---

Uxbridge

Uxbridge, a Middlesex market town, lies at the end of the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines.

The origin of the name "Uxbridge" can be traced back to the "Wuxen Bridge," which was believed to be located near the current site of the "Swan and Bottle" pub on Oxford Road. The Wuxen tribe, a Saxon group from the seventh century, gave the area its name.

Today, the town centre is home to major retail outlets and office buildings, including the main European offices of several international companies. Brunel University is also located in Uxbridge, and it serves as the civic centre of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The civic centre is an award-winning building that was designed in the 1980s, during the postmodernist architectural trend. RAF Uxbridge is located nearby, and it was instrumental in controlling much of the Battle of Britain through its 11 Group command centre.

During the construction of the new shopping mall, The Chimes, archaeologists discovered Bronze Age remains dating back to before 700 BC and medieval remains. Paleolithic remains have also been found two miles away in Denham.

Although Uxbridge is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of the 11th century, St Margaret’s Church was built a hundred years later. The existing pub, "The Queens Head," depicts Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII, on its sign. The pub was previously called "The Axe" and possibly dates back to the 1540s. The pub is connected to the church by a tunnel. A cemetery with an archway is located at the bottom of Windsor Street, and it was the site where three heretics were burned to death in 1555 for denying the trinity. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs identifies the heretics as John Denley, Robert Smith, and Patrick Packingham, while other sources call the last one Patrick Rockingham.

During Elizabeth I’s reign, Roman Catholics were subject to severe constraints, and Catholic priest Edmund Campion was trained in Douai to give covert support to Catholics. He travelled around England on horseback, giving secret sermons and pretending to be a diamond merchant. In 1580, he came to Uxbridge and hid for a couple of weeks in a house owned by William Catesby. In 1581, Campion was caught, and he was hanged, drawn, and quartered in London. The 40 or so Catholics who died during this period are called the "Douai martyrs," and the name is also used for the local Catholic secondary school in Ickenham.

In 1605, the Gunpowder Plot was uncovered, and its flamboyant leader, Robert Catesby (son of William), escaped and hid in his house in Uxbridge. He was later shot. Negotiations between Charles I and the Parliamentary side took place in Uxbridge from January 30 to February 22, 1645, and are commemorated in the name of a local pub and restaurant, the Crown and Treaty. The pub is located on the A4020 Oxford Road, where it leaves the town, at the canal overbridge.

The covered market in Uxbridge was built in 1788, but the previous building was about twice as big, which created significant traffic problems.

The former Grand Junction Canal, which is now known as the Grand Union Canal, passes immediately to the west of Uxbridge and forms the borough boundary. The first stretch of the canal was built in the late eighteenth century from Brentford to Uxbridge. Uxbridge Lock is further upstream, and a nearby flour mill belonging to Allied Mills was purchased in the nineteenth century by a Mister King, who named it "Kingsmill." The brand name is still one of the best-selling bread-makers in the UK. For about 200 years most of London’s flour was produced in the Uxbridge area.

In the early 19th century, Uxbridge had quite an unsavoury reputation. The jurist William Arabin said of it residents "They will steal the very teeth out of your mouth as you walk through the streets. I know it from experience."

In the 1930s George Orwell was a teacher at Frays College, now Frays Adult Education Centre. His novel A Clergyman’s Daughter was based on his experiences there.

There were breweries in Uxbridge but the last one was closed down in the 1930s. Near here, Ellen Terry - the Shakespearean actress - spent her final years, as a pub landlady.

There were once three railway stations - Uxbridge Vine Street (originally just Uxbridge Station), Uxbridge High Street, and Uxbridge Belmont Road. All three have now closed. The line formerly to Belmont Road now terminates at the present station, Uxbridge, fronting the pedestrianised High Street, and is served by the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines from Rayners Lane.

Print-friendly version of this page

---

  Contact us · Copyright policy · Privacy policy