Hanwell
Hanwell shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ153802
London borough	Ealing
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	W7
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
European Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush
	Ealing Southall
London Assembly	Ealing and Hillingdon
List of places: UK • England • London

Coordinates: 51°30′32″N 0°20′15″W / 51.5089, -0.3376

Hanwell is a town situated in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, between Ealing and Southall.

Places of interest

The local parish church

St Mary, Hanwell

The earliest parish church recorded is that of St Mary. The present church structure was built in 1841. As such, it stands as one of George Gilbert Scott's very early churches, executed in the style of Gothic Revival, and consists of masoned white limestone and gault brickwork, with flint-rubble and mortar panels. Scott himself later condemned his work of this period as "a mass of horrors". However, the famous painter William Frederick Yeames, who at one time was its churchwarden, is thought to have done the wall paintings in the chancel.^[1]

Perhaps the most famous rector was Dr. George H. Glasse, he a memorial place in his memory in St. Mary's Churchyard (Grade II). Still surviving is his home he had built for him nearby in 1809. It is executed in the style of cottage orné and named The Hermitage (Grade II). Nikolaus Pevsner describe it thus: “a peach of an early c19 Gothic thatched cottage with two pointed windows, a quatrefoil, and an ogee arched door, all on a minute scale. Inside, an octagonal hall and reception room” ^[2]

In latter years another well-known rector was Fred Secombe (and brother of Harry Secombe). Since leaving and moving back to Wales, he has become a prolific author.

The Hermitage
built 1809 (Grade II)

No archaeological evidence has been found so far, to show that any church existed here earlier than shown in written records. However, due to its commanding topographical position, which enables the distinctive broach spire to be seen from many miles away, it has been suggested that this may have been a pagan place of worship long before Christianity reached this part of the world. There is however, no evidence to support this theory. An early supporter of this hypothesis was Sir Montagu Sharpe KC DL, a local historian and a member of the Society of Antiquaries.^[3] (In nearby Northolt, the parish church, which is also on high ground, has had much evidence found around it of past occupation by the beaker people.)

St Thomas The Apostle Church

St Thomas the Apostle Church was designed by architect Edward Maufe in preparation for his work on Guildford Cathedral and includes a sculpture by Eric Gill.^[4]

The Wharncliffe Viaduct

The Wharncliffe Viaduct

Main article: Wharncliffe Viaduct

Carrying the Great Western Railway across the River Brent, the Wharncliffe Viaduct was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Hanwell Flight of Locks

Windmill and Lock

The Hanwell flight of six locks raises the Grand Union Canal by just over 53 feet (16.2 m) and has been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by English Heritage.^[5] At the top of the flight of locks towards Norwood Green is the Three Bridges designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It is still often referred to locally as simply Windmill Bridge and is very close to the spot where the eponymous windmill once stood; attracting the attention of a local Brentford artist named Joseph Mallord William Turner. These are actually within the boundry of Southall but are called after the local village of Hanwell which is much closer than either villages of Norwood or Southall.

The Central London District School/Hanwell Community Centre

The Central London District School was built in 1856 to house and educate the poor of London. By far its most famous resident was Charlie Chaplin who lived at the school from June 1896 until January 1898.^[6]

The school was closed in 1933 but parts of it remain standing and it is in use as the Hanwell Community Centre.

The Community Centre was used as a location in the film Billy Elliot.

It has been declared a Grade II listed building by English Heritage^[7] but its future is uncertain.

Hanwell clock

Hanwell Clock Tower

The art deco clock tower on Hanwell Broadway was unveiled on 7 May 1937 in celebration of the coronation of King George VI. The mayor at the time Frederick Woodward, said "I consider Hanwell one of the finest gateways to the city of London, and I cannot think of a more fitting place for the clock".^[8]

St Bernard's Gate House (Grade II)

Hanwell Asylum

Lying to the west of the River Brent and so actually in the precinct of Norwood, the Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum was commonly referred to as the Hanwell Asylum because it was closer to the centre of Hanwell than either Norwood or Southall. The asylum was opened in 1831 to house pauper lunatics. In 1937 it was renamed St. Bernard's Hospital by which it is known to day. Built on some of its former grounds to the east is Ealing Hospital. Most of the original asylum still remains, with over half having been turned into flats and the rest remaining as a psychiatric hospital. The most interesting parts are the chapel and an entrance arch visible from the Uxbridge Road.

