Editing Acton, London (section)

===19th century development===
[[File:Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths' Alms Houses, Acton.jpg|thumb|Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths' Alms Houses, Acton, 1812.]]
In 1812, twenty [[almshouses]] were built by the [[Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths]] on the former Perryn estate, on land which had been left to the company by [[John Perryn]] in 1657.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=History of the Company |url=https://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/company/history/history-of-the-company/ |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=The Goldsmiths' Company |language=en}}</ref>

There were 241 inhabited houses in 1801 and 426 by 1831. Growth took place mainly in the established residential neighbourhoods of Acton town and East Acton, but Acton Green also had acquired a cluster of cottages and houses at the bottom of Acton Lane by 1842. Acton was mostly rural in 1831. The few mansions contrasted sharply with most of the houses, which were described as 'beneath mediocrity of character'. Despite an overall rise in the number of houses, poor rates had to be increased in the 1820s because of a growing number of empty dwellings.<ref name=growth/>

More widespread building [[urban planning|was planned]] and took place in the 1850s. As a result of its soft water sources, Acton became famous for its laundries and at the end of the 19th century there were around 170 establishments in South Acton. These laundries would serve hotels and the rich in London's West End, leading to the nickname "Soapsuds Island" or "Soap Sud City". At least 600 different laundries operated within South Acton,<ref>{{cite web |title=Acton History |url=http://www.actonhistory.co.uk/acton/page10.html |website=www.actonhistory.co.uk |access-date=2 December 2024}}</ref> the last laundry closed in the late 1970s and is now a low redbrick block of flats.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

The parish of Acton formed a [[local board of health]] in 1865 and became an [[Urban district (England and Wales)|urban district]] in 1894.

In 1895, [[Acton Cemetery]] was opened on farmland near to what is now North Acton Station.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meller |first1=Hugh |last2=Parsons |first2=Brian |title=London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer |date=2008 |publisher=Sutton |isbn=9780750946223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HTKLJQAACAAJ |access-date=24 January 2023}}</ref>