Editing Slough (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Slough|Cippenham Moat}}{{Multiple image
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|image1=6664 at Slough, October 1955.jpg
|caption1=Former [[Great Western Railway|GWR]] locomotive [[GWR 5600 Class|6664]] photographed near the engine shed at Slough, October 1955
|image2=Slough bus station berkshire.jpg
|caption2=The Brunel bus station and car park, opened in 1975<ref>p11, ''The Changing Face of Slough'', Slough Museum, Breedon Books, Derby, 2003</ref> has now been demolished as work has started on the Heart of Slough project.<ref name="sloughobserver.co.uk"/>
|image3=Slough Library.jpg
|caption3=Robert Taylor Library
|image4=1978 Suters album scan0007.jpg
|caption4 = Suters Limited in Slough High Street, 1978
}}

The name was first recorded in 1195 as ''Slo''. It first seems to have applied to a hamlet between [[Upton, Slough|Upton]] to the east and [[Chalvey]] to the west, roughly around the "Crown Crossroads" where the road to Windsor (now the A332) met the Great West Road.<ref>Fraser (1973), p. 4.</ref> The [[Domesday Book|Domesday]] Survey of 1086 refers to Upton, and a wood for 200 pigs, worth £15. During the 13th century, King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] had a palace at Cippenham. Parts of Upton Court were built in 1325, while St Mary the Virgin Church<ref name="stmarythevirgin">{{cite web | url = http://www.findachurch.co.uk/search/church_view.php?church_id=43878 | title = St Mary the Virgin Church | publisher = findachurch.co.uk | access-date = 29 July 2010 | archive-date = 24 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170924225619/http://www.findachurch.co.uk/search/church_view.php?church_id=43878 | url-status = dead }}</ref> in [[Langley, Berkshire|Langley]] was probably built in the late 11th or early 12th century, though it has been rebuilt and enlarged several times.

From the mid-17th century, [[stagecoach]]es began to pass through Slough and [[Salt Hill]] (later absorbed into Slough), which became locations for the second stage to change horses on the journey out from London. By 1838 and the opening of the [[Great Western Railway]], Upton-cum-Chalvey's parish [[Population of Slough|population]] had reached 1,502. In 1849, a [[Slough to Windsor & Eton Line|branch line]] was completed from [[Slough railway station|Slough]] to [[Windsor & Eton Central railway station|Windsor & Eton Central]], opposite [[Windsor Castle]], for [[Queen Victoria]]'s convenience.

Slough has 96 [[listed building]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slough.gov.uk/documents/app5.pdf |title=Listed buildings in Slough |date=March 2004 |access-date=27 November 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070616142034/http://www.slough.gov.uk/documents/app5.pdf |archive-date=16 June 2007 }}</ref> There are
* [[Grade I listed buildings in Berkshire#Slough|Four Grade I]]: [[St Laurence's Church, Slough|St Laurence's Church]] (Upton), [[St Mary the Virgin Church, Langley]],<ref name="stmarythevirgin"/> [[Baylis House]] and Godolphin Court
* [[Grade II* listed buildings in Berkshire#Slough|Seven Grade II*]]: [[St Mary's Parish Church, Slough|St Mary's Church]] (Upton-cum-Chalvey), Upton Court, the Kederminster and Seymour Almshouses in Langley, St Peter's Church (Chalvey), Ostrich Inn (Colnbrook) and King John's Palace (Colnbrook)
* Grade II listed structures include four milestones, Beech, Oak and Linden Houses at Upton Hospital, [[St Ethelbert's Church, Slough]] and Slough railway station.

1918 saw a large area of agricultural land to the west of Slough developed as an army motor repair depot, used to store and repair huge numbers of motor vehicles coming back from the battlefields of the [[First World War]] in [[Flanders]]. In April 1920, the Government sold the site and its contents to the Slough Trading Co. Ltd. Repair of ex-army vehicles continued until 1925, when the Slough Trading Company Act was passed allowing the company (renamed [[Segro|Slough Estates Ltd]]) to establish an [[Industrial park|industrial estate]].<ref>Fraser (1973), p. 109.</ref> Spectacular growth and employment ensued, with Slough attracting workers from many parts of the UK and abroad. [[Slough Town Hall]], which was designed by [[Charles Holloway James]] and [[Stephen Rowland Pierce]], was completed in 1937.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c20society.org.uk/casework/press/release/slough-town-hall-listing-refused.html|title=Slough Town Hall|publisher=20th Century Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225053917/http://www.c20society.org.uk/casework/press/release/slough-town-hall-listing-refused.html|access-date=8 February 2021|archive-date=25 February 2012}}</ref>

