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Yiewsley ( ) is a large suburban village in 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 ...
, England, 2 miles (3 km) south of
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
, the borough's commercial and administrative centre. Yiewsley was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Hillingdon,
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 ...
. The population of the Yiewsley
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
was 12,406 at the 2021 Census.


Toponymy

Yiewsley is not recorded 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 1086. The place-name is believed to be derived 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 ...
''Wifeleslēah'': "Wifel's woodland clearing". The earliest written record of Yiewsley is from 1235 where it is shown as ''Wiuesleg'' in
Assize Rolls The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...
.


Geography

The western side of Yiewsley lies within the Colne Valley Regional Park. Here the River Colne forms the county boundary between 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 ...
and
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 confluence 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 ...
and
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 ...
also occurs in this area and there are several man-made lakes. After climbing over the
Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...
by the use of 52 locks from the
Marsworth Marsworth is a village and a civil parish within the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about north of Tring, Hertfordshire and east of Aylesbury. Early history The village name is Old English language, Anglo Saxon in o ...
Junction, 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 ...
turns east in Yiewsley to route towards
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 ...
. Half a mile north of this turn, the five miles long
Slough Arm The Slough Arm is a short canal branch from the Grand Union Main Line to Slough in Berkshire (before 1974 in Buckinghamshire), England. It was originally opened to serve the brick-making industry. The last commercial traffic was carried in 19 ...
of the canal leaves the Grand Union main line at the Cowley Peachey Junction, crossing over the Frays River and River Colne in aqueducts on its westward route towards the Slough basin. On the eastern side of Yiewsley lies Stockley Country Park. Within its 274 acres of parkland lies a comprehensive network of footpaths. To the west of Yiewsley, beyond the River Colne lie the
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 ...
villages of
Iver Iver is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central nucleated village, clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets o ...
, Richings Park and Thorney. To the north, over the River Pinn is
Cowley Peachey Cowley is a village contiguous with the town of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon. A largely suburban village with 16 listed buildings, Cowley is 15.4 miles (24.8 km) west of Charing Cross, bordered to the west by Uxbridge ...
. To the northeast of Yiewsley is
Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...
and the villages of Colham Green and Goulds Green. To the east lies
Stockley Park Stockley Park is a business estate and public country park located between Hayes, Yiewsley, and West Drayton in the London Borough of Hillingdon. In August 2020, it was listed in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic In ...
and to the south, across 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, ...
is
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 ...
.


Geology

Over tens of thousands of years the course of 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 ...
moved south, first flowing to the north of Yiewsley, then over the Yiewsley area until reaching its present course today where it lies 4.8 miles (7.7 km) to the southwest of Yiewsley at its closest point. Over thousands of years the Thames deposited layers of
fluvial terrace Fluvial terraces are elongated Terrace (geology), terraces that flank the sides of floodplains and fluvial valleys all over the world. They consist of a relatively level strip of land, called a "tread", separated from either an adjacent floodplai ...
gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...
s, silts,
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...
s and
loams Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...
on the Middle Thames area with silts forming
brickearth Brickearth is a term originally used to describe Superficial deposits, superficial windblown deposits found in southern England. The term has been employed in English-speaking regions to describe similar deposits. Brickearths are periglacial ...
.


History


Stone Age


Lower and Middle Palaeolithic

Within the brickearth and gravels deposited by the Thames significant quantities of early human tools were found when commercial excavations began in Yiewsley on an industrial scale in the 19th century. The first person to start collecting artifacts from Yiewsley was John Allen Brown (1833-1903) a Fellow of the Geological Society who collected between 1889 and 1901. The principle collector was Robert Galloway Rice (1852-1933), a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries who recorded over 2600 items from the Yiewsley area between approximately 1905 and 1929. In 1937 his collection of
Lower Palaeolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears ...
and
Middle Palaeolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle P ...
artifacts was donated to 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 his 1978 Archaeological Report, ''Early Man in West Middlesex, The Yiewsley Palaeolithic sites'', Palaeontologist Desmond Collins states the following with regard to the archaeological significance of the Yiewsley sites: “..the Yiewsley pits have yielded one of the largest series of
Lower Palaeolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears ...
stone hand tools in Europe and the area remains one of the richest Palaeolithic sites in Britain.” “A feature unique to Yiewsley is the presence in a higher level of stone tools of a
Middle palaeolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle P ...
(
Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an Industry (archaeology), archaeological industry of Lithic technology, stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and with the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and We ...
) date, isolated for the first time, and indicating occupation during the Neanderthal period some 70,000 years ago – a period of man's development otherwise poorly represented in the archaeology of Britain”


