Yiewsley
| Yiewsley | |
| Middlesex | |
|---|---|
 Grand Union Canal, Yiewsley | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ0608880405 |
| Location: | 51°30’45"N, 0°28’21"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Hayes |
| Postcode: | UB7 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Hillingdon |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Hayes and Harlington |
Yiewsley is a town in western Middlesex, close to the border with Buckinghamshire. It lies just within the Greater London conurbation.
History
Yiewsley is not mentioned in the Domesday Book. The place-name probably derives from the Anglo-Saxon Wifeleslēah: "Wifel's woodland clearing".
There is little recorded about Yiewsley until the late 18th century, when the Grand Junction Canal was cut. A branch of the canal known as Otter Dock was cut between Yiewsley and West Drayton in the years 1876-1879 in order to service Yiewsley's brickworks. Brick-making and agriculture were the main industries in Yiewsley during the late 18th and 19th centuries, and the expansion of the brickworks resulted in a large growth in population. Five million bricks moulded and fired in the Hillingdon Brickfields every year were transported by canal to a yard near South Wharf Basin, Paddington. The last brick-field closed in 1935 following strikes and the Great Depression, and around this time Otter Dock was filled in.[1]
The arrival of the Great Western Railway and the building of West Drayton railway station in 1838 resulted in new houses being built and a sharp increase in both population and trade. A branch line to Uxbridge was completed in 1856. This ran until closed as part of the Beeching plan in 1964 (although passenger services had been discontinued in 1962).
As the population grew, a new church, St Matthew's,[2] was dedicated on 6 July 1859, and enlarged in 1898. Yiewsley remained a ecclesiastical district of Hillingdon until 1896.
Transport
The nearest railway stations are Hayes and Harlington, Iver (in neighbouring Buckinghamshire) and West Drayton.
Notable people
- Ronnie Wood, guitarist in rock bands the Rolling Stones and The Faces, grew up in Yiewsley, attending St Stephen's Infant School and St Matthew's Church of England Primary School
- Musician Kim Gardner (1948–2001), of power rock trio Ashton, Gardner and Dyke, grew up in Yiewsley
- Special effects man Wally Gentleman (1926–2001), whose credits include 2001: A Space Odyssey and Universe, was born in Yiewsley
References
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Yiewsley) |