Hounslow
| Hounslow | |
|---|---|
 Osterley House |
|
 High Street |
|
 Hounslow
|
|
| Hounslow shown within Greater London | |
| Area | 7.94 km2 (3.07 sq mi) |
| Population | 66,292 (Hounslow Heath, Hounslow Central, Hounslow South, Hounslow West and Cranford wards 2011) |
| • Density | 8,349/km2 (21,620/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | TQ1475 |
| • Charing Cross | 10.6 mi (17.1 km) ENE |
| Civil parish |
|
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HOUNSLOW |
| Postcode district | TW3, TW4 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Hounslow (/ˈhaʊnzloʊ/) is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow in Greater London and is part of the historic county of Middlesex. It is a suburban district 10.6 miles (17 km) west south-west of Charing Cross. It forms a larger post town in the TW postcode area and is an economic hub within the capital; it has a large shopping centre which adjoins its high street and a large number of restaurants, cafés and small businesses, many of which are associated with product assembly, marketing, telecommunications and London Heathrow Airport. A minority of its workers are employed in Central London, to which the town is connected by rail and tube. Hounslow is part of the TW3 postcode area, though some areas to the west are in TW4 instead. The population of the town, comprising the Hounslow Central, Hounslow Heath and Hounslow South wards, was 41,304 in the 2011 census.
The name Hounslow is spelt in old records as 'Hundeslow' and similar, pointing to Anglo-Saxon Hundes hlāw, meaning "the dog's mound" or "the mound of a man named or nicknamed Hound".
Positioned on the Bath Road (where it forks to the Staines Road at the Bell Inn), Hounslow was centred around Holy Trinity Priory founded in 1211. The priory developed what had been a small village into a town with regular markets and other facilities for travellers heading to and from London. Although the priory was dissolved in 1539 the town remained an important staging post on the Bath Road. The adjacent Hounslow Heath that had been used as a military encampment by both Oliver Cromwell and James II developed a reputation as the haunt of highwaymen and footpads. Nearby important landowners included those of Osterley House, Syon House, Hanworth Park House and Worton Hall.
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Wikipedia