Bronze Age

In 1913–1914, there was the discovery of a
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 ...
urnfield The Urnfield culture () was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns, which ...
cemetery with the excavation of 14 Deverel-Rimbury cinerary urns. These and other Bronze Age items have been cataloged at the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
.


The Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age


The besieged Danes of Thorney Island 893 AD

In the spring of 893, after overwintering at
Appledore Appledore may refer to: Places England * Appledore, Kent ** Appledore (Kent) railway station * Appledore, Mid Devon, near Tiverton * Appledore, Torridge, North Devon, near Bideford United States * Appledore Island, off the coast of Maine In fic ...
and then plundering through
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
and
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
, a
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
raiding army turned to head for the Danish controlled lands in the east (later known as the
Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...
). However they were intercepted by Alfred the Great's son
Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...
with his West Saxon
Fyrd A fyrd was a type of early Anglo-Saxon army that was mobilised from freemen or paid men to defend their Shire's lords estate, or from selected representatives to join a royal expedition. Service in the fyrd was usually of short duration and part ...
at
Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...
in Surry. The Danes were routed, fleeing over 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 ...
into
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 ...
with the West Saxon army in pursuit. Having reached the River Colne the Danes mounted a defence on what was known as Thorney Island, believed to be land between the Colne and an offshoot channel of the river between Thorney and
Iver Iver is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central nucleated village, clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets o ...
, approximately half a mile west from Yiewsley High Street today. Edward began a siege of the island and was joined by
Æthelred of Mercia Æthelred (; died after 704) was king of Mercia from 675 until 704. He was the son of Penda of Mercia and came to the throne in 675, when his brother, Wulfhere of Mercia, died from an illness. Within a year of his accession he invaded Kent, ...
with soldiers from the Mercian garrison in London. After a prolonged stalemate which may have lasted up to six months, an agreement was reached for the Danes to leave peacefully. Hostages were taken as collateral and vows made by the Danes that they would leave the Anglo-Saxon lands and go directly to the lands under Danish control which they duly did, without any of their plundered spoils. Yiewsley (or ''Wifeleslēah'') and the land of the
Middle Saxons The Middle Saxons or Middel Seaxe were a people whose territory later became, with somewhat contracted boundaries, the county of Middlesex, England. The first known mention of Middlesex stems from a royal charter of 704 between king Swæfred of ...
had been part of the
Kingdom of Essex The Kingdom of the East Saxons (; ), referred to as the Kingdom of Essex , was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the counties of Essex ...
but came under Mercian control in the reign of
King Æthelbald King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...
(716-757AD). By the time of the siege of Thorney Island in 893, eastern Mercia had conquered by the Danes and with his power diminished Æthelred had been forced to cede overlordship to King Alfred the Great of Wessex. When Æthelred died in 911, Middlesex was annexed by Wessex under Alfred's son, now King Edward (899-924AD). Edward would go on to take control of all of Mercia, both
Angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...
and Danish, advancing the progression of England being united into a single kingdom.