During the [[Second World War]], Slough experienced a series of [[The Blitz|air raids]], mostly in October 1940 (the largest number of people, five, dying as a result of a raid on the 13th), and an emergency hospital treating casualties from London was set up in Slough. Local air raid deaths and deaths at the hospital account for the 23 civilian lives recorded lost in the borough area.<ref name="cwgc">[http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/4003871/SLOUGH,%20MUNICIPAL%20BOROUGH] CWGC Cemetery Report. Accessed 18 September 2012. Information in this paragraph based on attached casualty reports.</ref>

After the war, several further large housing developments arose to take large numbers of people migrating from war-damaged London.  Between 1955 and 1957 the town was the site of the [[Slough experiment]], a large-scale road safety trial.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/op1265793-1001|title=Road safety : the Slough experiment|last=Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation|date=1957|publisher=HMSO|others=University of Southampton}}</ref>

The old Slough library was opened on 28 November 1974. It was officially called the Robert Taylor Library, named after Alderman Taylor in recognition of his contribution to the library service. The library was officially opened by the Mayor, Councillor DR Peters, on 15 May 1975. It was demolished in May 2017 as part of the programme of redevelopment in the town centre.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sloughhistoryonline.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=slough&f=generic_theme.htm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&=theme_record_id=sl-sl-libraries&s=LqvK4sMftRa|title=Search Results - No Matches|website=www.sloughhistoryonline.org.uk}}</ref>

===Redevelopment===
{{Main|History of Slough|Cippenham Moat}}
{{Multiple image
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|image1=Queensmere Shopping Centre, Slough.jpg
|caption1=The redevelopment of the shopping centre in Slough as part of the [[Heart of Slough]] redevelopment programme
|image2=Side view of Slough bus station (geograph 3459140).jpg
|caption2=The newly built Slough bus station in April 2013
|image3=Slough Curve Library.jpg
|caption3='The Curve', Slough's distinctively shaped Library and Cultural Centre, opened in 2016. It was named 'Best public service building' at the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) excellence awards held in March 2017. It was built by Slough Urban Renewal, a partnership between the council and Morgan Sindall.}}
[[File:Old Town Hall, 19 Bath Road, Slough.jpg|thumb|[[Slough Town Hall|Old Town Hall]]: Council's headquarters 1937–2011, now a school.]]
In the 21st century, Slough has seen major redevelopment of the town centre. Old buildings are being replaced with new offices and shopping complexes. [[Tesco]] has replaced an existing superstore with a larger [[Tesco Extra]]. The [[Heart of Slough]] Project is plan for the large-scale redevelopment of the town centre as a focus and cultural quarter for the creative media, information and communications industries created a mixed-use complex, multi-functional buildings, visual landmarks and a public space in the [[Thames Valley]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/6201145.stm |work=BBC News Online |title=Backing for town's £400m makeover|date=21 December 2006 |access-date=23 May 2010}}</ref> Approval was given for the £400 million project by Slough Borough Council's planning committee on 9 July 2009,<ref>[http://www.slough.gov.uk/news/articles/19344.aspx Heart of Slough planning approval]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718215029/http://www.slough.gov.uk/news/articles/19344.aspx |date=18 July 2009 }}</ref> and work began in 2010 for completion in 2018.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2008/01/21/heart_of_slough_feature.shtml BBC – Berkshire – Features – Heart of Slough].</ref>

In December 2009, two key components of the project were signed: the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) signed its agreement to provide £11m of funding for infrastructure and Thames Valley University (TVU) courses which were due to remain in the town found a new home at the Centre in Farnham Road, Slough.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/article-14142-progress-for-heart-of-slough-project/ |title=Progress for Heart of Slough project |newspaper=Maidenhead Advertiser |date=17 December 2009 |first=Nick |last=Mayo |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724205823/http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/article-14142-progress-for-heart-of-slough-project/ |archive-date=24 July 2015 }}</ref> In parallel to the town centre redevelopment plan, [[Segro]] (owner of the Slough Trading Estate) planned to spend £600 million over the following 20 years on the estate. This was intended to create environmentally sustainable buildings, open green spaces, two hotels, a conference centre, cafés, restaurants and better transport facilities to improve links to Slough town centre and the surrounding residential areas. It was claimed that the plan would create more than 4,100 new jobs and contribute around £100m a year to Slough's economy.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?storycode=3143131 | work = Property Week | title = Segro unveils images of Slough Trading Estate | first = Aditi | last = Shah | date = 18 June 2009 }}</ref> If both plans went ahead, nearly £1 billion would be spent on redeveloping Slough over the next 20 years.

