as an alternative, delivered in conjunction with local councils. Since 2013 the route has been served by the 427, 207, and 607 bus services.


Landmarks


Civic Centre

The London Borough of Hillingdon's Hillingdon Civic Centre was built in Uxbridge High Street in 1973, as part of an effort to unite the services of the council, which had formed in 1965 with the merger of the
Municipal Borough of Uxbridge Uxbridge was a local government district in north west Middlesex, England, from 1849 to 1965, seated in the town of Uxbridge. History Uxbridge was one of the first towns in England to adopt the Public Health Act 1848 in 1849 and form a local boa ...
,
Ruislip-Northwood Urban District Ruislip-Northwood was an urban district in west Middlesex, England, from 1904 to 1965. From its inception Ruislip-Northwood fell within the Metropolitan Police District and from 1933 it was part of the London Passenger Transport Area. The urb ...
,
Hayes and Harlington Urban District Hayes and Harlington (until 1930, Hayes) was a local government, urban district in west Middlesex, England from 1904 to 1965. It was created in 1904 as Hayes Urban District - covering the Hayes parish transferred from Uxbridge Rural District ...
and
Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District Yiewsley and West Drayton was a local government district in Middlesex, England from 1929 to 1965. Its area became the south-west of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Establishment and expansion The Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District evolv ...
. Before the new building was completed, council services had been spread throughout Uxbridge and the rest of the borough and various buildings, as a result of the merging of the former district councils. Part of the original
Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the cou ...
office building that stood on site was incorporated into the new Civic Centre. The centre's clock tower is the only visible section from the old building. The
Uxbridge Cricket Club Ground Uxbridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Uxbridge, London, England. Teams using the ground Middlesex Middlesex County Cricket Club first used the ground competitively in 1980 on their way on to winning the County Championship in a matc ...
and Uxbridge fire station were relocated as part of the new development, which became controversial owing to its size and cost. Areas of the building, particularly the council chambers, continue to suffer from poor acoustics.


Uxbridge Magistrates' Court

The original Magistrates' Court opened in 1907 in an
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 ...
style. A new building with little exterior styling opened nearby in the 1990s and legal proceedings were transferred. The Magistrates' Court is often referred to in
John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for short stories about a barrister named Horace Rumpole, adapted from episodes of the TV series '' R ...
's
Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, ...
short stories.


RAF Uxbridge, Battle of Britain Bunker and Hillingdon House

Uxbridge had a Royal Air Force station, known as RAF Uxbridge, until its closure on 31 March 2010. The station was built within the grounds of Hillingdon House, a 19th-century mansion bought by the British government in 1915, and became the home of
RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...
's No. 11 Group Operations Room during the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...
. Fighter squadrons at airfields in the south-east of England were directed from the station, which was visited by Prime Minister
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
during the battle, and other foreign leaders throughout the rest of the war. Following the station's closure, the replica No. 33 Squadron
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...
gate guardian was removed from the main entrance for restoration work and moved to the entrance of the Operations Room (now known as the
Battle of Britain Bunker The Battle of Britain Bunker is an underground operations room at RAF Uxbridge, formerly used by No. 11 Group Fighter Command during the Second World War. Fighter aircraft operations were controlled from there throughout the War but most notab ...
). The area around the bunker was retained as an enclave under the RAF Uxbridge name, under the care of
RAF Northolt Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in South Ruislip, from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately north of ...
. An additional guardian, a
Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...
in the colours of No. 303 (Polish) Squadron, was added to the area in November 2010..