The Norman Conquest 1066 until 1794


The Parish of Hillingdon and Colham Manor

For the majority of its existence Yiewsley was a hamlet in the Parish of St John the Baptist Church,
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 ...
, with a tenurial relationship with Colham Manor. Before the Norman Conquest, Colham Manor had belonged to Wigot of Wallingford. By the time of
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 ...
in 1086 it was the property of one of William the Conqueror's principle advisors,
Roger de Montgomery Roger de Montgomery (died 1094), also known as Roger the Great, was the first Earl of Shrewsbury, and Earl of Arundel, in Sussex. His father was Roger de Montgomery, seigneur of Montgomery, a member of the House of Montgomery, and was probab ...
. In Colham Manor's fertile arable fields in the late 14th century, wheat was the predominant crop grown, but also rye and oats were farmed. Surplus
grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...
was sold in
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 ...
or
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
. By the 12th Century Uxbridge had become the market town for the Parish of Hillingdon and it is thought by the 14th Century the town's population had exceeded that of the rest of the Parish, and this remained the case until the 1821
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
. By 1600 Uxbridge was the principle Corn market for West Middlesex and much of south Buckinghamshire. The plentiful and consistent supplies of water from the River Colne had played an important role in Hillingdon Parish becoming a flour milling centre. The
Fray's River Frays River is a semi-canalised short river in England that branches off the River Colne, Hertfordshire, 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 t ...
is believed to have been cut or modified from the Colne for the use of
water mills A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
by
John Fray Sir John Fray (died 1461) was an English lawyer who was Chief Baron of the Exchequer and a Member of Parliament. Biography He was elected Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire in 1419 and 1420. He served on a number of commissions before ...
in the 15th century. A map of 1842 shows the River Colne and Frays River powering eight corn mills in the Parish. The nearest mills to Yiewsley were Colham Mill (called Lower Colham Mill from around 1746) in the south of the Parish and Yiewsley Mill which was situated on the northern side of Yiewsley Moor on the north side today's Little Britain Lake. The oldest buildings in Yiewsley today date from the late 16th century or early 17th century and are situated at either end of Yiewsley High Street. At the northern end of the High Street is Yiewsley Grange (''Also known as Brookside'') which overlooks 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 ...
and is Hillingdon Manor School today. Next to Yiewsley Grange is the Six-bay Barn at Philpot's Yard (Formally Philpot's Farm). At the southern end of the High Street is the De Burgh Arms Public house, named in honour of the De Burgh family who became the Lords of Colham Manor from 1787.


The Industrial Age


The Opening of Grand Junction Canal 1794

Yiewsley's agrarian way of life started to change with the opening of 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 ...
. Construction began with cuttings on Uxbridge Moor on 1 May 1793 and in early May 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 ...
and
Braunston Braunston is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, next to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,759. Braunston is situated ju ...
. From the Thames at Brentford to
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 ...
, the canal was engineered from the
River Brent The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the London Borough of Barnet, Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tid ...
. At Hanwell the canal parted from the Brent and was routed west, following the natural 100 foot contour to avoid the building of expensive and time consuming locks. It was cut through Yiewsley, turning north to follow the route of the River Colne, crossing over the
Fray's River Frays River is a semi-canalised short river in England that branches off the River Colne, Hertfordshire, 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 t ...
in an aqueduct at Cowley Lock. On Monday 3 November 1794 the canal was opened between 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 ...
and
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
. However toll collectors weren't appointed at Uxbridge and Brentford until May 1795. It is likely the aqueduct over the Fray's River at Cowley Lock wasn't completed until the Autumn of 1795 with measures undertaken there to allow traffic to pass through. In the next year 1796, Yiewsley's first dock, Colham
wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...
was opened next to Colham Bridge. In 1801 the
Paddington Arm The Paddington Canal or Paddington Arm (also known as Paddington Branch) of the Grand Union Canal is a canal from Bull's Bridge in Hayes, Hillingdon, Hayes, west London, to Paddington in central London, England. Little Venice, London, Little Ven ...
of the canal opened from Bulls Bridge near Hayes and would be of national importance as a trade route into and from the Capital.


