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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 in three parts: the mostly residential area around Lady Margaret Road (Dormers Wells); the main commercial centre at High Street and Southall Broadway (part of the greater Uxbridge Road); and Old Southall/Southall Green to the south consisting of Southall railway station, industries and Norwood Green bounded by the M4.
It was historically a municipal borough of Middlesex administered from Southall Town Hall until 1965. Southall is located on the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) which first linked London with the rest of the growing canal system. It was one of the last canals to carry significant commercial traffic (through the 1950s) and is still open to traffic and is used by pleasure craft. The canal separates it from Hayes on the west, whereas to the east the River Brent separates the town from Hanwell.
From the 1950s the town's local factories and proximity to Heathrow Airport attracted large numbers of Asian immigrants; the town eventually became home to the largest Punjabi people community outside the Indian subcontinent and is today a major centre of South Asian culture, having gained the nickname Little India.
The southern part of Southall (roughly south of the railway) used to be known as either Old Southall or Southall Green (and a section of the main north–south road in the area is still called The Green) and was centered on the historic Grade II*listed Tudor-styled Manor House which dates back to at least 1587. A building survey has shown much of the building is original, dating back to the days when Southall Green was becoming a quiet rural village. Minor 19th and 20th-century additions exist in some areas. It is currently used as serviced offices.'Norwood, including Southall: Manors', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon With Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 43–45. [1] Date accessed: 25 May 2010.
The southernmost part of Southall is known as Norwood Green. It has few industries and is mainly a residential area, having remained for many years mainly agricultural whilst the rest of Southall developed industrially. Norwood Green borders, and part is inside, the London Borough of Hounslow. The main east west road through the town is Uxbridge Road (A4020), though the name changes in the main shopping area to The Broadway and for an even shorter section to High Street. Uxbridge Road was part of the main London to Oxford stagecoach route for many years and remained the main route to Oxford until the building of the Western Avenue highway to the north of Southall in the first half of the 20th century. First horse drawn, then electric trams (until 1936) and, then, electric trolleybuses, gave Southall residents and workers quick and convenient transport along Uxbridge Road in the first half of the 20th century before they were replaced by standard diesel-engined buses in 1960.
A branch railway line from Southall railway station to the Brentford Dock on the Thames was also built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1856. It features one of his (impressive for the period) engineering works, the Three Bridges (although it is still often referred to on maps by the original canal crossing name of Windmill Bridge). where Windmill Lane, the railway and the Grand Union Canal all intersect – the canal being carried over the railway line cutting below in a cast-iron trough and a new cast-iron road-bridge going over both. Brunel died shortly after its completion. Sections of his bell-section rail can still be seen on the southern side being used as both fencing posts and a rope rail directly under the road bridge itself. It is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The other notable local construction by Brunel is the Wharncliffe Viaduct which carries the Great Western Railway across the River Brent towards London and which was Brunel's first major structural design.
Otto Monsted, a Danish margarine manufacturer, built a large factory at Southall in 1894. The factory was called the Maypole Dairy, and eventually grew to become one of the largest margarine manufacturing plants in the world, occupying a site at its peak. The factory also had its own railway sidings and branch canal. The Maypole Dairy Company site was later acquired by Lever Brothers who, as part of the multinational Unilever company, converted the site to a Wall's Sausages factory which produced sausages and other meat products through until the late 1980s.
In the 1920s and 1930s Southall was the destination of many Welsh people escaping from the harsh economic conditions in that part of the country. For many years, Welsh accents were very commonplace in the area.
On the eastern boundary of Southall was the Hanwell Asylum, which was once the world's largest asylum for the mentally ill. It was considered in its day to be a progressive institution with a good success rate for treatment. As attitudes to and treatment for mental illness improved, the site was renamed St. Bernard's Hospital. In the late 1970s, the site was extensively redeveloped, with most of the area now taken up by the Ealing Hospital. St. Bernard's still operates a large facility on part of the site under the West London Mental Health (NHS) Trust.
During World War II Southall was the target of enemy bombing on a number of occasions. A German V-1 flying bomb destroyed a number of houses in Regina Road, killing the occupants. Bomb shelters and bunkers were built during the war, close to or under most schools and public buildings, and in gardens of numerous private homes. The bunkers at Hamborough Primary School were expanded during the Cold War, to become the North West Group War HQ for the London area Civil Defence organisation and the London Borough of Ealing Emergency Control Centre. This facility is now disused.
In 1950, the first group of arrived in Southall, reputedly recruited to work in a local factory owned by a former Army officer. This South Asian population grew, due to the closeness of expanding employment opportunities such as Heathrow Airport. The most significant cultural group to settle in Southall are Asians. According to the Commission for Racial Equality, over 55% of Southall's population of 70,000 is Indian. Diversity Commission for Racial Equality By 1976 two-thirds of children in Southall were non-white, and in 1982 it was reported 65% of Southall's 83,000 residents were of Asian origin.