The hospital was remarkable as one of its physicians, John Conolly, 1794-1866, was progressive in the treatment of patients, and avoided the use of restraints. A memorial garden dedicated to him is at the junction of Station Road with Connolly Road, Hanwell, London W7 UK. The hospital used to have a museum housed in its chapel, but this has now been relocated. It included a padded cell (which was not as bad as it sounds: a wooden framework with padded walls and floor, but no ceiling at all).

Westminster Cemetery

In 1987 the Westminster Cemetery in Hanwell was one of three cemeteries that Shirley Porter's Westminster City Council controversially sold to land developers for 15p.^[9]

Other places of interest

Peacock at the Brent Lodge Park Animal Centre

• Brent Lodge Park (known locally as "The Bunny Park").
• Elthorne Park including a Sarsen stone displayed at the entrance.

Short history of the inns and public houses

The Uxbridge Road (then known as the Oxford Road) was turnpiked between Uxbridge and Tyburn in 1714. The revenue from tolls enabled an all-weather metaled road surface of compacted gravel to be laid down. This encouraged an increase in traffic to supply London with its foodstuffs, which in turn allowed the city to start a rapid expansion in population. ^[10]

This constant movement of people along the road, in turn brought about the establishment of Coaching inns along the road as it crossed the River Brent and passed through the parish of Hanwell. In these inns, travellers could stable their horses, place their carts or goods in safe storage and secure board and lodgings for themselves overnight.

The first inn on crossing the River Brent is the Viaduct which is on the north side. Named after the Wharncliffe Viaduct (ibid), its original name was the Coach and Horses. At the back of the pub, some of the original stable building can be seen, dating to about 1730. ^[11] Early in the 20th Century The Viaduct received a new façade which Nikolaus Pevsner succinctly described as "a jolly tiled Edwardian pub" . ^[2] Unfortunately, today the profusion of street furniture detracts somewhat from the original impact that these rich mid-browns and mid-cream glazed tiles gave the building.

Next was the Duke of Wellington, which lay approximately 400m closer to London on the southern side of the road, roughly opposite the old Hanwell Police Station. However, this had been demolished by the 1920's and was not rebuilt.

Further east still and back across on the north side of the Uxbridge Road at the junction of Hanwell Broadway is the Duke of York. This became an important staging point for Stagecoaches, when on their way between Oxford and london. Established in the c18, it has been subsequently rebuilt in the Todorbethan style.

The next pub occupies the site of probably the very first inn to be established on the Oxford Road as it ran through Hanwell and is known today as the Kings Arms. It lies on the south side of the road. It was original called the Spencer Arms, after Edward Spencer, who was Lord of the Manor of Boston during the Civil War. In the c18 the Manor Courts hearings were transferred here from Greenford, then later transferred to the Viaduct Inn. ^[12] However, the present building only dated back to the 1930.

The Fox built 1848

Gradually, retail stores and shops started to fill the gaps between these inns to take advantage of the passing trade brought by this important route into and out of the city.

During the Victorian period, the village to the north of the Uxbridge Road began to slowly expand to the south of the the road. Toward the southern end of Green Lane (the old toll-free drovers route into the city) is The Fox public house. Built in 1848 it is a largely unspoilt and original mid-Victorian pub. It has received a 'local listing' from Ealing Council as a building of local interest. It is constructed out of local yellow brick with more expensive red bricks used for detailing on corners and chimneys. Glazed bricks are are used for the ground floor exterior walls with coloured stained glass in the fan lights. The upper story has Mock Tudor detailing, including dentiles on the two outward-facing gables. Much of the interior is original, although the dividing walls between bars and off-licence sales have been taken out to create one large bar area. It was the meeting place for the local fox hunt right up until the 1920s. The hunt would then set of across Hanwell Heath, much of which still existed at that time. ^[13][14][15]

