Yiewsley | |
---|---|
Grand Union Canal in Yiewsley |
|
Yiewsley shown within Greater London | |
Population | 12,979 (2011 Census. Ward) |
OS grid reference | TQ0608880405 |
London borough | |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WEST DRAYTON |
Postcode district | UB7 |
Dialling code | 01895 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
EU Parliament | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Yiewsley (/ˈjuːzli/) is a place in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Its name derives from the Anglo-Saxon Wifeleslēah: "Wifel's woodland clearing". Yiewsley was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Hillingdon, Middlesex. The population was recorded as 11,767 in 2008, by the Office for National Statistics.
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.
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).