EALING

'Ealing' is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is a suburban development situated 7.7 miles (12.4 km) west of Charing Cross. It is one of ten major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan and is often referred to as the "Queen of the Suburbs".^[1]

History

Archaeological evidence shows that parts of Ealing have been occupied for at least 7,000 years. Iron Age pots have been discovered in the vicinity on Horsenden Hill. The name Ealing comes from the Saxon place-name ''Gillingas''. A settlement is recorded here in the twelfth century amid a great forest that carpeted the area to the west of London.
The earliest surviving English census is that for Ealing in 1599. This list was a tally of all 85 households in Ealing village giving the names of the inhabitants, together with their ages, relationships and occupations. It survives in manuscript form in the Public Record Office (PRO E 163/24/35), and has been transcribed and printed by K J Allison.

Ealing Town Hall

Settlements were scattered throughout the parish. Many of them were along what is now called St. Mary's Road, near to the church in the centre of the parish. There were also houses at Little Ealing, Ealing Dean, Haven Green, Drayton Green and Castlebar Hill.
The Church of St. Mary's, the parish church, dates back to the early twelfth century. The parish of Ealing was divided into manors, such as those of Gunnersbury and Pitshanger. These were farmed; the crops being mostly rye, but also wheat and maslin. There were also animals such as cows, sheep and chickens. Standing near Charlbury Grove, Ealing Abbey was founded by a community of Benedictine monks in 1897. Twinned with the convent of St. Augustine's Priory, the giant abbey is a unique example of a traditional, working monastery.
The first known maps of Ealing were made in the 18th century. Mount Castle Tower, an Elizabethan structure which stood at the top of Hanger Hill, was used as a tea-stop in the nineteenth century. It was demolished to make way for Fox's Reservoir in 1881. This reservoir, with a capacity of 3 million gallons, was erected north of Hill Crest Road, Hanger Hill, in 1888 and a neighbouring reservoir for 50 million gallons was constructed c. 1889.
Ealing was mostly made up of open countryside and fields where, as in previous centuries, the main occupation was farming. However, there was an important road running from west to east through the centre of the parish. This road, later to be known as the Uxbridge Road, ran eastwards to London and westwards to Oxford. A large number of inns were situated along this route, where horses could be changed and travellers refresh themselves, prompting its favour by highwaymen. Stops in Ealing included The Feathers, The Bell, The Green Man and The Old Hats.

Perceval House

As London developed, the area became predominantly market gardens. In the 1850s, with improved travel (the Great Western Railway and two branches of the Grand Union Canal), villages began to grow into towns and merged into unbroken residential areas. At this time Ealing began to be called the "Queen of the Suburbs".
The most important changes to Ealing occurred in the 19th century. The building of the Great Western Railway in the 1830s, part of which passed through the centre of Ealing, led to the opening of a railway station on the Broadway in 1879. In the next few decades, much of Ealing was rebuilt, predominantly semi-detached housing designed for the rising middle class. Better transport links, including horse buses as well as trains, enabled people to more easily travel to work in London whilst living in what was still considered to be the countryside. Much of the countryside was rapidly disappearing, however parts of it were preserved as public parks, such as Lammas Park and Ealing Common. Walpole Park was named after Robert Walpole and belonged to Pitzhanger Manor.
It was during the Victorian period that Ealing became a town. This meant that roads had to be built, drainage provided, and schools & public buildings erected. The man responsible for much of all this was Charles Jones, Borough Surveyor from 1863–1913. He planted the horse chestnut trees on Ealing Common and designed the Town Hall, both the present one and the older structure which is now a bank (on the Mall). Ealing Broadway became a major shopping centre.
It was also in 1901 that Ealing Urban District was incorporated as a municipal borough, Walpole Park was opened and the first electric trams ran along the Uxbridge Road — a mode of transport due to be reintroduced some 110 years later in the form of the West London Tram scheme. As of 2006, there is great resistance to this and many residents display anti-tram posters up in their windows.
The building of the new shopping centre, which opened in 1984, drastically altered the centre of Ealing.
At midnight, Thursday, August 2, 2001 a 40 kg bomb hidden in a vehicle exploded near Ealing Broadway railway station, damaging numerous shops in the immediate vicinity. Seven people suffered mild injuries. The bomb was placed by "Irish dissidents" thought to be members of the Real IRA.

Etymology

The name Ealing was recorded c.700 as 'Gillingas', meaning 'place of the people associated with Gilla', from the personal name Gilla and the Old English suffix '-ingas', meaning 'people of'. ^[2] Over the centuries, the name has changed, and has been known as Yealing, Zelling and Eling, until Ealing became the standard spelling in the nineteenth century.

