Gunnersbury

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Gunnersbury
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Gunnersbury
Location within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ195785
London borough
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district W3, W4, W5
Post townBRENTFORD
Postcode district TW8
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°29′34″N0°16′40″W / 51.4927°N 0.2777°W / 51.4927; -0.2777 Coordinates: 51°29′34″N0°16′40″W / 51.4927°N 0.2777°W / 51.4927; -0.2777

Gunnersbury is an area of West London, England.

Toponymy

The name "Gunnersbury" means "Manor house of a woman called Gunnhildr", and is from an old Scandinavian personal name + Middle English -bury, manor or manor house. [1]

Contents

Development

Gunnersbury consists mainly of pre-war housing of a variety of types, including flats, terrace, semi detached, and detached houses, some of which are ex-local authority built.

The defining symbol of Gunnersbury is the 18-storey high BSI (British Standards Institution) building on Chiswick High Road. Between 1966 and 1992 the block housed a divisional headquarters of IBM UK. Below this building Gunnersbury station serves the Richmond branch of the District line and the London Overground to Stratford.

On the north side of the High Road is The Gunnersbury, formerly the John Bull pub, built in 1853, with a billiards saloon built a little later. It became a music venue, visited by bands including The Who. [2]

In August 1921, London General Omnibus Company established a bus overhaul facility off Chiswick High Road. [3] It incorporated a Training School with a bus skidpan. [4] In 1989, London Transport closed the works. [5] [6] In 2001 the site was redeveloped as the Chiswick Business Park with 12 medium density office buildings. [7] [8] It houses companies including SBS Broadcasting Networks, CBS News, Technicolor, Discovery Channel Europe, Intelsat, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Foxtons, and a Virgin Active health club.

Immediately to the east is Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve. An area of woodland, it supports many species of birds, plants, and animals. It has free admission and its entrance is on the south of Bollo Lane, a few yards from Chiswick Park Tube Station. [9] [10]

Just to the north of Gunnersbury Triangle, Chiswick Park Footbridge connects Gunnersbury's Chiswick Business Park with Chiswick Park tube station. It was designed by Expedition Engineering and Useful Studios. [11] [12]

Gunnersbury lends its name to a nearby secondary school, formerly a Grammar School, in Brentford. Gunnersbury Catholic School is a boys-only Catholic comprehensive with co-educational sixth form. It used to be located on Gunnersbury Avenue and it backed on to Gunnersbury Park. Since 1984, it has been located in The Ride, Brentford.

In 1886, Gunnersbury was given its own parish church, dedicated to Saint James. The church stood on Chiswick High Road, near Chiswick Roundabout. The church was decommissioned just over a century later, in 1987, and demolished soon afterwards. The parish was united with that of St Paul's, Brentford. [13]

Transport

Nearest tube stations

Nearest railway station

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Turnham Green is a London Underground station in Chiswick of the London Borough of Hounslow, west London. The station is served by the District and Piccadilly lines although currently Piccadilly line trains normally stop at the station only at the beginning and end of the day, running through non-stop at other times. To the east, District line trains stop at Stamford Brook and Piccadilly line trains stop at Hammersmith. To the west, District line trains run to either Chiswick Park or Gunnersbury and Piccadilly line trains stop at Acton Town. The station is in both Travelcard Zone 2 and Zone 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunnersbury station</span> London Underground and London Overground station

Gunnersbury is a London Overground and London Underground station in Gunnersbury in London, England on the North London line. The station opened on 1 January 1869 and is served by District line trains to and from Richmond, and by Arriva Rail London on the London Overground network. On the District line the station is between Turnham Green and Kew Gardens, and on the North London line it is between South Acton and Kew Gardens.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunnersbury Park</span> Human settlement in England

Gunnersbury Park is a park in the London Borough of Hounslow between Acton, Brentford, Chiswick and Ealing, West London, England. Purchased for the nation from the Rothschild family, it was opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, then Minister of Health, on 21 May 1926. The park is currently jointly managed by Hounslow and Ealing borough councils. A major restoration project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund was completed in 2018. The park and garden is Grade II listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turnham Green</span> Human settlement in England

Turnham Green is a public park on Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, and the neighbourhood and conservation area around it; historically, it was one of the four medieval villages in the Chiswick area, the others being Old Chiswick, Little Sutton, and Strand-on-the-Green. Christ Church, a neo-Gothic building designed by George Gilbert Scott and built in 1843, stands on the eastern half of the green. A war memorial stands on the eastern corner. On the south side is the old Chiswick Town Hall.

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Chiswick Business Park is a business park in Gunnersbury, West London, fronting on to Chiswick High Road.

Acton Green is a residential neighbourhood in Chiswick and the London Borough of Ealing, in West London, England. It is named for the nearby Acton Green common. It was once home to many small laundries and was accordingly known as "Soapsuds Island".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunnersbury Triangle</span> Nature reserve in Ealing and Hounslow, UK

Gunnersbury Triangle is a 2.57-hectare (6.4-acre) local nature reserve in Chiswick, in the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow, immediately to the east of Gunnersbury. It was created in 1983 when, for the first time in Britain, a public inquiry ruled that a planned development of the land could not go ahead because of its value for nature. It opened as a nature reserve in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiswick Park Footbridge</span> Bridge in Chiswick, England

Chiswick Park Footbridge is a pedestrian bridge north of Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve in Chiswick, London that connects Chiswick Business Park with Chiswick Park tube station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiswick High Road</span> Street in the London Borough of Hounslow

Chiswick High Road is the principal shopping and dining street of Chiswick, a district in the west of London. It was part of the main Roman road running west out of London, and remained the main road until the 1950s when the A4 was built across Chiswick. By the 19th century the road through the village of Turnham Green had grand houses beside it. The road developed into a shopping centre when Chiswick became built up with new streets and housing to the north of Old Chiswick, late in the 19th century. There are several listed buildings including public houses, churches, and a former power station, built to supply electricity to the tram network.

References

  1. Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names, A.D.Mills. 2003. ISBN   978-0-19-852758-9. ISBN   0-19-852758-6.
  2. Clegg, Gillian. "Pubs". Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  3. Inspecting General Overhaul Works Commercial Motor 1 September 1925
  4. Chiswick London Bus Rally 1983 YouTube clip
  5. BEL grows in London Commercial Motor 20 July 1989
  6. Taylor, James (2009). The London Bus. Botley: Shire Publications. p. 26. ISBN   978-074780-728-5.
  7. Chiswick Business Park Invest Hounslow
  8. Route 27 Comes to Chiswick Business Park Chiswick Herald
  9. "Gunnersbury Triangle". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  10. "Map of Gunnersbury Triangle". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  11. "New bridge legs bring Crossrail access nearer for Chiswick Park". The Chiswick Herald. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  12. "Chiswick Park Footbridge". Expedition. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  13. "Saint James, Gunnersbury: Chiswick High Road, Hounslow". aim25.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2015.

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