Yiewsley's brick Industry

The building of the canal enabled the bulk transportation of what became known as Cowley (or London) stock bricks, made from Yiewsley's rich deposits of brick-earth. The first record of the sale of significant numbers of bricks in Yiewsley is shown in the ''Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser'' of the 24 March 1809, advertising an auction of upwards of one million bricks owned by W.M Pope situated at a site adjoining the canal. In 1820 a branch of the canal known as Otter Dock was opened. It would become the longest of nine arms and docks that were constructed in Yiewsley to service the outgoing transportation of bricks and the importing of coal from the Midlands to fire Yiewsley's clamp
kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...
s. The finished bricks were then transported mainly along the Grand Junction Canal to South Wharf in the
Paddington Basin Paddington Basin is the name given to a long canal basin, and its surrounding area, in Paddington, London. The basin commences 500 m south of the junction known as Little Venice, of the Regent's Canal and the Paddington Arm of the Grand ...
and to wharves along the
Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in ea ...
, but also to other locations along the canal and River Thames. Although figures for Yiewsley's brick production in the nineteenth century are not available, in July 1879 brickmaker Samuel Pocock stated at a committee of the House of Commons discussing the proposed Langley and Slough Branch of the Grand Junction canal that he had purchased his West Drayton brickfields (south of his existing Hillingdon Parish brickfields at Starveall) in March 1874 and had been making 15-20 million bricks per year. By the 1890s it is estimated 100 million bricks per year were being produced in West Middlesex supplying the demand for building materials of
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...
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 ...
. With this high production rate the deposits of brick-earth began to become depleted around the turn of the century. Brick-earth was still being extracted from Hide Field to the east of Yiewsley in 1913 but by 1930 the Stockley brickworks were producing only 2 million bricks a year. The brickworks were closed in 1935, but the underlying gravels and sands continued to be extracted until the 1970s.


The Great Western Railway and West Drayton Station (''West Drayton and Yiewsley Station'')

The construction 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, ...
(GWR) began in 1835 and the line between
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
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, ...
was opened on 4 June 1838 with
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 ...
being its first station. The locomotive ''Vulcan'' had become the first to run on the Great Western Railway on 28 December 1837 when it completed a successful mile and a half test run down the line from Yiewsley to Iver. Having been constructed in
Newton-le-Willows Newton-le-Willows, often shortened informally to Newton, is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census was 24,642. Newton-le-Willows is on the ea ...
by Charles Tayleur & Co., the locomotive, together with another engine called ''Premier'' had been taken by barge from the London docks and unloaded between Horton Bridge and West Drayton Station. On 9 April 1839 the world's first commercial telegraph was inaugurated between Paddington and West Drayton Station by William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone. A GWR branch line to Uxbridge Vine Street was opened on 8 September 1856. On the afternoon of 6 February 1874 a double collision occurred in thick fog on the mainline by Horton Bridge. The 10.25am Exeter Express drawn by the locomotive ''Prometheus'' traveling at around 60mph towards Paddington collided with the rear of a stationary Bristol goods train ladened with timber and blocks of Bath stone which was in the process of being moved into sidings. The trains were rammed together piling up to a considerable height six or seven of the vans and store trucks of the goods train, scattering some of the wreckage, blocks of Bath stone and logs of timber and other goods over the railway, completely blocking both up and down line. The 2.15pm locomotive No. 583 from Paddington then ran into the debris throwing it off the line and derailing several of the carriages, which however were not overturned. The engine driver and fireman of the locomotive were saved by jumping clear before the impact. The guard of the Exeter Express was a fatality in the accident, but there were no serious injuries inflicted on any of the passengers. West Drayton station was relocated east to its present position on Station Approach from Tavistock Road on the 9 April 1884, four months before a second branch line, operated by the
Staines and West Drayton Railway The Staines and West Drayton Railway (S&WDR), also called the Staines–West Drayton line and the Colnbrook branch, is a partially open, freight-only railway line in southern England. Formerly it ran for around from the Great Western Main Line ...
(S&WDR) was opened on the 9 August 1884. In 1895 the station was renamed ''West Drayton and Yiewsley station''.


