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West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary.
The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, North London, East London and South London. West London was part of the historic county of Middlesex.
The legendary origin is that in the early 7th century, a local fisherman named Edric ferried a stranger in tattered foreign clothing over the River Thames to Thorney Island. It was a miraculous appearance of Saint Peter, a fisherman himself, coming to the island to consecration the newly built church, which would subsequently develop into Westminster Abbey. He rewarded Edric with a bountiful catch when he next dropped his nets. Edric was instructed to present the King and Mellitus with a salmon and various proofs that the consecration had already occurred . Every year on 29 June, St Peters day, the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers presents the Abbey with a salmon in memory of this event.
The Palace of Westminster subsequently developed, with Parliament being based there from its establishment in 1265. The presence of the centre of government as a distinct focus for growth, accompanied by the proximity of the City, ensured that western London was the fastest growing part of early London.
From the 15th to 17th centuries, growth along the roads from Ludgate (Fleet Street and The Strand) and Newgate ( Holborn and High Holborn) accelerated, and came to extend far beyond Farringdon Without, into Holborn, Bloomsbury and Westminster.
In the mid 17th century Henry Jermyn, was instrumental in developing the St James's and Mayfair districts of Westminster. These districts provided a fashionable new focus for western London, that came to be known as the West End. Jermyn would become known as the Father of the West End.
In 1720, John Strype's "Survey of London" described Westminster as one of the then four distinct areas of London; in it he describes the City of London, Westminster (West London), Southwark, and East London. The area now usually referred to as North London developed later.
As well as the proximity of the centre of government, the West End was long favoured by the rich elite as a place of residence because it was usually upwind of the smoke drifting from the crowded City.Robert O. Bucholz and Joseph P. Ward: London: A Social and Cultural History, 1550–1750. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2012, p. 333 A further factor facilitating rapid growth in West London was the very large number of bridges linking the area to South London and the area beyond; by contrast, even today, there are no bridges east of Tower Bridge, partly as the river becomes wider as it heads east.
The term "West End of London" gained widespread currency as a proper noun, rather than just a geographical description in the 19th century.
The size of London stabilised after the establishment of the Metropolitan Green Belt shortly after the Second World War.
West London is bordered by the administrative counties of Surrey to the south west and south; Berkshire to the west and north west; Buckinghamshire to the north west; and Hertfordshire to the north.
A publication by the Mayor of London in 2011 referred to the London boroughs of Brent, Harrow, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Richmond, and Hillingdon as West London. The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames spans the River Thames so its status can be ambiguous.
The term West London is used to differentiate the area from other informal radial divisions of London, the Metropolitan Compass;A phrase used, for instance, by Dickens in the Uncommercial Traveller, Ch 3 North London, East London and South London.
The 2004-2008 and 2008-2011 versions of the sub-region varied in their composition.
Eleven of the London Plan's thirty-eight Opportunity Areas are part of West London; Kensal Green, Paddington, Earl's Court and West Kensington, Harrow and Wealdstone, Park Royal, Old Oak Common, Southall, Tottenham Court Road, Victoria, Wembley and White City.
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