Famous Hanwell residents past and present

• Anna Brownell Jameson writer and feminist.
• Al Bowlly, singer, is buried in Westminster Cemetery.
• Charlie Chaplin, actor (attended Hanwell Central School but never resided in Hanwell),
• Daniel Hack Tuke: Distinguished mental doctor and related to the line of Tuke's which founded the York Retreat.
• Deep Purple rock band, rehearsed for their 1970 album In Rock in the Hanwell Community Centre. Promotional photographs for the album were taken in the grounds.^[16]
• Derwent Coleridge distinguished scholar, author was rector at Hanwell.
• Edward Augustus Bond (1815 – 1898) was born in Hanwell. He was a Librarian and Palaeographer who co-founded the Palaeographical Society.
• John Conolly was superintendent at the Hanwell Asylum between 1839 and 1844. He then ran a private asylum at Lawn House, Hanwell.
• Freddie Frinton, comedian, is buried in Westminster Cemetery.
• Fred Secombe (b.1918) One time Vicar of St. Mary Hanwell. Born in Swansea he is the elder brother of the late Sir Harry Secombe. Since retiring he has become an author of seven books, in a style of which, has had him referred to as 'the ecclesiastical James Herriott.'
• Jimi Hendrix owned a house in Hanwell, but never lived in it.
• Jim Marshall had a small shop in Hanwell where he started manufacturing and selling his world famous amplifiers. In an interview for Musicians Hotline Jim Marshall said "So many players came to my
  

  

  Jonas with his brolly
  Hanwell shop, it was almost like a rock and roll labor exchange because a lot of groups were formed there".^[17]
• Jonas Hanway, writer, philanthropist and the first man to carry an umbrella in London is buried in the crypt of St Mary's Church.
• Henry Corby, businessman and politician, born in 1806 at Hanwell, died 25 October 1881 at Belleville, Ontario, Canada.
• Henry Maudsley (1835–1918) was a pioneering English psychiatrist. From 1866 until 1874 he ran John Conolly's private asylum at Lawn House, Hanwell.
• Henry Scott TukeRA: Son of Daniel, he became a famous painter. They both lived at Golden Manor.^[18]
• Peter Crouch, footballer, was a former pupil of Drayton Manor High School.
• Philip Jackson, actor.
• Rick Wakeman, keyboardist for the band, Yes. Although Wakeman never lived in Hanwell, he attended Drayton Manor Grammar School, on Drayton Bridge Road, leaving in 1966.
• Sir Montagu Sharpe: Lived at Brent Lodge.^[19] An historian and one time president of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society. On local history he wrote the books: Bygone Hanwell; The Great Ford of the lower Thames; Middlesex in Roman and Saxon Times and Middlesex in the Domesday Book.
• Steve Benbow (29 November 1931 – 17 November 2006) was a British folk guitar player, singer and music director.
• The Magic Numbers, indie-pop band.

And When Did You Last See Your Father? by William Frederick Yeames

The Who (2007)

• The Who rock band rehearsed in Hanwell Community Centre prior to their 1969 US Tour.
• William Frederick Yeames RA: Famous for having painted And When Did You Last See Your Father? the artist lived in Campbell Road (there is a Blue Plaque on his house to commemorate this). He was also a one time churchwarden of St Mary's church.^[20]
• Ulmus × viminalis, a variety of elm tree, was first described from a specimen growing in Hanwell (in 1677).

The Hanwell Carnival

The Hanwell Carnival, which had existed up until World War II was resurrected in 1961 with the help of circus showman Billy Smart, Jr.^[21] It is now a popular annual event with a procession of floats which travels from Brentside High School to Elthorne Park where a show arena hosts various events and local charities and organisations have stalls. There is also a music stage, a craft fair, a dog show and a funfair.

In popular culture

"The Broadway Cafe" in There for Me

Hanwell has been the filming location for a number of films and television programmes:

• There for Me, British feature film: From 7th-14 July 2007 the Hanwell's First Choice Cafe on the corner of Hanwell Broadway was converted into the Broadway Café for this film. It stars Paul Bettany (born nearby, in Harlesden) and was written by his close friend Dan Fredenburgh, together with Doraly Rosen; Dan and Doraly play the lead roles. Other cast members are Olivia Williams and Rita Tushingham. It is about two people who find they have to make tough and emotionally difficult choices about their lives.^[22]

• Bridget Jones's Diary (film) (2001): Used Hanwell Cemetery as one of its many London locations. [1]

• Staggered (1994): Stared Martin Clunes as a man late for his own wedding. St Mary's was used for most of the church shots. [2]

The Dolphin

• Shine on Harvey Moon (1993) for ITV television: This was a period drama series set in the 1940s. The funeral sequences were also filmed at St Mary's. [3]

• Peep Show: The Dolphin pub (series three, episode four) and the exterior and interior of St Mary's church for Sophie and Mark's wedding (series four, episode six).

