Yiewsley ( ) is a large suburban village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, south of Uxbridge, the borough's commercial and administrative centre. Yiewsley was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Hillingdon, Middlesex.[ Click 'Relationships and changes' tab.] The population of the Yiewsley ward was 12,406 at the 2021 Census.
Toponymy
Yiewsley is not recorded in the
Domesday Book of 1086. The place-name is believed to be derived from the
Old English Wifeleslēah: "Wifel's woodland clearing". The earliest written record of Yiewsley is from 1235, where it is shown as
Wiuesleg in
Assizes.
|
|
Assize Rolls |
Abbreviatio Placitorum (Record Commission), London 1811 |
A Calendar to the Feet of Fines for London and Middlesex 1195–1485[ The book is in two parts: p. 1–213 London & Middlesex; p. 214–240 other counties; also an index. Starts on p. 4: (Richard I is listed in reverse, from Anno 10–7): "Richard I, Anno 7" began in September 1195. Ends on p. 213: "Richard III, Anno 2" ended in June 1485.] |
Calendar of the |
A Calendar to the Feet of Fines for London and Middlesex 1486–1569[ Starts on p. 1: "Henry VII, Hil. Anno 1" = the Hilary term in Henry VII's 1st regnal year = early 1486. Ends on p. 159: "Elizabeth, Mich. Anno 11 and 12" = the Michaelmas (autumn) term when Elizabeth I's 11th regnal year became her 12th, in November 1569.] |
Map of Middlesex 1593 by John Norden |
| Map of Middlesex 1610 by Jodocus Hondius I, John Norden, John Speed |
George Redford, The History of Uxbridge, 1818 |
John Ogilby, Itinerarium Angliae, 1675 |
| Map of Middlesex 1769 by John Rocque |
Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser |
The Day |
Map of Middlesex 1819 by Christopher Greenwood |
Ordinance Survey Middlesex Sheet XIV Surveyed 1864. |
In the 40 years between John Rocque's Map of Middlesex in 1769 and the 1809 newspaper advertisements in the Public Ledger and The Day there was a significant change in the spelling of the village from Wewesley to Yewsley or Yiewsley.
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 and
Buckinghamshire. The confluence of the
Frays River and
River Pinn also occurs in this area, and there are several man-made lakes. After climbing south over the
Chiltern Hills by the use of 52 locks from the
Marsworth Junction,
the Grand Union Canal turns east in Yiewsley to route towards
London. Half a mile north of this turn, the five-mile
Slough Arm 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 of parkland lies a comprehensive network of footpaths.
To the west of Yiewsley, beyond the River Colne lie the Buckinghamshire villages of Iver, Richings Park and Thorney. To the north, over the River Pinn is Cowley Peachey. To the northeast of Yiewsley is Hillingdon and the villages of Colham Green and Goulds Green. To the east lies Stockley Park, and to the south, across the Great Western Railway, is West Drayton.
Geology
Over tens of thousands of years, the course of the
River Thames moved south, first flowing to the north of Yiewsley, then over the Yiewsley area, before reaching its present course, where it lies to the southwest of Yiewsley at its closest point. Over thousands of years, the Ancestral Thames deposited layers of
fluvial terrace ,
,
and
on the Middle Thames area, with silts forming
brickearth.
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 from 1889–1901.
The principal collector was Robert Garraway Rice (1852–1933), a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, who recorded over 2600 items from the Yiewsley area from about 1905–1929.
In 1937 his collection of Lower Palaeolithic and Middle Palaeolithic artifacts was donated to the London Museum.
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:
Bronze Age
In 1913–1914,
a
Bronze Age Urnfield culture cemetery was discovered, with the excavation of 14 Deverel–Rimbury cinerary urns.
These and other Bronze Age items, mostly from Boyer's Gravel Pit, have been catalogued at the
British Museum.
Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age
Besieged Danes of Thorney Island 893 AD
In the spring of 893, after overwintering at Appledore in Kent, and then plundering through
Kent and
Sussex, a
Vikings raiding army turned to head for the Danish-controlled lands in the east (later known as the
Danelaw). However, they were intercepted by Alfred the Great's son Edward with his
Wessex Fyrd at
Farnham in Surrey. The Danes were routed, fleeing over the
River Thames into
Mercia, 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, approximately half a mile west from Yiewsley High Street today. Edward began a siege of the island, and was joined by Æthelred of Mercia 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 had been part of the Kingdom of Essex, but came under Mercian control in the reign of King Æthelbald (716–757 AD). By the time of the siege of Thorney Island in 893, eastern Mercia had been 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 (899–924 AD). Edward would go on to take control of all of Mercia, both Angle and Danish, advancing England's progression in becoming a single kingdom.
Norman Conquest 1066 until 1794
Parish of Hillingdon and Colham Manor
For most of its existence, Yiewsley was a hamlet in the Parish of St John the Baptist Church,
Hillingdon, 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 in 1086, it was the property of one of William the Conqueror's principal advisors, Roger de Montgomery.
In Colham Manor's fertile arable fields in the late 14th century, wheat was the predominant crop, but rye and oats were also farmed.
The three oldest buildings in Yiewsley today date from the late 16th or early 17th century and are situated at either end of Yiewsley High Street. All three buildings are listed building. At the northern end is Yiewsley Grange (also known as Brookside), which overlooks the River Pinn, and is Yiewsley Grange Primary School today.
Industrial Age
Opening of the Grand Junction Canal 1794
Yiewsley's agrarian way of life started to change with the opening of the Grand Junction Canal. Construction began with cuttings on Uxbridge Moor on 1 May 1793, and in early May at
Brentford and
Braunston.
From the Thames at Brentford to
Hanwell, the canal was engineered from the
River Brent. 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
Frays River in an aqueduct at Cowley Lock.
On 3 November 1794, the canal was opened between the River Thames and Uxbridge. However, toll collectors weren't appointed at Uxbridge and Brentford until May 1795. It is likely the aqueduct over the Frays River at Cowley Lock wasn't completed until the autumn of 1795, with measures undertaken there to allow traffic to pass through.
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 brickearth. The first record of brick making in Yiewsley was by William Pope in Chauntry Close (Now Chantry Close).
An advertisement in the
Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser of 24 March 1809, announced an auction of over a million of his bricks.
By May 1809 William Pope had passed away and the brickfield was offered for sale at auction. It was described as being '...of very capital brick earth, about nine feet deep, nearly five feet of which is malm, of a superior quality.'
By 1819 a canal arm known as Yiewsley Dock had been created to service the brickfield.
This is where Kiln Lodge is located today.
In 1820 a branch of the canal known as Otter Dock was opened. It would become the longest of the 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 . The finished bricks were then transported mainly along the Grand Junction Canal to South Wharf in the Paddington Basin and to wharves along the Regent's Canal, but also to other locations along the canal and River Thames.
Although figures for Yiewsley's brick production in the 19th century are not available, in July 1879 brickmaker Samuel Pocock stated at a committee of the House of Commons discussing the proposed Slough Arm 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.
Great Western Railway
The construction of the Great Western Railway (GWR) began in 1835, and the line between Paddington and
Maidenhead was opened on 4 June 1838, with West Drayton being its first station from London.
The broad gauge
Vulcan was the first locomotive to run on the GWR, 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 by Charles Tayleur & Co., the locomotive, together with another 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.
West Drayton station was relocated 200 yd east to its present position on Station Approach from Tavistock Road on 9 April 1884, four months before a second branch line, operated by the Staines and West Drayton Railway (S&WDR), was opened on 9 August 1884.
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 were established before 1855.
In 1865 the works were owned by Walter Graham & Co, 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 India-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 1913 the Steam Fittings Company Ltd in Horton Road was producing
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 & Son 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 was operational in the south of the Yiewsley Urban District, specialising 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. He had begun the development of the Constantinesco-Colley Fire Control Timing Gear (C.C. gear)
In the 1920s, Trout Road developed as a centre for companies involved in oils and chemical production. In 1921 K. B. Mavlankar was producing at the British Aromatic Chemical Works on Trout Road.
