Editing Uxbridge (section)

==History==

=== Toponymy ===
The name of the town is derived from "Wixan's Bridge",<ref>{{cite web |url = http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Middlesex/Uxbridge |title = Uxbridge |work = Key to English Place Names |publisher=[[English Place Name Society]] |access-date=10 May 2012 }}</ref> which was sited near the bottom of Oxford Road where a modern road bridge stands, beside the ''Swan and Bottle'' public house.<ref>Pearce 2011, p. 7.</ref> The Wixan were a 7th-century [[Saxon people|Saxon]] tribe from [[Lincolnshire]] who also began to settle in what became [[Middlesex]].<ref name="Cotton p.8">Cotton 1994, p. 8.</ref> [[Anglo-Saxons]] began to settle and farm in the area of Uxbridge in the 5th century, clearing dense woodland.<ref name="Cotton p.8" /> Two other places in Middlesex bore the name of the Wixan: ''[[Uxenden Hall|Uxendon]]'' ("Wixan's Hill"), a name preserved only in the street names of Uxendon Hill and Crescent in Harrow, and ''Waxlow'' ("Wixan's Wood") near [[Southall]].<ref>{{cite book |first= P. H. |last = Reaney |year=1969 |title = The Origin of English Place Names |publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul |page=103 |isbn = 0-7100-2010-4 }}.</ref>

Archaeologists found [[Bronze Age]] remains (before 700 BC) and medieval remains during the construction of ''[[The Chimes, Uxbridge|The Chimes]]'' shopping centre; two miles (3.2&nbsp;km) away at [[Denham, Buckinghamshire|Denham]], Upper [[Paleolithic]] remains have been found. Uxbridge is not mentioned in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' of the 11th century, but a hundred years later [https://www.stmargaretsuxbridge.org St Margaret's Church], was built. The town appears in records from 1107 as "Woxbrigge", and became part of the [[Elthorne (hundred)|Elthorne Hundred]] with other settlements in the area.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 5.</ref>

===Early developments===
[[File:Crown and Treaty, Uxbridge, UB8 (7970434724).jpg|thumb|left|The Crown & Treaty public house]]

The Parliamentary Army garrisoned the town upon the outbreak of the [[English Civil War]] in 1642 and established their headquarters there in June 1647 on a line from [[Staines-upon-Thames|Staines]] to [[Watford]],<ref name="Cotton p.23">Cotton 1994, p. 23.</ref> although the king passed through Uxbridge in April 1646, resting at the [[Red Lion, Hillingdon|Red Lion]] public house for several hours.<ref>Cotton 1994, p. 25.</ref> Charles I met with representatives of Parliament at the Crown Inn in Uxbridge in 1645, but [[Treaty of Uxbridge|negotiations]] for the end of hostilities were unsuccessful due in part to the king's stubborn attitude.<ref name="Cotton p.23" /> The town had been chosen as it was located between the Royal headquarters at [[Oxford]] and the Parliamentary stronghold of London.<ref>Cotton 1994, p. 22.</ref>

The covered market was built in 1788, replacing a building constructed in 1561.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 53.</ref> In the early 19th century, Uxbridge had an unsavoury reputation; the jurist [[William St Julien Arabin|William Arabin]] said of its residents "They will steal the very teeth out of your mouth as you walk through the streets. I know it from experience." For about 200 years most of London's flour was produced in the Uxbridge area.<ref>Cotton 1994, p. 32.</ref>

The [[Grand Junction Canal]] opened in 1794, linking Uxbridge with [[Birmingham]] and the [[River Thames]] at [[Brentford]]. By 1800 Uxbridge had become one of the most important market towns in [[Middlesex]], helped by its status as the first stopping point for stagecoaches travelling from London to Oxford. The development of Uxbridge declined after the opening of the [[Great Western Railway]] in 1838, which passed through [[West Drayton]]. A branch line to Uxbridge was opened in 1856, but it was the opening of the Metropolitan Line in 1904 which restarted Uxbridge's growth by giving the town its first direct link to London.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sherwood |first1=Philip |title=Around Uxbridge Past and Present |date=2007 |publisher=The History Press |location=Stroud |isbn=9780750947947 |page=6}}</ref>

Harman's Brewery was established in Uxbridge by George Harman in 1763, and moved into a new headquarters in Uxbridge High Street in 1875. The eventual owners of the brewery, [[Courage Brewery|Courage]], closed the headquarters in 1964. It was demolished and replaced by a Budgen's supermarket, which in turn was demolished with the construction of The Chimes shopping centre. The brewery building in George Street remained in place until it was demolished in 1967.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 43.</ref> The office building Harman House was built on the site in 1985, named after the brewery.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 44.</ref>

