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History of Hanwell by
Eric Leach
Modern day Hanwell shares a western and northern boundary with the River Brent and the Grand Union Canal. To the east is West Ealing and the southern extremity is Boston Manor Station. The first known evidence of human occupation in Hanwell is Paleaolithic flints being discovered in gravel pits opposite Elthorne Avenue in 1910. Bronze Age pottery was found in Seward’s Pit and Iron Age pottery was unearthed in land between Greenford Avenue and Copley Close. When the houses on Townholm Crescent were being built in the 1900s a relic of Glaciation was discovered. Called the Sarson Stone, it can be viewed at the main entrance of Elthorne Park. Remains of sixth century Saxon warriors have been found on the site of what is now Oaklands Primary School.
Stagecoaches, Barges, Trains, Trams, Trolleybuses and Buses In 1714 the Uxbridge Turnpike Trust was founded which managed the Oxford Road (at some point renamed the Uxbridge Road). A toll gate was set up in Hanwell and the ‘Coach and Horses’ Inn was built to service stage coach passengers travelling to and from London and Oxford. As part of the new canal to link Birmingham with the River Thames at Brentford, built between 1799 and 1801, the Hanwell flight of six locks was installed. They raised the Grand Union Canal by over 53 feet. Isambard Kingdom Brunel of the Great Western Railway (GWR) constructed the railway line from Paddington to Maidenhead which opened in May 1838. This included the spectacular Wharncliffe Viaduct which spans the Brent River valley in Hanwell
Domesday Book Entry The Manor of Hanwell or Hannewelle is first definitively mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was measured as covering some 120 acres. It’s thought that Hanwell’s oldest church is St Mary’s Church built in the 12th century. William Hobbayne owned land in Hanwell and upon his death in 1484 he donated a house and 24 acres of land for ’godly uses’ to a charity. His charity survives and still flourishes today. In 1547 Hanwell’s population has been estimated as numbering 265 people. For many centuries the Manor of Hanwell was combined with the Manor of Greenford. It was only in the 17th century that local government in Hanwell was controlled by the Hanwell Parish vestry. Wharncliffe Viaduct 6
Putting the People of Ealing First
– 65 ft high and 900 ft long. Lord Wharncliffe was the GWR Chairman. The ‘Coach and Horses’ Inn, close to the viaduct, was renamed ‘The Viaduct’. In December of that year Hanwell Railway Station was opened. In 1847 the viaduct was widened. The original viaduct accommodated two tracks of Brunel’s wide gauge railway. New regulation Stephenson narrower tracks were mandated in 1846 and the widening subsequently allowed four track running. Hanwell Station is largely unchanged except for a lift added in 2020. In 1901 the Hanwell Tram Shed opened in central Hanwell, with tramcars running between Shepherd’s Bush and Uxbridge. Trolleybuses took over the route in 1936 and were themselves replaced by buses in 1960. The tram shed/