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 monorail transporters.[ Video clip showing Road Machines monorail.] In 1952 James Whitson & Co. moved from Sipson and began manufacturing coaches and fire engines in Yiewsley High Street.
Most of Yiewsley's early companies chose West Drayton as their business address, although they were in neither West Drayton nor the Parish of West Drayton. Furthermore, West Drayton remained a largely rural village until the 20th century, and then became a mostly residential area. A possible reason is that the railway station had been called West Drayton since opening in 1838, changing to West Drayton and Yiewsley only in 1895. With the railways becoming the principal form of transport in the latter half of the 19th century, it seems 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 lines. Passenger services to Uxbridge were stopped in 1962; however, a short section of line (about 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 (BRB).
The line continues to be used for freight services as far as Colnbrook.
Another consequence of the Beeching cuts 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 resulted in Yiewsley being removed from the station name after 79 years on 6 May 1974.
Padcroft College and Boys' Home
In May 1875, Padcroft House, a 14-room family residence with stables and nearly an acre of gardens located 100 yds south of the Trout Road canal bridge was advertised for sale or let.
On 4 October 1875, Padcroft College was opened, with Principal Mr G. H. Jones FSA offering a course of education consisting of "Divinity, French, German, Latin, Greek, Mathematics, Natural Science, Drawing, and other branches of a liberal English education". Fees were eight guineas per annum.
The college became the most important private school in the area, teaching up to a hundred pupils a year, with some boarders.
Sport, principally cricket, football and lawn tennis, played an important role in college life, with the college grounds having of enclosed meadow land situated between Grand Junction Canal and the
Frays River.
Fishing and boating on the Frays were offered as additional pastimes. From 1887 the college became known as the Padcroft Grammar School, and from 1891 as the Padcroft School. It closed in November 1901.
52 Padcroftian
Old Boys fell in the Great War.
The college building and nearly four acres of the grounds were sold to the London Diocesan Branch of the Church of England Temperance Society.
The building was reopened in June 1902 as the Padcroft Boys' Home by Sir Albert de Rutzen, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.
Its purpose was to take in first-time offenders who had come before a magistrates' court and give them guidance, an education in handicraft, and employment. It catered for about 40 boys at a time, aged 14–18 years, and was run by the Society's London Police Court Mission (LPCM).
On 27 October 1904, the building was largely destroyed by fire; everyone escaped. It was rebuilt, reopening in January 1906 after using temporary accommodation.
Writing of the Padcroft Boys' Home, the 1918 LPCM brochure
Saving the Lads stated that "958 of our Old Boys are serving in HM Forces, many have been mentioned in dispatches. One has won the
Victoria Cross, five the DCM, five received Commissions."
A relationship with the
Pilkington glass production in St Helens was developed. From 1912 to 1927, Pilkington ran a hostel in
Ravenhead for Padcroft boys, who then worked chiefly with glass tanks and kilns.
By 1919 over 200 boys had found work there.
Padcroft later became a remand home and a probation home.
By its closure in February 1949, 7583 boys had passed through the home.
The building was bought by Middlesex County Council as a community centre, and was in use into the 1960s, before being redevelopment.
Political development
Yiewsley today
Yiewsley today is a growing community with both residential housing and commercial businesses. With the establishment of the
Elizabeth line and as a consequence of the
London Plan 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
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P3 Navigator is an Advice centre for young people on Fairfield Road.
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Yiewsley Health Centre on Yiewsley High Street incorporates The High Street Practice
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Otterfield Medical Centre is situated on Otterfield Road.
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West Drayton and Yiewsley Dental provide NHS dental care on Providence Road.
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Yiewsley Library closed in October 2025. A new library is due to open in Otterfield Road in late 2026.