===Urban development===
[[File:Uxbridge Common - geograph.org.uk - 1756609.jpg|thumb|Uxbridge Common was reduced in size by the 1819 [[inclosure]]s within Hillingdon Parish.]]
The main [[enclosure]]s effected in the parish of Hillingdon, by statute in 1819, saw the reduction of Uxbridge Common, which at its largest had been {{convert|4|mi}} in circumference. It originally straddled Park Road, north of the town centre, and covers {{convert|15|acre}}.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 71.</ref>

In 1871 the town's first purpose-built police station was built in Windsor Street. The building included three cells and stables.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/media/pdf/3/7/275_49__The_Fig_Tree__Windsor_Street.pdf |title=49, The Fig Tree (formerly The Old Bill) |publisher=London Borough of Hillingdon |year=2009 |page=1 |access-date=17 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120318025610/http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/media/pdf/3/7/275_49__The_Fig_Tree__Windsor_Street.pdf |archive-date=18 March 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The [[Metropolitan Police]] continued to use the building until 1988, when operations moved to a new site in Harefield Road. The building subsequently became the ''Old Bill'' public house in 1996, renamed the ''Fig Tree'' in 2006.<ref>Pearce 2011, p. 54.</ref>

In the early 1900s the Uxbridge and District Electricity Supply Company had been established a [[Uxbridge power station|power station]] in Waterloo Road, and much of the town was connected by 1902, although some houses still had gas lighting in 1912. A water tower on Uxbridge Common was built in 1906, resembling a church tower, to improve the supply to the town.<ref>Cotton 1994, p. 105.</ref>

Wood panelling from a room in the ''Crown & Treaty'' public house was sold in 1924 to an American businessman, who installed it in his office in the [[Empire State Building]] in New York. It was returned in 1953 as a gift to the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II and returned to the house, although the monarch retained ownership.<ref>Cotton 1994, p. 24.</ref>

On 31 August 1935 Uxbridge Lido, an outdoor swimming pool built in the "Moderne" or [[Art Deco]] style, was officially opened. Before the opening, many residents swam in a section of the [[Frays River]] near Harefield Road,<ref>Skinner 2008, p. 30.</ref> and the [[River Colne, Hertfordshire|Colne]].<ref>Cotton 1994, p. 121.</ref> The pool, pavilion building, entrance building and both fountains were designated [[Listed building|Grade II]] listed buildings in 1998. Despite the listing, the pool was closed to the public and the buildings became subject to heavy vandalism.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 72.</ref> The Uxbridge open-air pool was fully refurbished during 2009 and re-opened in May 2010. Added to the site, renamed Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex, was a 50 m indoor competition pool, a leisure pool, a 100-station gym, a wide range of exercise classes, an athletics stadium and track, 3G floodlit pitches, a sports hall, a café and a [[nursery school|crèche]]. The Grade II listed buildings are still standing.

During the Second World War Uxbridge adopted the [[Royal Navy]] [[destroyer]] {{HMS|Intrepid|D10|6}} in 1942, to help towards the ship's costs; ''Intrepid'' was lost to enemy action the following year.<ref>Cotton 1994, p. 129.</ref> The town and surrounding areas suffered bombing by the [[Luftwaffe]]. [[V-1 (flying bomb)|V1 flying bombs]] fell on the town between June 1944 and March 1945. The first recorded bombing using a V1 was on 22 June 1944 at 07:00, when the bomb passed over the top of a bus and hit four houses nearby. Seven people were killed and 25 injured, leaving 46 houses in the area uninhabitable.<ref>Skinner 2008, p. 107.</ref> In all the Uxbridge Urban District suffered 79 civilian deaths through enemy action in the war.<ref>{{cite web|title=Uxbridge, Urban District, with list of casualties|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/4004904/UXBRIDGE,%20URBAN%20DISTRICT|publisher=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] date accessed=21 February 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Brunel university01.jpg|thumb|left|Brunel University was built on land formerly occupied by the Lowe & Shawyer plant nursery.]]
In 1958 the {{convert|199|acre|adj=on}} Lowe & Shawyer [[plant nursery]] to the west of RAF Uxbridge entered voluntary liquidation. The nursery had stood in Kingston Lane since 1868, and was the largest producer of cut flowers in the country.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 39.</ref> Demolition work began in 1962, and the construction of [[Brunel University]] commenced.<ref>Pearce 2009, p. 95.</ref> [[Chrysanthemum]]s are included the coat of arms of the Borough of Uxbridge in memory of the nursery.<ref>Cotton 1994, p. 113.</ref> The [[Uxbridge (Vine Street) Branch Line|Uxbridge (Vine Street) railway branch line]], which partly ran alongside the site, was closed in 1964 and in 1966 the university opened,<ref name="Cotton 1994, p.138" /> purchasing the land where the railway had run from the local council for £65,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brunel.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/26547/Annual_Report_2005.pdf |title=Annual Report 2005 |year=2005 |publisher=Brunel University |page=15 |access-date=5 May 2011 |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920005340/https://www.brunel.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/26547/Annual_Report_2005.pdf |url-status=dead }}.</ref>

