West Ealing is located approximately three-quarters of a mile west of Ealing Broadway. Although the area has a long history of settlement, modern West Ealing is less than a century old.

In 1234, a hamlet known as West Ealing was recorded, later renamed Ealing Dean. The West Ealing railway station was initially called the Castle Hill & Ealing Dean Station when it was built in 1871. Ealing Dean, possibly deriving from "denu" (valley), was first referenced in 1456 and appeared on a 1777 Ealing parish map. Much of the area, which is now West Ealing, was open countryside with a few houses in locations like Ealing Dean, Drayton Green, and Castle Bear Hill (now Castlebar Hill).

In the late 19th century, Drayton was a hamlet with eight householders. A major east-west road in the area was known as the Uxbridge Road, serving as a popular stagecoach route in the 19th century. It had stops like the Halfway House pub, where the London-to-Banbury-and-Oxford coach made a stop. The Green Man pub in West Ealing also served as a stop for carters.

Much of the land in West Ealing, from the Uxbridge Road south to Windmill Road, east to Northfield Avenue, and west to Boston Road, consisted of market gardens and orchards during the 19th century. Central West Ealing’s shops were more informal than those in central Ealing, with fruit and vegetable stalls being present in West Ealing. The area thrived in the mid-20th century with various businesses, including F. H. Rowse, W. J. Daniel and Company, Marks and Spencer, British Home Stores, Woolworth, Sainsbury’s, and WHSmith.

Later, additional businesses like Waitrose, McDonald’s, and Blockbuster Video arrived in the area. The West Ealing Library was initially located between Melbourne Avenue and St James’s Avenue in 1903.

The area had a large cinema at the Uxbridge Road end of Northfield Avenue, which went through various changes before eventually being demolished in 2005. The site was redeveloped as the Lido Centre, serving as Ealing’s volunteer centre and providing space for voluntary organisations as well as small utility flats for social housing.

Residential building growth in West Ealing can be attributed to the GWR railway station at Ealing Dean in 1871, the London United Tramways Company line from Ealing to Southall in 1901, the 1907 District Railway halt at Northfields, and other developments. Houses, estates, and flats have been constructed, replacing allotments and adding to the housing in the area. There has been a gradual decline in West Ealing’s shopping and cultural facilities, but in 2001, it saw the establishment of London’s only street market dedicated to farm produce.

The area has experienced an influx of immigrants from various countries, including Somalia and Poland, leading to the creation of multiple estates and housing projects to accommodate the growing population. One such estate, the Green Man Lane Estate, was built in the 1970s and underwent regeneration, with plans to replace properties for affordable rent, shared ownership and outright sale.