Everything about Hounslow totally explained
Hounslow is the principal town in the
London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development situated 10.6 miles (17 km) west south-west of
Charing Cross and one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the
London Plan. Hounslow forms a
post town in the
TW postcode area.
Metropolitan centre
The centre of Hounslow is focused around the pedestrianised high street and a shopping centre known as the Treaty Centre, which includes multiple stores with a mix of shops, cafes and the Hounslow local library. The town centre is currently undergoing major re-development with the first stage currently being built. This includes apartments, an
ASDA supermarket and cinema being built in the vicinity of the post office. Plans for the second stage have yet to be submitted. The council offices of the London Borough of Hounslow are located here.
Transport
The area is served by the
Piccadilly Line of the
London Underground at
Hounslow Central tube station,
Hounslow West tube station and
Hounslow East tube station.
South West Trains also provide
National Rail services from
Hounslow railway station. Hounslow abuts the perimeter of
London Heathrow Airport, itself located in the
London Borough of Hillingdon. To the north of Hounslow is the
Great West Road.
There is a large bus garage, with adjoining Bus Station, located on a corner site at the junction of London and Kingsley Roads. The property is owned and run by the
Transdev London group through their company
London United Busways Ltd. Apart from frequent, regular daytime services there's an all night service running through Hounslow from
Heathrow to Central
London.
Etymology
The origin of the name Hounslow is disputed, with some claiming it derives from the
Anglo-Saxon “Honeslaw” meaning an area of land suitable for hunting, whilst others claim it comes from an a mound or hill associated with Hundi, a pagan
Anglo-Saxon.
History
From the early
13th century, when Hounslow began to develop, to the present day, one of the main sources of its economic survival has been transport. In the
Middle Ages foot and horse traffic travelling between London and the West Country brought weary travellers to rest in the village. Between the 17th and 19th centuries it was the
stagecoach services that brought prosperity to the growing town. Today,
Heathrow provides jobs, both on airport and in related industries to many local people.
The town grew up along both sides of the Great Western Road from
London to the
West Country and in
1211 the Order of the Holy Trinity built a
priory at the western end of the High Street, on the site of the present church. These friars used one third of their tithes to pay for the release of hostages captured during the crusades.
Edward I granted the Holy Trinity a charter allowing them to hold a weekly market and an annual fair where they levied duties on good sold. The priory was dissolved during the
Dissolution of the Monasteries in
1539, despite
Henry VIII having entered the order of the priory when he was the
Prince of Wales.
Materials from the priory were used to build Hounslow Manor house with the chapel, which survived the demolition of the other buildings, being used as a private chapel for the occupiers of the Manor house.
When the Barons and
King John signed the
Magna Carta in
1215 at
Runnymede, the Barons held a tournament at Hounslow.
1227 saw the disafforesting of the Warren of
Staines, a great wood, which allowed the Hounslow Heath to expand. The heath was a popular hunting ground for Kings and Queens through the ages, including Henry VIII,
Elizabeth I and
William III.
Armies also made use of the heath due to its proximity to London,
Windsor and
Hampton Court.
Oliver Cromwell placed an army on the heath at the end of the
Civil War in
1647, and
James II camped his army and held military exercises and mock battles to, unsuccessfully, intimidate the population in London. A permanent
barracks for armies that camped on the heath was built in
1793 as part of the preparations to meet possible invasion by the French, and by
1884 had its own station. This was demolished and rebuilt a short distance away, and renamed Hounslow West Station in
1925, and the suburb that sprung up in the surrounding area adopted the station’s name.
Hounslow Heath is most notorious for the
highwaymen and footpads (who didn't have horses) that troubled the travellers on the road to and from London during the 17th and 18th centuries. The heath was so notorious that
gibbets, or
gallows, were set up along the roadside as a warning. Famous victims of the highwaymen included
Lord North in
1774,
William Pitt the Younger’s Secretary, and Lord Berkeley, who shot and killed his assailant. The highwayman
Claude Duval famously danced with one of his lady victims but his ten-year criminal career ended when he was hanged at
Tyburn in
1670.
James MacLaine, the "Gentleman Highwayman" worked in partnership with
William Plunkett. He robbed Lord Eglington in
1750 but was caught selling stolen goods before being hanged in front of a large crowd. The trade wasn't exclusive to men as the example of Mary Frith, who dared rob the Parliamentary General, Sir Thomas Fairfax, shows.
The prosperity of the town declined sharply when the Great Western Railway was built between London and
Bristol, offering a much more comfortable and safe journey. The town began to flourish once more when the
Great West Road was built to bypass the town in the 1920s and the factories that lined the road brought jobs and prosperity. As the old industries along the “
Golden Mile” began to decline in the 1970s, they were replaced by offices, with many international companies setting up there, attracted by the proximity of London and the area's transport links. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, major construction work and redevelopment was conducted in Hounslow to pedestrianize the High Street and build the Treaty Centre. The old Library, one of the few elegant buildings in the town, was demolished during this period.
Today Hounslow is a prosperous multicultural town, with many ethnic minorities including Indians and now many Polish looking for jobs at the nearby Heathrow airport.
Nearest places
Further Information
Get more info on 'Hounslow'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://hounslow.totallyexplained.com">Hounslow Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