The Uxbridge Cricket Club moved from Cricketfield Road in 1971 to make way for the new Civic Centre.<ref>Cotton 1994, p. 64.</ref> The club had been at Cricketfield Road since 1858, but moved to a new site on part of Uxbridge Common on Park Road.<ref>Skinner 2008, p. 27.</ref> The Market Square shopping precinct in the town centre was built in the late 1970s, but its lack of shelter made it unpopular and it did not attract the expected levels of custom. Many buildings along the High Street and Windsor Street had been demolished to make way for the new precinct,<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 47.</ref> which was eventually sold to the [[Prudential Assurance Company]] and redeveloped with a roof in the early 1980s to become the [[The Mall Pavilions|Pavilions Shopping Centre]].<ref name="Cotton 1994, p.138">Cotton 1994, p. 138</ref> The ''Peacock'' public house (later renamed The Chequers) in one of the two main squares was built partially underground having two flights of steps down into the pub at either end. It was demolished and replaced with a café named also named The Chequers, which remains.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 50.</ref> Rayner's pharmacy shop was also demolished during the Market Square development, although the shopfront was saved by the [[Museum of London]] and is held in storage.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 46.</ref>

[[File:Uxbridge - central shopping area.jpg|thumb|Uxbridge High Street and The Pavilions shopping centre]]
[[File:Uxbridge, High Street (2) - geograph.org.uk - 800336.jpg|thumb|[[Uxbridge Market House]] on the High Street]]
[[The Chimes, Uxbridge|The Chimes]] shopping centre was built beside Uxbridge station in 2001, incorporating many of the existing buildings into the new structure. The centre was originally to be named St George's Centre in plans dating back to the early 1990s, though this name was eventually taken by [[St George's Shopping Centre (Harrow)|another]] shopping centre in [[Harrow, London|Harrow]]. Instead, The Chimes was said to refer to the sound of the bells from the nearby [[Uxbridge Market House|market house]] on the High Street.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 58.</ref> An [[Odeon Cinemas|Odeon]] cinema opened as a major part of the centre, with the smaller cinema at the opposite end of the High Street closing.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 59.</ref> Some houses on Chippendale Way and the St George's car park were demolished to allow for the construction of the new shopping centre car park.<ref>Sherwood 2007, p. 64.</ref> The offices of the local building company Fassnidge were also included in the new development; built in the 19th century, they house a [[Pizza Express]] restaurant. Preserved timber from earlier demolished buildings in Uxbridge was used in the construction of a new building beside the former offices of Fassnidge, designed to resemble a much older structure.<ref>Sherwood 2007, pp. 62–63.</ref>

In 2002 the dry ski slope near Park Road and the Uxbridge Lido was closed and the remaining buildings and structures removed. The Hillingdon Ski Centre had been subject to several arson attacks during 2001 and the company operating it became insolvent. The slope, which had been built in 1977, was left to return to nature.<ref>{{cite news |title = Apres-ski |url = http://www.hillingdontimes.co.uk/archive/2002/02/06/Local+London+Archive/6367862.Apres_ski/ |newspaper=Hillingdon & Uxbridge Times |date=6 February 2002 |access-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>

Work began in 2008 to extensively refurbish and extend Uxbridge Lido, and it reopened to the public in February 2010 as the [[Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=11050 |title=Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex |date=9 March 2010 |publisher=London Borough of Hillingdon |access-date=4 April 2011 |archive-date=8 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608211715/http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=11050 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 8 September 2010 the 75th anniversary of the first opening of the Lido was celebrated at the pool.<ref>{{cite news |title=Uxbridge Lido celebrates 75th anniversary |last=Coombs |first=Dan |url = http://uxbridge.uxbridgegazette.co.uk/2010/09/uxbridge-lido-celebrates-75th.html |newspaper=Uxbridge Gazette |date=8 September 2010 |access-date=18 April 2011 }}</ref>