Diversification of industry from the mid-1800s

By the middle of the 19th Century brick production and flour milling were Yiewsley's main industries; However new industry was beginning to develop. The Victoria oil mills near Colham Wharf was established before 1855. In 1865 it was owned by Walter Graham & Co and was producing linseed cake. A chemical works owned by Alfred White and Sons in 1890 was established by 1864 in the south of the Parish. The Hillingdon Varnish works, situated to the west of Iron Bridge Road had been established by 1868. In June 1890 it was owned by Messrs Wilkinson, Heyward and Clark. In 1874 W. Gillespie & Co were manufacturing engines and boilers at the Foundry and Engineering Works and in 1875 Horizontal Condensing Engines were being made by Edwin Philip Bastin & Company at the Alliance Engine Works. In 1880 Edward Stewart & Co operated the West Drayton cement works and in 1890 the Electrical Engineering Corporation was making electrical equipment and Dynamos. An Indian rubber mill had been established by 1894 on Trout Road, in 1900 it was owned J.E Hopkinson & Co. In 1898 the Padcroft Saw Mills were being operated by John A. Holland. By 1900 the Rotary Photographic Company was established opposite Lower Colham Mill and in 1903 the Power Plant Co was established producing Helical Gears and couplings. In the First World War they supplied steam turbines for the Royal Navy. In 1913 the Steam Fittings Company Limited in Horton Road was producing ‘Steam traps’ to be used in Navy vessels. The company changed its name to the Drayton Regulator and Instrument Company in 1926. Also by 1913 printing works had been established on Tavistock Road and Horton Bridge Road. In 1916 C.J. Culliford & Co operated the Lithographic Printing Works. Also in 1916 the Onslow Cotton Mill was established on Trout Road. In late 1917 The West Drayton Glass Works was founded on Horton Road. In 1918 Frederick Bird & Co of the West Drayton Engineering Works also on Horton Road had been manufacturing engineering products to the Army and Navy as part of the war effort. Government contracts were also given to Squire & Son to produce glycerine and Messrs Sabey for the supply of gravel. In 1919 The Anglo-Swiss Screw Company was established on Trout Road, the same year as the S.C. Johnson & Son wax company opened their factory on the site of Colham Wharf. In 1920 the
Admiralty Engineering Laboratory The Admiralty Engineering Laboratory was an engineering research department of the British Admiralty from 1917 to 1964 then the Navy Department from 1964 to 1977. Its original work was the design of submarine engines but later to encompass ship ...
was operational in the south of the Yiewsley Urban District, specializing in experimental work for the Royal Navy. During the war the Sonic laboratory had been established in the building to develop the engineering inventions of George (Gogu) Constantinescu. Constantinescu had begun the development the Constantinesco-Colley Fire Control Timing Gear (C.C. Gear) for synchronizing machine gun fire through aircraft propellers at his laboratory at the Haddon Engineering Works in
Alperton Alperton () is an area of north-west London, England, within the London Borough of Brent. It forms the southern part of the town of Wembley and is west north-west of Charing Cross, on the border with the London Borough of Ealing. It includes a ...
. His system worked by using wave pulses which were generated and transmitted from a column of fluid (90% paraffin to 10% of B.B. Mobiloil or P.924 (anti-freezing) oil) instead of a system of mechanical linkages which had been used in aircraft up until then. Once initial operational issues were overcome the C.C. Gear was not only more reliable than a mechanical linkage system, but also allowed a higher rate of fire and was readily adaptable to any type of engine and airframe. The first working C.C. gear was successfully air-tested on a B.E.2c aircraft in August 1916 and was fitted to No.55 Squadron's DH.4's before their arrival in France on 6 March 1917. In the following days they were joined by Bristol Fighters of No 48 Squadron and SE5's of No 56 Squadron. During the period March to December 1917 a total of 6,000 C.C. gears were issued. From November 1917 the C.C. Gear was fitted to all new British-made aircraft with synchronized guns. Between January and October 1918, 20,000 C.C. Gears were delivered and it is considered to have played a significant role in achieving final air superiority over the Luftstreitkrafte. On 25 March 1919 Queen Mary and
Queen Marie of Romania Marie (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938) was the last queen of Romania from 10 October 1914 to 20 July 1927 as the wife of King Ferdinand I. Marie was born into the British royal fa ...
visited the Sonic laboratory. Constantinescu was warmly congratulated by the two queens for his work. In the 1920s Trout road developed as a centre for companies involved in oils and chemical production. In 1921 K.B Mavlankar was producing Essential Oils at the British Aromatic Chemical Works on Trout Road. From 1928 the Kenilworth Chemical Manufacturing Company and the English Metal Powder Company operated factories in Trout Road. Their factory was transferred after 1935 to the Middlesex Oil and Chemical Works Ltd, manufacturing oils, petroleum jellies, and resins. The Kenilworth Chemical and English Metal Powder companies then moved to an adjoining site in Trout Road. From the 1930s a number of smaller companies engaged in manufacturing chemicals, plastics, and engineering components were established on and around Trout Road, this would develop to being more than forty companies in the area. Two firms began production of motor vehicles in Yiewsley after the Second World War. Road Machines of Horton Parade employed 250 people manufacturing a range of contractors' plant including weight batching equipment, dumpers and Mono-Rail transporters. An adaption of their modular-track
monorail A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...
system was used at
Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
in the 1967 James Bond film ''You Only Live Twice''. In 1952 James Whitson & Co. moved from
Sipson Sipson is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, the westernmost borough of Greater London, England. It is west of Charing Cross and near the north perimeter of London Heathrow Airport. History Toponymy The village's name was recorded ...
and began manufacturing coaches and fire engines in Yiewsley High Street. At its peak the company employed 350 people. They would later manufacture glass-fibre components for commercial vehicles. It would seem to be a curiosity why most of the early companies in Yiewsley chose to have West Drayton as their business address, as they were neither in West Drayton nor in the Parish of West Drayton. West Drayton remained a largely rural village until into the 20th Century and then developed into a mostly residential area. A possible answer to this is that railway station had been called West Drayton station since its opening in 1838 and only changed to West Drayton and Yiewsley in 1895. With the Railways becoming the principal form of transportation in the latter half of the 19th century, it would appear businesses believed it was commercially advantageous to adopt West Drayton as their address.


