Editing Middlesex (section)

==Economic development==
There were settlements in the area of Middlesex that can be traced back thousands of years before the creation of a county.<ref>Twickenham Museum, http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=364 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110065450/http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=364 |date=10 November 2014 }}, retrieved 30 March 2012</ref> The economy of the county was dependent on the City of London from early times and was primarily agricultural.<ref name=rural_old/> A variety of goods were provided for the City, including crops such as grain and hay, livestock and building materials. Tourism began to develop in the late 16th century and, in 1593, [[John Norden]] noted that the county was attracting visitors to its "divers devices, neatly decked with rare inventions, environed with orchards of sundry delicate fruits, gardens with delectable walks, arbours, alleys, and great variety of pleasing dainties."<ref>S.G. Mendyk, ''Speculum Britanniae: regional study, antiquarianism, and science in Britain to 1700'', 1989.</ref> Inns and tea gardens at Isleworth, Tottenham, Edmonton and Hornsey are noted in the 17th and 18th centuries for attracting day-trippers from London. [[Hampton Court Palace]] was among the historic buildings opened to the public in the 19th century and 350,000 people visited in 1851.<ref>{{harvnb|Robbins|2003|pp=190–192}}</ref>

During the 18th century, the inner parishes of Middlesex became suburbs of the City and were increasingly urbanised.<ref name=rural_old/> In 1794, Thomas Cox wrote of Middlesex:
{{Blockquote|We may call it almost all London, being chiefly inhabited by the citizens, who fill the towns in it with their country houses, to which they often resort that they may breathe a little sweet air, free from the fogs and smoke of the City.<ref>''Magna Britannia et Hibernia Antiqua et Nova'' Thomas Cox, E. Nutt (publisher) (1720) Vol iii. p.1</ref>}}

In 1803, Sir John Sinclair, president of the [[Board of Agriculture (1793–1822)|Board of Agriculture]], spoke of the need to cultivate the substantial [[Finchley Common]] and [[Hounslow Heath]] (perhaps prophetic of the [[Dig for Victory]] campaign of [[World War II]]) and fellow Board member Middleton estimated that one tenth of the county, {{convert|17000|acres}}, was uncultivated common, capable of improvement.<ref>{{harvnb|Robbins|2003|p=38}}</ref> However, [[William Cobbett]], in his ''[[Rural Rides]]'' first serialised in 1822, said that 
:"A more ugly country between [[Egham]] and [[Kensington]] would with great difficulty be found in England. Flat as a pancake, and until you come to Hammersmith, the soil is a nasty, stony dirt upon a bed of gravel. [[Hounslow Heath]] which is only a little worse than the general run, is a sample of all that is bad in soil and villainous in look. Yet this is now enclosed, and what they call 'cultivated'. Here is a fresh robbery of villages, hamlets, and farm and labourers' buildings and abodes."<ref>Cobbett, William (1966) [1830]. ''[[Rural Rides]]'', Volume I. [https://archive.org/details/ruralrides01cobb/page/124/mode/1up?view=theater "Through Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Sussex, between 7 October and 1 December 1822"]. Introduction by [[Asa Briggs]]. London: Dent (Everyman series), p. 124</ref>
[[Baron Macaulay|Thomas Babington]] wrote in 1843, "An acre in Middlesex is worth a principality in [[Utopia]]"<ref>{{harvnb|Robbins|2003|pp=xiii, 28}}</ref> which contrasts neatly with its agricultural description.

The building of radial railway lines from 1839 caused a fundamental shift away from [[agricultural supply store|agricultural supply]] for London towards large scale house building.<ref name="LSE London">{{cite book | publisher=[[London School of Economics]] | title=Memorandum of Evidence to The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London |date=July 1959 | author=Greater London Group }}</ref> [[Tottenham]], [[Edmonton, London|Edmonton]] and [[Enfield Town|Enfield]] in the north developed first as working-class residential suburbs with easy access to central London. The line to [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] through Middlesex was completed in 1848, and the railway to [[Potters Bar]] in 1850; and the [[Metropolitan Railway|Metropolitan]] and [[District Railway|District]] Railways started a series of extensions into the county in 1878. Closer to London, the districts of [[Acton, London|Acton]], [[Willesden]], [[Ealing]] and [[Hornsey]] came within reach of the tram and bus networks, providing cheap transport to central London.<ref name="LSE London"/>

After [[World War I]], the availability of labour and proximity to London made areas such as [[Hayes, Hillingdon|Hayes]] and [[Park Royal]] ideal locations for the developing [[Second Industrial Revolution|new industries]].<ref name="LSE London"/> New jobs attracted more people to the county and the population continued to rise, reaching a peak in 1951. Middlesex became the location of facilities for the film industry. [[Twickenham Studios]] were established in 1913. There were also studios at [[Cricklewood Studios]], [[Gainsborough Pictures]], [[Isleworth Studios]], [[Kew Bridge Studios]] and [[Southall Studios]].