Stone Age Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Within the brickearth and gravels deposited by the Thames, significant quantities of early human tools were found when commercial excavations began in Yiewsley on an industrial scale in the 19th century. The first person to start collecting artifacts from Yiewsley was John Allen Brown (1833–1903), a Fellow of the Geological Society, who collected from 1889–1901. In his 1978 Archaeological Report,
Early Man in West Middlesex: The Yiewsley Palaeolithic sites, palaeontologist Desmond Collins states the following with regard to the archaeological significance of the Yiewsley sites: a
Bronze Age urnfield cemetery was discovered, with the excavation of 14
Deverel–Rimbury cinerary urns. These and other Bronze Age items, mostly from Boyer's Gravel Pit, have been catalogued at the
British Museum.
Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age Besieged Danes of Thorney Island 893 AD In the spring of 893, after overwintering at
Appledore in Kent, and then plundering through
Kent and
Sussex, a
Viking raiding army turned to head for the
Danish-controlled lands in the east (later known as the
Danelaw). However, they were intercepted by
Alfred the Great's son
Edward with his
West Saxon Fyrd at
Farnham in Surrey. The Danes were routed, fleeing over the
River Thames into
Mercia, with the West Saxon army in pursuit. Having reached the
River Colne, the Danes mounted a defence on what was known as Thorney Island, believed to be land between the Colne and an offshoot channel of the river between Thorney and
Iver, approximately half a mile west from Yiewsley High Street today. Edward began a siege of the island, and was joined by
Æthelred of Mercia with soldiers from the Mercian garrison in London. After a prolonged stalemate which may have lasted up to six months, an agreement was reached for the Danes to leave peacefully. Hostages were taken as collateral, and vows made by the Danes that they would leave the Anglo-Saxon lands and go directly to the lands under Danish control, which they duly did, without any of their plundered spoils. Yiewsley (or
Wifeleslēah) and the land of the
Middle Saxons had been part of the
Kingdom of Essex, but came under Mercian control in the reign of
King Æthelbald (716–757 AD). By the time of the siege of Thorney Island in 893, eastern Mercia had been conquered by the Danes, and, with his power diminished, Æthelred had been forced to cede overlordship to King Alfred the Great of Wessex. When Æthelred died in 911, Middlesex was annexed by Wessex under Alfred's son, now
King Edward (899–924 AD). Edward would go on to take control of all of Mercia, both
Angle and Danish, advancing England's progression in becoming a single kingdom.
Norman Conquest 1066 until 1794 Parish of Hillingdon and Colham Manor For most of its existence, Yiewsley was a hamlet in the Parish of St John the Baptist Church,
Hillingdon, with a tenurial relationship with Colham Manor. Before the Norman Conquest, Colham Manor had belonged to Wigot of Wallingford. By the time of
Domesday Book in 1086, it was the property of one of William the Conqueror's principal advisors,
Roger de Montgomery. Surplus
grain was sold in
London or
Uxbridge. and it is thought that, by the 14th century, the town's population had exceeded that of the rest of the parish, and this remained the case until the 1821
census. Next to Yiewsley Grange is the 6-bay barn in Philpots Close (formally within Philpot's farm). At the southern end is the De Burgh Arms public house, named in honour of the De Burgh family who became the Lords of Colham Manor from 1787.
Industrial Age Opening of the Grand Junction Canal 1794 of Colham Wharf incorporated in the wall of Waterways House, High Street Yiewsley's agrarian way of life started to change with the opening of the
Grand Junction Canal. Construction began with cuttings on Uxbridge Moor on 1 May 1793, and in early May at
Brentford and
Braunston.
Brick industry The building of the canal enabled the bulk transportation of what became known as
Cowley (or London) stock bricks, made from Yiewsley's rich deposits of brickearth. The first record of brick making in Yiewsley was by William Pope in Chauntry Close (Now Chantry Close). An advertisement in the
Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser of 24 March 1809, announced an auction of over a million of his bricks. By 1819 a canal arm known as Yiewsley Dock had been created to service the brickfield. This is where Kiln Lodge is located today. In 1820 a branch of the canal known as
Otter Dock was opened. It would become the longest of the nine arms and docks that were constructed in Yiewsley to service the outgoing transportation of bricks and the importing of coal from the Midlands to fire Yiewsley's clamp
kilns. The finished bricks were then transported mainly along the Grand Junction Canal to South Wharf in the
Paddington Basin and to wharves along the
Regent's Canal, but also to other locations along the canal and River Thames. By the 1890s it is estimated that 100 million bricks per year were being produced in west Middlesex, supplying the demand for building materials of
Victorian London. With this high production rate, the deposits of brickearth were becoming depleted at the start of the 20th century. Brickearth was still being extracted from Hide Field to the east of Yiewsley in 1913, but by 1930 the Stockley brickworks were producing only 2 million bricks a year. The brickworks were closed in 1935, The
broad gauge Vulcan was the first locomotive to run on the GWR, on 28 December 1837, when it completed a successful mile-and-a-half test run down the line from Yiewsley to Iver. Having been constructed in
Newton-le-Willows by
Charles Tayleur & Co., the locomotive, together with another called
Premier, had been taken by barge from the London docks and unloaded between Horton Bridge and West Drayton Station. A GWR branch line to
Uxbridge Vine Street was opened on 8 September 1856. On the afternoon of 6 February 1874, a double collision occurred in thick fog on the main line by Horton Bridge. The 10:25 am Exeter Express, drawn by the locomotive
Prometheus, travelling at around towards Paddington, struck the rear of a Bristol goods train laden with timber and blocks of Bath stone which was being moved into sidings. The trains were rammed together, piling up six or seven of the vans and store trucks of the goods train, scattering train wreckage, the blocks of bath stone, logs of timber and other goods which completely blocked both
up and down lines. The 2:15 pm locomotive No. 583 from Paddington ran into the debris, which threw it off the line and derailed several of its carriages, although they were not overturned. Its engine driver and fireman jumped clear before the impact. The guard of the Exeter Express died, but there were no serious injuries to any passengers. West Drayton station was relocated 200 yd east to its present position on Station Approach from Tavistock Road on 9 April 1884, four months before a second branch line, operated by the
Staines and West Drayton Railway (S&WDR), was opened on 9 August 1884.