Cultural/race

Ealing has a large Polish community. This developed during World War II when Polish pilots fighting in the Battle of Britain flew from the nearby aerodrome, RAF Northolt, where there is a landmark Polish War Memorial. The Polish community has grown considerably since Poland joined the EU and its migrant workers have been able to come freely.
In Ealing there is a famous Hindu Temple for ''Amman''(Goddess) called Sri Kanaga Thurkai Amman Temple.

Ealing Studios

Main articles: Ealing Studios

Ealing is best known for its film studios which are the oldest in the world and known especially for the Ealing comedies including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'', ''Passport to Pimlico'', ''The Ladykillers'' and ''The Lavender Hill Mob''. The studios were taken over by the BBC in 1955 so Ealing locations appeared in television programmes ranging from ''Doctor Who'' to ''Monty Python’s Flying Circus''. Most recently, these studios have been used for movies again, including ''Notting Hill'', '' The Importance of Being Earnest'' and ''.

Famous people and achievements

★ Arthur Haynes (1914-1966) the comedian, lived in Gunnersbury Avenue (at 74). [1]

★ Champion athlete Lillian Board MBE (1948–70), a double European gold medallist and an Olympic silver medalist, lived in Ealing from 1956 to 1970. Known as the Golden Girl of British athletics, she died of cancer in 1970. Two streets in the borough of Ealing are named in her honour: Lillian Board Way, in Greenford, and Lillian Avenue (near Acton Town London Underground station).

★ The political couple, former European commissioner and leader of the Labour Party, Neil Kinnock and his wife, Glenys Kinnock, who is a member of the European Parliament, have their London home in Ealing.

★ Acclaimed British soul singer Dusty Springfield (1939–99) grew up in Ealing as did Konnie Huq of Blue Peter, TV presenter Angellica Bell and footballer Peter Crouch.

★ The Who guitarist Pete Townshend grew up in Ealing.

★ Frank Richards (1876-1961) who is most remembered for writing Billy Bunter, lived in a house that one stood in what is now part of Ealing Shopping Centre. The site is marked with a blue plaque.[2]

★ Henry Fielding (1707-54) the novelist, had from 1752 a country house at Fordhook. He wrote some of Tom Jones there. ^[3]

★ Jay Kay of pop band Jamiroquai is also a former resident and acid jazz group Brand New Heavies were formed in Ealing.

★ Lady Noel Byron (Lord Byron's widow) has a 'Blue Plaque' dedicated to her, above the main entrance of Thames Valley University in South Ealing Road. She founded Ealing Grove school in 1834, the first of indusrial school of its type.[3][4] Living with her, was her daughter Ada Lovelace who was England's first computer programer and has the programing Language 'ada' named after her.

★ Nevil Shute (1899–1960) the novelist, remembered for such books as ''A Town Like Alice'' and ''On the Beach'', was a past resident (16 Somerset Rd).^[4]

★ Ealing is the cradle of blues-based rock music, notably The Rolling Stones whose roots can be traced back to the Ealing Jazz Club in 1962.

★ Matt Monro: English ballad singer of the 1960s. He sold more than 100 million records.

★ England cricketer Andrew Strauss currently lives in Ealing.

★ Sid James (1913-1976) the actor and comedian, lived in Gunnersbury Avenue (at 35).[5]

★ Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister from 1809 until 1812 lived at Elm Grove, a large house at the south-west corner of Ealing Common. Perceval was shot dead in the lobby of the house of commons in May 1812 by John Bellingham. Bellingham was tried, found guilty and hanged just seven days later.

★ Alan Blumlein, Electronics engineer, who made contributions to high definition TV, Radar, Sound Reproduction - including stereo sound - and telephony, lived in Ealing between 1933 and 1942. He was killed in 1942 in a 'plane crash testing the H2S radar.

★ Thomas Huxley, Biologist, "Darwin's Bulldog", was born in Ealing in 1825.

Ealing in fiction

★ Ealing was the setting for children's comedy show Rentaghost.

★ In James Hilton's novel ''Goodbye, Mr Chips'' (1934), Katherine, the lovely young wife of the shy schoolmaster protagonist Mr Chipping, is said to have been living with an aunt in Ealing following the death of her parents.

★ Ealing and the surrounding area is mentioned in Aldous Huxley's ''Brave New World'' (1932). Lenina observes a Delta gymnastic display in the Ealing stadium as she flies overhead in a helicopter with Henry Foster.

★ The John Sanders department store (now a branch of Marks & Spencer) was the location for the scenes of the Autons breaking through the shop window and beginning their killing rampage in the 1970 ''Doctor Who'' story ''Spearhead From Space''.

References

1. http://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/ealingguide/
2. Room, Adrian: “Dictionary of Place-Names in the British Isles”, Bloomsbury, 1988
3. 'Ealing and Brentford: Growth of Ealing', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 105-13. Date accessed: 15 June 2007.
4. Nevil Shute Norway Foundation. Biography. Retrieved 2006-11-16

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Ealing in fiction

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