Southall was also the home of the last remaining horse market in London, selling goats, pigs, harness, and horse vehicles as well working horses. The market closed in 2007 after 100 years.
The 1970s saw racial tensions in the area; in 1976 Sikh teenager Gurdip Singh Chaggar was killed in a racist attack. On 23 April 1979, Blair Peach, a teacher and anti-racism activist, was killed after being knocked unconscious during a protest against the National Front (NF).Marshall, George (1991). Spirit of '69 – A Skinhead Bible. Dunoon, Scotland: S.T. Publishing. . p.107 Another demonstrator, Clarence Baker – a singer of the reggae band Misty in Roots, remained in a coma for five months. More than 40 others – including 21 police – were injured, and 300 were arrested.
On 4 July 1981, a race riot was sparked at the Hambrough Tavern on the Broadway. Local Asian youths mistakenly believed that a concert featuring the Oi! bands The Business, The Last Resort and The 4-Skins was a white power event. Additionally, the venue had recently been sued for barring non-white customers, and local youths had heard that arriving for the concert had harassed other youths and women. More than 200 skinheads had travelled by bus from East London, and a few of them smashed shop windows, wrote NF slogans around the area,Robb, John (2006). Punk Rock: An Oral History (London: Elbury Press). and shouted neo-Nazism slogans while using bricks and clubs to attack Asian youths who had gathered in opposition to the gig. This was one of several high-profile riots in Britain that year. Although some of the skinheads were NF or British Movement supporters, among the 500 or so concert-goers were also left-wing skinheads, black skinheads, punk subculture, rockabilly and non-affiliated youths.Marshall, George (1991). Spirit of '69 – A Skinhead Bible. Dunoon, Scotland: S.T. Publishing. . pp.107–8 Some of the approximately 400 Asians threw Molotov cocktail and other objects, and five hours of rioting left 120 people injured – including 60 police officers – and the tavern burnt down.Marshall, George (1991). Spirit of '69 – A Skinhead Bible. Dunoon, Scotland: S.T. Publishing. . pp.106 & 110
The Southall rail crash occurred on 19 September 1997 when a First Great Western mainline high speed express train from Swansea to London Paddington ran a red signal, when the driver's attention was distracted, and it collided with a goods train just outside Southall railway station. Seven people died and 139 were injured.
Southall was the home of Southall Studios, one of the earliest British . It played a historic role in film-making from its creation in 1924 to its closure in 1959. In 1936, a fire destroyed the studio but it was rebuilt and enlarged. Numerous feature films (many featuring famous or later-to-be-famous actors) and the early TV series Colonel March of Scotland Yard were made at the studios, as were TV and cinema adverts.
There has been a locomotive works at the Southall Depot for nearly 150 years. Originally a Great Western Railway shed, it was possibly the last London steam depot, outlasting Old Oak Common and Stewarts Lane depots. The shed was accessible from the footbridge, spanning the whole set of lines, situated just off the Eastern end of the platforms. The depot was later used for DMU maintenance and as a base for the electrification programme. Currently the site, now referred to as the Southall Railway Centre, is used by two independent groups; Locomotive Services Limited and West Coast Railways.
Bus and commercial vehicle manufacturer Associated Equipment Company (AEC) was based in Southall, on a triangular site between Windmill Lane, the Great Western Main Line and the branch to Brentford Dock. The company moved there from Walthamstow in 1926 and closed in 1979 after losing market share whilst part of the giant but inefficient British Leyland group. The site was noticeable to railway passengers and to motorists on Uxbridge Road due to large signs proclaiming "AEC – Builders of London's Buses for 50 years".
A major gas works manufacturing town gas was located between the railway and the canal. In 1932 a large gasholder was built, becoming a local landmark until its demolition in 2019. Painted on the north east side of the gasholder are the large letters 'LH' and an arrow to assist pilots locate Heathrow Airport's (now closed) runway 23 when making visual approaches. The letters were painted in the mid-1960s after a number of pilots became confused between Heathrow and the nearby RAF Northolt (which has a similar, though smaller, gasholder under its approach at Harrow). Northolt has a much shorter runway and is not suitable for very large aircraft although one Boeing 707 did land at Northolt by mistake and a number of other aircraft had to be warned off by air traffic control at the last minute. Since town gas production ceased in the 1970s with the arrival of natural gas piped from the North Sea, much of the site has been vacant, due to limited road access and remaining gas infrastructure.
In addition, the signs on the main railway station are bilingual in English and Gurmukhi, which is one of the written scripts of Punjabi language. The main street in Southall is called The Broadway, while a smaller commercial area exists in Old Southall on King Street. Southall contains one of the largest South Asian shopping areas in the region, comparable to Green Street, East London or Ealing Road, Wembley.
Southall is home to London's largest Sikh community. There are ten Sikhism in Southall. The Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, which opened in 2003, is one of the largest Sikh gurdwaras outside India, and it won the Ealing Civic Society Architectural Award in 2003. There are two large Hindu 'Mandir' temples, the Vishnu Hindu Mandir on Lady Margaret Road and the Ram Mandir in Old Southall.
