Uxbridge, London

Uxbridge is a place in the London Borough of Hillingdon in London, England.

It is part of the historic county of Middlesex. To this day the Post Office regards it as still being there, due to the postal counties following different boundaries.

There were negotiations between Charles I and the Parliamentary side in Uxbridge, 30 January-22 February 1645, commemorated in the name of a local building, the Treaty House.

The Grand Junction Canal pases through Uxbridge.

There were two rail stations - Uxbridge Vine Street (originally just Uxbridge Station), and Uxbridge High Street.

It contains the European headquarters of Xerox and the Anadarko Algeria oil company. Adjoining the town is RAF Northolt airfield, where many US Air force personnel are based. It was from here that the Battle of Britain was fought. The site is only rarely open to the public. Other employers include Unisys and Coca-Cola.

Uxbridge derives its name from "Wuxen Bridge" which must have been near the bottom of Oxford Road, where the "Swan and Bottle" now stands. The Wuxen were a seventh-century Saxon tribe. The Grand Union canal connects London with Birmingham. The first stretch was built in the late eighteenth century from Brentford to Uxbridge. Further upsteam, is Uxbridge lock, and nearby is a flour mill belonging to Allied Mills. This was bought in the nineteenth century by a Mister King, who called it "Kingsmill". This brand name is one of the best-selling bread-makers in the UK, though most of the milling is now done on Tyneside.

When the new shopping mall "The chimes" was being built, archaeologists found bronze age remains (before 700 BC) and medieval remains. At Denham, 2 miles away upper Paleolithic remains have been found. Uxbridge is not mentioned in the Domesday book in the 11th century, but 100 later the existing church, St Margaret's was built. The covered market was built in 1788 , but the previous building was about twice as big, creating big problems for traffic. The existing pub, "The Queens Head" has a sign depicting Anne Boleyn, wife of Henry VIII. The pub was previously called "The Axe" and possibly dates from the 1540's. A tunnel connects the pub to the church.

At the bottom of Windsor Street there is a cemetery with an archway. It was here on Lynch Green that 3 heretics were burn to death in 1555. Foxe's "Book of Martyrs" gives the names as John Denley, Robert Smith and Patrick Packingham, but other sources call the last one Patrick Rockingham. He was found guilty of denying the trinity.

Under Elizabeth I, Catholics were subject to severe constraints. Edmund Campion was a Catholic priest, trained in Douai in the Netherlands, to give covert support to Catholics. He travelled around England on horseback, giving sermons in secret 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. He was hung drawn and quartered in London. The 40 or so Catholics who died in this period are called the "Douai martyrs" which is also the name of the local Catholic secondary school, in Ickenham. In 1604 the Gunpower Plot was uncovered. The flamboyant six-foot leader, Robert Catesby (son of William) escaped and hid in his house in Uxbridge. He was later shot.

For about 200 years most of London's flour was produced in the Uxbridge area. There were also breweries, but the last one was closed down in the 1930's. Near here Ellen Terry the Shakespearean actress spent here final years, as a pub landlady.

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

Nearest places:

• Cowley
• Denham, Buckinghamshire
• Hayes
• Ickenham
• Ruislip
• West Drayton
• Yiewsley

Nearest tube station:

• Uxbridge tube station