Decline in railway usage

By the 1960s the demand for rail travel was falling. The branch line to Uxbridge Vine St was particularly affected by competition from the town's
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 ...
lines. Passenger services to Uxbridge were stopped in 1962, however a short section of line (approximately 745 yards) to the Middlesex Oil and Chemical Works on Trout Road continued in use for freight services until 8 January 1979. The Staines line was closed to passengers in 1965 as a consequence of 1963 report ‘The Reshaping of British Railways’ by Dr Richard Beeching, Chairman of the
British Railways Board The British Railways Board (BRB) was a State ownership, nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to d ...
(BRB). The line continues to be used for freight services as far as Colnbrook. Another consequence of the
Beeching report Beeching is an English surname. It is either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Sur ...
was the closure of over 2000 railway stations across Great Britain. From 1968 until 1980 a policy was adopted by the British Railways Board to shorten the remaining stations' names where possible. This policy resulted in ''Yiewsley'' being removed from the station name after 79 years on the 6 May 1974.


Political development


Yiewsley today

Yiewsley today is a growing community with both residential housing and commercial businesses. With the establishment of 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 ...
and as a consequence of the
London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. It is updated from time to time. The regio ...
and Hillingdon Local Plan there has been significant construction of residential apartments on former industrial and manufacturing sites. Yiewsley has an active High Street with national retail outlets Tesco, Iceland, B&M Stores, Home Bargains, Aldi and Savers situated on it. Together with local businesses in Yiewsley and Uxbridge, Heathrow airport is a major source of employment in the area.


Public services

*Yiewsley Library is situated on Yiewsley High Street. *P3 Navigator is an Advice centre for young people on Fairfield Road. *Yiewsley Health Centre on Yiewsley High Street and incorporates The High Street Practice and the Yiewsley Family Practice. *Otterfield Medical Centre is situated on Otterfield Road. *West Drayton and Yiewsley Dental provide NHS dental care and is situated on Providence Road.


