Editing Perivale (section)

==History==
[[File:Hoover Building, Perivale (geograph 1886793).jpg|thumb|200px|left|The [[Hoover Building]]]]

===Origins and early history===
Source:<ref name="Leary">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201130/area_history/859/perivale_local_history/1|title=Perivale local history|last=Leary|first=Gemma|website=ealing.gov.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref>

Historically, it was a parish in the [[hundred (country subdivision)|hundred]] of [[Elthorne Hundred|Elthorne]], in the county of [[Middlesex]]. Perivale was one of the county's smallest parishes up until the early twentieth century, at just {{convert|633|acre|abbr=off}} and a negligible population.

The church of [[St Mary's Perivale|St Mary's, Perivale]] is one of London's oldest churches, dating to at least the early thirteenth century. The church is south of the [[A40 road|A40]], off Perivale Lane. The neighbouring fifteenth-century Rectory House was demolished in 1958. Perivale was a farming area from at least the fourteenth century. At this date, Perivale consisted of woodland and fields used for arable farming.

During the fifteenth century, a grand, three-storey manor house, ''Perivale Manor'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ealingnewsextra.co.uk/history/the-mystery-of-perivale-manor/|title=The mystery of Perivale Manor|date=2015-10-02|website=Ealing News Extra|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref> was commissioned by Henry Myllett, a prominent Perivale resident. The house was surrounded by a moat, gardens, orchards and outbuildings. Perivale Manor, which was close to [[St Mary's Perivale|St Mary's Church]], was demolished around 1784.
[[File:Canal boats at Perivale.jpg|thumb|Canal boats on the Grand Union Canal at Perivale (at the junction of Horsenden Lane South/North).]]
From the sixteenth century, wheat was the main crop in the area, a crop for which Perivale gained a high reputation. With [[Industrial Revolution|industrialisation]], much of Perivale's land began to be used to grow grass for hay to feed London's horses. The building of the Paddington Branch of the Grand Union Canal in 1801 (which still runs through Perivale today) led to a high demand for Perivale's hay. By 1839, almost all of Perivale's land grew hay for the London market, a scene described in the ending of [[John Betjeman]]'s poem ''Return to Ealing'':

''"...And a gentle gale from Perivale/blows up the hayfield scent."''

The pre-twentieth-century population of Perivale remained low. Just 28 people lived in Perivale in 1801. An 1841 census recorded just five inhabited residential buildings, all farm houses; Horsenden Farm to the northwest, Grange Farm and Church Farm in the southwest, Manor Farm to the east and Alperton farm to the north. In 1901, the population remained tiny at 60 people.

===Development and urbanisation, 1930s onwards===
Things changed with transportation developments in an increasingly urban and expanding London. The [[A40 road|A40]] Western Avenue was built, running east–west across central and west London, cutting through Perivale. Perivale was also connected to central London via both Perivale train and the then named [[Alperton tube station|Alperton-Perivale]] Station (now Alperton Underground Station). Perivale's close proximity to central London and excellent transport links led to its rapid expansion, with many factories and houses being built. Houses were initially built in the centre of Perivale, on and around Horsenden Lane South and at Bilton Road to the east. The Medway Estate, to the west of Horsenden Lane South, was developed soon after with parkland left in the centre (now named Ealing Central Sports Ground).<ref name="Leary" />

The factory of [[Sanderson Wallpapers Ltd]] was built in 1929. By 1963, the firm employed almost 2,000 people. The iconic [[Hoover Building]] was opened in 1932 by Hoover Limited. Located on the northern side of the Western Avenue, the factory employed more than 3,000 people at its height of production in the 1960s, making vacuum cleaners and other household appliances. Sanderson's and [[The Hoover Company|Hoover]] were hailed as model factories, with workers enjoying enviable working conditions. Workers could purchase the reasonably priced local housing stock. Perivale's three-bedroom homes had front and rear gardens; many had garages, and sold for around £600-£700 freehold. By 1951, Perivale's population had jumped to 9,979. The [[The Hoover Company|Hoover]] Factory closed in the 1980s: part of the building was bought by [[Tesco]], which opened as a superstore in the 1990s. The upper levels of the main building were recently {{When|date=May 2021}}converted into luxury flats.<ref name="Leary" />

[[Perivale Maternity Hospital]], built in 1937 and demolished in 1988, was situated south of the [[A40 road|A40]] Western Avenue. Its location explains the large number of notable births in Perivale.<ref name="Leary" />