• Carry On Constable (1960): Used many locations around Ealing, with Hanwell Library serving for the exterior shots of their Police Station.

• Carry On Teacher (1959): The Maudlin Street School exterior scenes were shot at Drayton School in West Ealing. [4]

Transportation

Trams

Tram crossing Hanwell Bridge

In 1901 the first electric trams began to run along the Uxbridge Road, causing the population of the village to expand faster than with the arrival of the trainshalf a centry before. First however, the tram company had to strengthen Hanwell Bridge, as well as widen it on its north side; a balustrade which survives to this day, lines each side. Another stipulation placed upon the company was that the standards to support the catinery also had to able to double as street lamppost. The cars cost £1,000 each yet the ordinary fare from Shepard's Bush to Uxbridge was only 8^d. As the trams system utilised a single live overhead conductor only for each direction, this meant the residence of Hanwell not only had to put up with the general whine and mechanical clatter of the trams themselves but also their cast iron shoes scraping along the running rails to provide a current return path. Should a stone get trapped between shoe and rail (and they often did) it would cause an ear penetrating screech thus creating more annoyance.

Tram in Boston Rd, Uxbridge Rd is behind

Even so, a route from Hanwell to Brentford was introduced on the 26th May 1906. ^[23]

Until 1924 there was also a bus depot in Hanwell High Street (on a site now occupied by Lidel's), then a new site was opened on opposite side of the Uxbridge Road from St Bernard's Hospital. The Routemasters were built a few hundred yards away at the AEC factory in Windmill Lane and much of the fuel injection equipment and electrical systems were manufactured by CAV Ltd who had a factory further alone the Uxbridge Road at Acton Vale.^{[24] [25]} The large Routemaster tyres were moulded and cured, just to the south along the Great West Road in Brentford by the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, which had built and opened a factory there in 1928. ^[26]

Trolley buses were introduced in 1936 and run until the early 1960s from this depot. ^[27]

Plans to reintroduce trams again in the form of the West London Tram scheme have been suggested, but were abandoned by Transport for London in 2007 in the face of local opposition.

Buses

• Transport for London: Bus services to and from Hanwell. Accessed 2007-06-05

Nearest tube station

• Boston Manor tube station

Nearest railway stations

• Hanwell railway station, built circa 1875-77, has been declared a Grade II listed building by English Heritage, but the buildings are now in "a dilapidated condition".^[28]
• The Crossrail train scheme is planned to include a stop at Hanwell railway station.
• Castle Bar Park and Drayton Green railway stations also serve the town.

Nearest places

• Southall
• Osterley
• Perivale
• Brentford
• Greenford
• West Ealing
• Norwood Green

References

External links

• Hanwell: Introduction, A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 220-24. Date accessed: 24 June 2006.
• Hanwell History
• Central London District Schools
• Ealing Borough Council (2007). Hanwell Clock Tower Area Conservation Character Appraisal. Accessed 2007-06-26
• Hanwell.org.uk Website aims to provide useful information to the local residents. Accessed 2007-09-21
• Hanwell Steering Group
• Lawns Residents Association, Hanwell Residents association representing the Lawns area of Hanwell. Accessed 2007-09-21
• Hanwell Midtown Residents Action Group. Accessed 2007-09-21

Local Cemeteries

• Hanwell Cemetery

Local sport clubs:

• Hanwell Town Football Club

v • d • e London Borough of Ealing Districts Acton · Ealing · East Acton · Greenford · Hanwell · North Acton · Northolt · Norwood Green · Perivale · Southall Attractions Pitzhanger Manor Gallery and House · Walpole Park  · Gunnersbury Park Museum · London Transport Museum Depot Constituencies Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush · Ealing North · Ealing Southall Parks and open spaces in Ealing