Education
Primary schools
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St Matthew's CE Primary School, High Street
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Rabbsfarm Primary School, Gordon Road
Secondary school
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Park Academy West London, Park View Road
Special and alternative schools
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Yiewsley Grange Primary School, High Street
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The Skills Hub, Falling Lane
Political representation
-
Yiewsley's Member of Parliament is Danny Beales
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Yiewsley's elected representative in the London Assembly is Bassam Mahfouz
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The Yiewsley ward councillors in the Hillingdon Borough Council 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 brickfields, Yiewsley's population started to grow, and work began on building a mission church (also referred to as a chapel of ease). St Matthew's Church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott 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 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 on 25 April 1898.
On 4 October 2009, the war memorial was rededicated by Pete Broadbent, the Bishop of Willesden, to include the names of the 73 men of the parish who fell in the Second World War.[ URL now lacks original date.] A ceremony with the laying of wreaths is held at the War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday each year.
Culture and recreation
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The Yiewsley and West Drayton Arts Council
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Community events are held at Yiewsley's three churches, St Matthew's Parish Church,
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The Outline Community Theatre Company is based at St Matthew's Church, and stages productions of both modern and classic theatre in the local area.
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The Hillingdon Theatre Dance Centre offers classes at Yiewsley Methodist Church Hall and at Rabbsfarm Primary School.
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The Yiewsley and West Drayton Band is a third-section brass band established in 1890, and maintains a year-round programme of concerts and community events.
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1381 Squadron (West Drayton & Yiewsley) Royal Air Force Air Cadets are based at Summer Drive, West Drayton.
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Yiewsley Recreation Ground is situated between Falling Lane and Yiewsley High Street.
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Uxbridge F.C., established 1871, are one of the oldest football clubs in the south of England. They play at Honeycroft on Horton Road.
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PureGym are situated in Continental House on Yiewsley High Street.
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Stockley Country Park has a network of footpaths in its of parkland, and views across the local area. There is an 18-hole golf course, split in two by the A408 main road but linked by a cable-stayed bridge.
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The Beeches Way,
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Two fisheries have coarse fishing in their lakes in Yiewsley: Thorney Weir the Mets
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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 being the Packet Boat Marina at Cowley Peachey. High Line Yachting operate boatyards on the Grand Union main line 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 pipe fittings manufacturer John Guest (part of RWC Ltd). New Pro Foundries in Horton Close have produced the bronze BAFTA awards.
The data centre company Virtus have the UK's
largest data centre campus here at
Prologis Park West London.
East of Horton Road, across the A308 Stockley Road is the
Stockley Park.
Heidelberg Materials UK operate at two sites in Yiewsley. They have a rail depot at the Old Coal Yard, Tavistock Road and an aggregates facility on Iron Bridge Road South.
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
Elizabeth line operates a stopping service between Abbey Wood and Reading. The station is also served by a small number of early morning and late evening Great Western Railway services between and Reading.
Road
Yiewsley is served by the M4 and M25 motorways about a mile to its south and west respectively, which interconnect at Thorney Interchange. The A408 Stockley Road dual carriageway on the eastern side of Yiewsley acts as a bypass, avoiding the village centre.
Buses
There are regular
London Buses services from Yiewsley to
Uxbridge, Hayes,
Ruislip,
Hounslow and the Heathrow Airport terminals.
Air
Heathrow Airport lies south of Yiewsley.
Notable people
-
Ronnie Wood (born 1947), guitarist in Rock music bands The Rolling Stones and Faces, grew up in Whitethorn Avenue, attending St Stephen's Infant School and St Matthew's Church of England Primary School.
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Art Wood (1937–2006), vocalist of the Sixties rhythm and blues group The Artwoods,
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Ted Wood (1939–2003), trad jazz vocalist and drummer, was born in Yiewsley, growing up in Whitethorn Avenue.
[ Source misspells Whitethorn.]
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Musician Kim Gardner (1948–2001), of The Birds, The Creation and Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, grew up in Yiewsley.
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Cinematographer Wally Gentleman (1926–2001), whose credits include the on and Universe, was born in Yiewsley.
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Moore Marriott (1885–1949), regarded as one of the best stage and screen of his generation, was born in Alpha Place, High Street.
Notes
External links
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