Diversification of industry from the mid-1800s By the middle of the 19th century, brick production and flour milling were Yiewsley's main industries; however, new industry was beginning to develop. The Victoria oil mills near Colham Wharf were established before 1855. A chemical works owned by Alfred White and Sons in 1890 was established by 1864 in the south of the parish. In 1874 W. Gillespie & Co. were manufacturing engines and boilers at the Foundry and Engineering Works, and in 1875 horizontal condensing engines were being made by Edwin Philip Bastin & Company at the Alliance Engine Works. In 1880 Edward Stewart & Co. operated the West Drayton cement works, and in 1890 the Electrical Engineering Corporation was making electrical equipment and dynamos. An India-rubber mill had been established by 1894 on Trout Road; in 1900 it was owned J. E. Hopkinson & Co. In 1898 the Padcroft Saw Mills were being operated by John A. Holland. By 1900 the Rotary Photographic Company was established opposite Lower Colham Mill, and in 1903 the Power Plant Co. was established, producing helical gears and couplings. In 1913 the Steam Fittings Company Ltd in Horton Road was producing
steam traps to be used in navy vessels. Also by 1913, printing works had been established on Tavistock Road and Horton Bridge Road. In 1916 C. J. Culliford & Son operated the Lithographic Printing Works. Also in 1916, the Onslow Cotton Mill was established on Trout Road. the same year as the S. C. Johnson & Son wax company opened their factory on the site of Colham Wharf. His system worked by using wave pulses which were generated and transmitted from a column of liquid (90% paraffin to 10% B.B. Mobiloil or P.924 (anti-freezing) oil), instead of a system of mechanical linkages which had been used in aircraft until then. Once initial operational issues were overcome, the C.C. gear was not only more reliable than a mechanical linkage system, but also allowed a higher rate of fire and was readily adaptable to any type of engine and airframe. The first working C.C. gear was successfully air-tested on a
B.E.2c aircraft in August 1916, and was fitted to
No. 55 Squadron's DH.4's before their arrival in France on 6 March 1917. During the period March to December 1917, a total of 6000 C.C. gears were issued. Between January and October 1918, 20,000 C.C. gears were delivered. On 25 March 1919
Queen Mary and
Queen Marie of Romania visited the Sonic laboratory, where Constantinescu was warmly congratulated by the two queens for his work. In the 1920s, Trout Road developed as a centre for companies involved in oils and chemical production. In 1921 K. B. Mavlankar was producing
essential oils at the British Aromatic Chemical Works on Trout Road. From 1928 the Kenilworth Chemical Manufacturing Company and the English Metal Powder Company operated factories in Trout Road. Their factory was transferred after 1935 to the Middlesex Oil and Chemical Works Ltd, manufacturing oils, petroleum jellies, and resins. The Kenilworth Chemical and English Metal Powder companies then moved to an adjoining site in Trout Road. From the 1930s, several smaller companies manufacturing chemicals, plastics, and engineering components were established on and around Trout Road, increasing to more than 40 companies in the area. An adaptation of their modular-track monorail system was used at
Pinewood Studios in the 1967 James Bond film
You Only Live Twice. In 1952 James Whitson & Co. moved from
Sipson and began manufacturing coaches and fire engines in Yiewsley High Street. At its peak, the company employed 350 people. They would later manufacture glass-fibre components for commercial vehicles. The line continues to be used for freight services as far as Colnbrook. On 4 October 1875, Padcroft College was opened, with Principal Mr G. H. Jones FSA offering a course of education consisting of "Divinity, French, German, Latin, Greek, Mathematics, Natural Science, Drawing, and other branches of a liberal English education". Fees were eight guineas per annum. The college became the most important private school in the area, teaching up to a hundred pupils a year, with some boarders. Fishing and boating on the Frays were offered as additional pastimes. From 1887 the college became known as the Padcroft Grammar School, and from 1891 as the Padcroft School. It closed in November 1901. 52 Padcroftian
Old Boys fell in the Great War. The building was reopened in June 1902 as the Padcroft Boys' Home by
Sir Albert de Rutzen,
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. Its purpose was to take in first-time offenders who had come before a magistrates' court and give them guidance, an education in handicraft, and employment. It catered for about 40 boys at a time, aged 14–18 years, and was run by the Society's
London Police Court Mission (LPCM). A relationship with the
Pilkington glass works in
St Helens was developed. From 1912 to 1927, Pilkington ran a hostel in
Ravenhead for Padcroft boys, who then worked chiefly with
glass tanks and kilns. By 1919 over 200 boys had found work there. Padcroft later became a
remand home and a
probation home. The building was bought by Middlesex County Council as a
community centre, and was in use into the 1960s, before being
redeveloped.
Political development Yiewsley today Yiewsley today is a growing community with both residential housing and commercial businesses. With the establishment of the
Elizabeth line and as a consequence of the
London Plan and Hillingdon Local Plan, there has been significant construction of residential apartments on former industrial and manufacturing sites. Yiewsley has an active High Street, with national retail outlets Tesco, Iceland, B&M Stores, Home Bargains, Aldi and Savers situated on it. Together with local businesses in Yiewsley and Uxbridge, Heathrow Airport is a major source of employment in the area. == Public services ==