There are more than ten Christian churches including 5 Anglican, one Roman Catholic (St Anselm's Church), Baptist, Methodist and several Pentecostal or Independent.
There are six Masjid in Southall, the Abubakr Mosque situated on Southall Broadway, the Central Jamia Masjid Mosque situated on Montague Waye, which is the oldest, the Jamia Masjid Islamic Centre on Townsend Road, the Red Sea Mosque in the Green, and Dar al Salam on Norwood Road and also the Baithul Mukaram mosque near Lidl.
The Tudor Rose, Southall is a nightclub and venue that caters for the local British African-Caribbean community. It opened as a cinema in 1910 and was converted to its current premises in 1983.
Southall was also the location of a Glassy Junction public house, which was the first pub in the UK to accept Indian Rupees as payment. The Glassy Junction closed down in 2011 and has since been replaced by international South Indian restaurant chain, Saravana Bhavan.
Other notable local pubs include The Three Horseshoes in Southall Broadway, by the architect Nowell Parr which closed in 2017.
Some non-English newspapers for the community in Southall are also in circulation including Des Pardes, a Punjabi-language paper. A writer of Des Pardes, Tarsem Singh Purewal was killed in Southall in 1995.
A restaurant located in Southall, named "Brilliant Restaurant" has also been featured and nominated on Gordon Ramsay's show, Ramsay's Best Restaurant, as one of Ramsay's best. Gordon also mentioned he'd visited multiple times prior working with staff, aiming to obtain top knowledge on how to prepare and serve Indian food.
King Charles III has also brought up that Brilliant is his favourite Indian restaurant.
Southall consists of six for local council elections: Dormers Wells, Lady Margaret, Norwood Green, Southall Green, Southall Broadway and Southall West, which all elect councillors to Ealing Council.
Southall is in the London Assembly constituency of Ealing and Hillingdon which has been represented by assembly member Bassam Mahfouz of the Labour Party since 2024.
Southall is served by Southall railway station on the Great Western Main Line, providing links to and from Heathrow Airport, Reading and Oxford as well as London Paddington.
The nearest London Underground to the town centre is Osterley station, on the Piccadilly line, which is located approximately to the south.
Frequent bus services link Southall with all neighbouring suburbs and Heathrow Airport.
There is an express coach service between Southall, Leicester and Birmingham which specialises in serving the many family connections in both areas' South Asian populations.
Specialist schools include:
Economic history
The Quaker Oats Company built a factory in Southall in 1936. Part of the operation that made pet foods was sold to Spiller's in 1994, and the remainder to Big Bear Group in 2006. The site continues to produce brands such as Honey Monster Puffs. Other engineering, paint and food processing factories prospered for many years, mostly alongside the railway and/or canal.
A collection of Martinware – salt-glazed stoneware, and birds – is on display at Southall Library.
Culture
Since the end of World War II, Southall has become largely a South Asian residential district, sometimes known as "Little India".
Media
There are two local community radio stations servicing Southall; Westside 89.6 FM, licensed by Ofcom as part of their drive towards community-based radio services, broadcasts urban music and was formerly based in Southall (now in Hanwell), and Desi Radio which predominantly broadcasts in Punjabi and is available throughout West London on 1602 AM radio and on DAB across Greater London. Sunrise Radio, broadcasting for the wider Asian community nationally, was until recently based in Southall now having moved to nearby Hounslow.
In film and TV
Southall was the main location for the hit film Bend It Like Beckham and has appeared in Bollywood films as well, including Patiala House and Goal!.
Sport
The local football club Southall F.C. has a long history, having been formed in 1871 and nurtured past players such as Les Ferdinand, who went on to play for the national team. and as of 2018–19, they currently play in the Premier Division of the Combined Counties Football League.The local cricket club is London Tigers CC, who play at Spikes Bridge Park. Southall Park is home to a free weekly park run 5k event, which starts at 9am every Saturday.
Demographics
Southall is religiously and ethnically diverse. In 1964 the total non-White population was estimated to be around 11.4%. In 2021, Sikhs made up 28.5% of the population, Muslims made up 24.1% and Christians 22.6%.
Notable people
Musicians
Writers
Television and film
Politicians
Others
Local landmarks
Political representation
Southall is part of the parliamentary constituency of Ealing Southall, represented since 2024 by Labour Member of Parliament Deirdre Costigan.
Geography and transport
Nearby places include Hayes, Hanwell, Hounslow, Greenford, Northolt and Ealing The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Parks and recreational grounds
There are several parks in Southall, the most notable being Southall Park. It is mainly recreational and has a playground, play centre, tennis court, and also has a shared multi use games areas with Villiers High School. Other features include a mosaic globe and a water cascade.
Education
Secondary schools and colleges in Southall include:
See also
Further reading
External links
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