Education

Primary schools in Yiewsley: * St Matthew's CE Primary School * Rabbsfarm Primary School Secondary school: *Park Academy West London Special and Alternative schools: * Hillingdon Manor School, Yiewsley Grange * The Pride Academy * The Skills Hub


Political representation

*Yiewsley's Member of Parliament is Danny Beales MP *Yiewsley's elected representative in the
London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds supermajority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject t ...
is
Bassam Mahfouz Bassam Mahfouz is a British politician serving as Member of the London Assembly for Ealing and Hillingdon (London Assembly constituency), Ealing and Hillingdon since 2024. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, he has served as a Membe ...
*The Yiewsley ward councillors in the
Hillingdon Borough Council Hillingdon London Borough Council, which styles itself Hillingdon Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Hillingdon in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Con ...
are: *Councillor Naser Mohammed Issa Abby *Councillor Sital Punja


St Matthew's parish church

Until the mid-19th century, Yiewsley was a district of the parish of St John the Baptist church, Hillingdon. After the opening of the brick-fields, Yiewsley's population started to grow, and work began to provide for the building of a Mission Church (also referred to 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 ...
). St Matthew's Church was designed by
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 ...
and was consecrated on 6 July 1859. Yiewsley became a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1874. With the population of Yiewsley continuing to grow in the latter years of the 19th century, more room was required in the church. Architect
Sir Charles Nicholson Sir Charles Nicholson, 1st Baronet (born Isaac Ascough; 23 November 1808 – 8 November 1903) was an English-Australian politician, university founder, explorer, pastoralist, antiquarian and philanthropist. The Nicholson Museum at the Universit ...
was consulted to design the enlargement to the church and its foundation stone was laid on 24 September 1897. The Church was consecrated by the
Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...
on 25 April 1898. Yiewsley
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 ...
stands in the grounds of St Matthew's Church. It was unveiled on Saturday 28 May 1921 by Lady Delia Peel in honour of the 128 men of the parish who fell in the Great War. Her husband, Yiewsley's Member of Parliament Col. Hon.
Sidney Peel Colonel Sir Sidney Cornwallis Peel, 1st Baronet, (1870–1938), was a British Army officer, barrister and financier. He was also for the coalition government term 1918–1922, a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP). For the 19 years until dea ...
, gave an address to the assembled people of Yiewsley before the unveiling. In the address he stated that the population of Yiewsley at the time was something under 5,000, but more than 530 men of the parish had served in His Majesty's Army during the war – more than one in ten of the whole population of the place including women and children. Before closing his address with the names of the men inscribed on the memorial, he stated that it had been put there in order that the people of Yiewsley in time to come might bring their children to it and point out to them the names of father, grandfather or some other relative and tell them of the great things that were done by their predecessors so that it might be an inspiration and hope for the future. On Sunday 4 October 2009 the war memorial was rededicated by Peter Broadbent, the
Bishop of Willesden The Bishop of Willesden is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Willesden, an area of the London Borough of Brent; the See ...
, to include the names of the 73 men of the parish who fell in the Second World War. A ceremony with the laying of wreaths is held at the War Memorial on
Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...
each year.


Culture and recreation

*The Yiewsley and West Drayton Arts Council maintain the Southlands Arts Centre in West Drayton. They oversee events and promote local creativity. There are many exhibitions, music festivals, and creative endeavours from fine arts, photography, film-making and music groups. *Community events are held at Yiewsley's three churches, St Matthew's Parish Church, Yiewsley Baptist Church and Yiewsley Methodist church. Events are also held at the Yiewsley and West Drayton Community centre in West Drayton. *The Outline Community Theatre Company is based at St Matthews Church and stages productions of both modern and classic theatre in the local area. *The Hillingdon Theatre Dance Centre has its studio on Yiewsley High Street. *The Yiewsley and West Drayton Band is a second section brass band established in 1890 and maintains a year-round programme of concerts and community events. *1381 Squadron (West Drayton & Yiewsley) Royal Air Force Air Cadets are based at Summer Drive, West Drayton. *Yiewsley Recreation Ground is situated between Falling Lane and Yiewsley High Street. *
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 ...
established 1871, are one of the oldest football clubs in the south of England. They play at Honeycroft on Horton Road. *Stockley Country Park has a network of footpaths in its 274 acres of parkland. There are views across the local area and there is an 18-hole golf course. The Gould Green Riding School provides horse riding lessons in the park. *The
London Loop The London Outer Orbital Path—more usually the "London LOOP"—is a 150-mile (242 km) signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as "the M25 for walke ...
, Beeches Way, The Celandine route, Shakespeare's Way, the Colne Valley Trail and The Grand Union Canal walk route along the footpaths, bridleways and canal towpaths in Yiewsley. *Thorney Weir the Mets and Lizard Lakes fishery have
coarse fishing Coarse fishing (, ) is a phrase commonly used in United Kingdom, Great Britain and Ireland. It refers to the angling for rough fish, which are fish species considered undesirable as food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids, parti ...
in their lakes in Yiewsley. *The Grand Union Canal gives boating access to the network of canals and rivers of England. Canalside moorings are available through Yiewsley with the nearest
marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...
being the Packet Boat Marina at Cowley Peachey. High Line Yachting operate boatyards on the Grand Union Mainline at Cowley Peachey and on the Grand Union Slough Arm at Iver.