In 2009, [[Herschel Park]] (known as Upton Park until 1949), named for [[astronomer]] [[William Herschel]], was relandscaped in a multimillion-pound effort to bring it back to its former [[Victorian era]] glory.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/02/11/herschel_park_slough_feature.shtml Herschel Park multi-million Pound refurbishment].</ref> The park was featured in an episode of the documentary programme ''[[Who Do You Think You Are? (British TV series)|Who Do You Think You Are?]]'' focusing on the TV presenter [[Davina McCall]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/331.htm?WT.hp=nf-37600 |title=Who Do You Think You Are? – Davina McCall |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |access-date=16 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726015103/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/331.htm?WT.hp=nf-37600 |archive-date=26 July 2009 }}</ref>

In 2010, £2 million was set aside to improve disabled access to Slough railway station in preparation for an expected increase in use during the 2012 London Olympics.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2010/03/17/45434-olympic-upgrade-for-slough-station-/ | title = Olympic upgrade for Slough station | newspaper = Slough & Langley Observer | date = 17 March 2010 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150226175924/https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2010/03/17/45434-olympic-upgrade-for-slough-station-/ | archive-date = 26 February 2015}}</ref> Preparations were under way for the regeneration of the Britwell suburb of Slough, involving tearing down a dilapidated block of flats and the closing of the public house the Jolly Londoner in Wentworth Avenue and replacing them with new homes, as well as relocating the shopping parade in the street to nearby Kennedy Park.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2010/03/22/45537-britwell-regeneration-scheme-one-step-closer-to-reality-/ | newspaper = Slough & Langley Observer | title = Britwell regeneration scheme one step closer to reality | first = Mike | last = Greenshields | date = 22 March 2010 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150226190156/https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2010/03/22/45537-britwell-regeneration-scheme-one-step-closer-to-reality-/ | archive-date = 26 February 2015}}</ref>

As part of the Heart of Slough project, construction work on [[Slough bus station|a new bus station]] began in March 2010, following weeks of demolition work to half of the existing bus station and the removal of Compair House near the railway station.<ref name="sloughobserver.co.uk">{{cite news | url = http://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2010/03/24/45552-heart-of-slough-beats-faster/ | title = Heart of Slough beats faster | newspaper = Slough & Langley Observer | date = 24 March 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/article-15508-video-heart-of-slough-project-begins-450m-work/ |title=Video: Heart of Slough project begins £450m work |first=Claire |last=Smith |newspaper=Maidenhead Advertiser |date=24 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724203905/http://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/article-15508-video-heart-of-slough-project-begins-450m-work/ |archive-date=24 July 2015 }}</ref> It was opened in May 2011.

Redevelopment on this scale has been strongly criticised by conservation groups. [[The Twentieth Century Society]] has stated that
<blockquote>
[A] tragically high quantity of good buildings have been demolished in Slough in recent years, including grand Art-Deco-styled factories by the likes of Wallis Gilbert and high-quality post-war offices. More are to come down as the town tries to erase its past and reinvent itself from scratch. Despite famously heckling Slough, [[John Betjeman]]'s praise for the town hall's architecture as 'a striving for unity out of chaos' in 1948 has never been so relevant as today. C20 believes that the redevelopment of the town hall would be an act of vandalism to the civic centre and is supporting the Campaign to Save Slough's Heritage in their request for a review of the decision.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.c20society.org.uk/casework/press/release/slough-town-hall-listing-refused.html |publisher=The Twentieth Century Society |title=Slough Town Hall Listing Refused&nbsp;— DCMS overturns English Heritage's advice again |date=16 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225053917/http://www.c20society.org.uk/casework/press/release/slough-town-hall-listing-refused.html |archive-date=25 February 2012 }}</ref>
</blockquote>

During November 2016, the Slough Queensmere and Observatory shopping centres were sold to [[Abu Dhabi Investment Authority]] (ADIA) in a deal worth £130 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/14914489.__130million_deal_sees_Slough_s_shopping_malls_bought_by_Abu_Dhabi_investment_company_subsidiary/|title=£130million deal sees Slough's shopping malls bought by Abu Dhabi investment company subsidiary|date=18 November 2016 }}</ref>

In February 2025, it was reported that the council was considering a number of options to merge with larger local authorities, including joining a London borough or becoming part of the [[Greater London Authority]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/24928140.slough-merge-london-borough-council-says/ | title=Slough could 'merge with London borough' under local government shakeup | date=12 February 2025 }}</ref>