Sport and leisure

Uxbridge has a
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,
Uxbridge F.C. Uxbridge Football Club is a association football, football club representing Uxbridge, based in Yiewsley, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. They were established in 1871 and are one of the oldest clubs in the South of England. They ...
, which plays at Honeycroft,
Yiewsley Yiewsley ( ) is a large suburban village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, 2 miles (3 km) south of Uxbridge, the borough's commercial and administrative centre. Yiewsley was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Hillingdon, Middl ...
. Uxbridge Cricket Club is also based in Uxbridge and is a member of the
Middlesex County Cricket League The Middlesex County Cricket League (MCCL) is the only adult Saturday league for recreational club cricket in the historic county of Middlesex, England. In practical terms, this means it encompasses teams from North and West London. The league ...
, a designated
ECB Premier League The ECB Premier Leagues are a series of regional cricket leagues organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that form the top tier of club cricket in England and Wales. The ECB published "Raising the Standard" in 1997, the ECB Manageme ...
. Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex was refurbished im 2010 and contains an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, an athletic track and large sports complex. The South Korean Olympic Team used the centre for training during the
2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.


Neighbouring areas


Notable people


1850 to 1906

* Charles Brown (1827–1905), engineer and inventor of the Brown valve gear, born in Uxbridge. * Annie Isherwood (1862–1906),
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
nun and founder of the Community of the Resurrection in Grahamstown, Southern Africa, was born in Uxbridge.


20th century

*
Bernard Miles Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles (27 September 190714 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in 1959, the first new theatre that opened in the City of London since the 17th century. He was ...
(1907–1991), actor, writer and director, attended Bishopshalt Grammar School and given a peerage. * Peggy Eileen Whistler (1909–1958), poet, novelist and illustrator who used the pseudonym Margiad Evans, born in Uxbridge, *
Joan Dowling Joan Dowling (6 January 1928 – 31 March 1954) was a British character actress. Life and career Dowling was the illegitimate daughter of Vera Dowling. A piece in ''The Laindon and District Times'', on 23 June 2015, written by her cousin Jo ...
(1928–1954), actress, best known for her role in the first "
Ealing Comedy The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the ...
" ''
Hue and Cry In common law, a hue and cry is a process by which bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who has been witnessed in the act of committing a crime. History By the Statute of Winchester of 1285, 13 Edw. 1. St. 2. c. ...
'', grew up in Uxbridge. *
John Stears John Stears (25 August 1934 – 28 April 1999) was an English special effects artist. A two-time Academy Awards, Academy Award winner, nicknamed the "Dean of Special Effects," he was responsible for creating a host of iconic movie gadgets and e ...
(1934–1999),
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-winning creator of
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 ...
's
Aston Martin DB5 The Aston Martin DB5 is a British grand tourer (GT) produced by Aston Martin and designed by Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring, Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Originally produced from 1963 to 1965, the DB5 was an evolution of the final ...
and ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' robots, born in Uxbridge. *
Christine Keeler Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 – 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the Cold War (1953–1962), height of the ...
(1942–2017), 1960s model, party to the 1963
Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in British politics during the early 1960s. John Profumo, the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old model ...
, born in Uxbridge.. * Rianna Dean (born 1998), footballer for
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

* Bainbridge, John. (2001) ''Middlesex Photographic Memories''. Salisbury: Frith Book Company * Cotton, Carolynne. (1994) ''Uxbridge Past''. London: Historical Publications * Crozier, Hazel. (2007) ''RAF Uxbridge 90th Anniversary 1917–2007''. RAF High Wycombe: Air Command Media Services * Hearmon, Carolynne. (1982) ''Uxbridge. A Concise History''. Uxbridge: Hillingdon Borough Libraries * Pearce, K. R. (2009) ''Uxbridge From Old Photographs''. Stroud: Amberley Publishing * Pearce, K. (2011) ''Uxbridge Through Time''. Stroud: Amberley Publishing * Sherwood, Philip. (2007) ''Around Uxbridge Past & Present''. Stroud: Sutton Publishing * Skinner, James. (2008) ''Growing Up In Wartime Uxbridge''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing


Further reading

*


External links


London Borough of Hillingdon
{{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Hillingdon Metropolitan centres of London Market towns in London Places formerly in Middlesex