Commerce

Yiewsley's main commercial area is on and adjacent to Horton Road. There are over 70 businesses located here including the ''Speedfit'' manufacturer John Guest ( RWC Ltd) and the data centre company Virtus, who have the UK's largest data centre campus at
Prologis Prologis, Inc. is a real estate investment trust headquartered in San Francisco, California that invests in logistics facilities. The company was formed through the merger of AMB Property Corporation and Prologis in June 2011, which made Prologis ...
Park West London. New Pro Foundries in Horton Close have produced the bronze BAFTA awards.


Transport


Rail

West Drayton railway station is located at the southern end of Yiewsley High Street and is 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 ...
. 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 ...
operates a stopping service between
Abbey Wood Abbey Wood is an List of areas of London, area in southeast London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and bordering the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross. According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 ...
and
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
and
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, ...
(GWR) operates a stopping service between
London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London railway station and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great Western Ra ...
and Didcot Parkway.


Road

Yiewsley is served by the nearby M4 and M25 motorways which lie a little over a mile to its south and west respectively. The A408 Stockley Road dual carriageway on the eastern side of Yiewsley acts as a by-pass road, avoiding the village centre.


Buses

There are regular
London bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London ...
services from Yiewsley to
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
,
Hayes Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Hay ...
,
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 ...
,
Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...
and to the Heathrow Airport Terminals.


Air

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 ...
lies 2.5 miles (4 km) south of Yiewsley.


Notable people

*
Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...
, guitarist in
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
bands
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 ...
and
Faces The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect the ...
, grew up in Whitethorn Avenue, attending St Stephen's Infant School and St Matthew's Church of England Primary School. *
Art Wood Arthur Wood (7 July 1937 – 3 November 2006) was a British blues, pop and rock singer, who led The Artwoods in the 1960s and subsequently became a graphic artist. He was the brother of Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones. Early life Born in ...
(1937-2006), vocalist of the Sixties
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...
group
The Artwoods The Artwoods (also sometimes known by Decca Records as the Art Woods) were a British rhythm and blues band who formed in 1963 and were professionally active between 1964 and 1967. They were a popular live attraction, rivalling groups such as t ...
grew up in Whitethorn Avenue. * Ted Wood (1939-2003), Traditional Jazz vocalist and drummer was born in Yiewsley, growing up in Whitehorn Avenue. * Musician
Kim Gardner Kim Gardner (27 January 1948 in Dulwich, London – 24 October 2001 in Los Angeles) was an English musician. He was part of the British Invasion of the US during the 1960s, and recorded more than thirty albums during his music career. E ...
(1948–2001), of The Birds, The Creation and
Ashton, Gardner and Dyke Ashton, Gardner and Dyke were a British rock trio, most popular in the early 1970s. They are best remembered for their song, " The Resurrection Shuffle", a transatlantic Top 40 one-hit wonder in 1971. History Founding band member Tony Ashton ...
, grew up in Yiewsley. *
Cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...
Wally Gentleman (1926–2001), whose credits include the
special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...
s on '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' and ''
Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
'', was born in Yiewsley. * George Thomas Moore Marriott (1885-1949) regarded as one of the best stage and screen
character actors A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014 ...
of his generation was born in Alpha Place, High Street, Yiewsley.


References


External links


Yiewsley websiteLondon Museum Yiewsley Paleolithic artefactsSouthlands Arts Centre website
{{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Hillingdon Places formerly in Middlesex District centres of London