Uxbridge, Middlesex

Historical Description

Uxbridge, an ancient market-town and township in Middlesex. The town stands on the river Colne, which is here crossed by a brick bridge of five arches, and The Grand Junction Canal, at the terminus of a branch of the G.W.R., West Drayton being the junction, 15 miles WNW of London; was anciently called Waxbreuge, Woxebrugge, and Oxeburge, signifying the " great bridge," and is supposed to have been founded in the time of Alfred. It was the scene of negotiations between Charles I. and the Parliament in 1645, and the house at which the Commissioners met is still standing, and is known as the " Old Treaty House and Crown Inn." In 1647 the town was occupied by Cromwell. At the present day the town, which occupies a declivity shelving to the Colne, presents a highly improved, clean, and handsome appearance, is a seat of petty sessions and the head of a union and county court district, and includes large and populous suburbs, now incorporated with it, the whole being governed by a district council of eighteen members. The Town-Hall stands in the High Street, and is a building of brick and stone, originally erected in 1836, but which has been much improved since. It comprises various offices and committee rooms, and includes a large hall capable of holding 700 people. There is a head post office, two banks, two breweries, engineering and agricultural implement works, many large corn mills on the Colne, and sawing, planing, and moulding works on the Grand Junction Canal. The town sends a good deal of flour to the London markets, and carries on a fair trade in slates, timber, and coal. The market days are Thursday and Saturday, and there are weekly sales for cattle, sheep, and pigs. Fairs are held on 25 March, 31 July, and 1 August, the latter being for wool, and there are statute fairs on 29 Sept. and 11 Oct The town publishes two newspapers. For ecclesiastical affairs the town is comprised within the parishes of St Margaret, St Andrew, and St John's. The living of St Margaret is a vicarage of the net value of £233, in the gift of the Bishop of London. The church is an ancient building of flint, chiefly in a Debased Perpendicular style, consisting of nave, aisles, and a low embattled tower on the N side. It has a good Perpendicular font, some fine stained windows, and an alabaster altar-tomb of 1638, with recumbent effigy. The living of St Andrew is a vicarage of the gross value of £300, in the gift of the Bishop of London. The church, which was consecrated in 1865, is a large building of red and yellow brick and Bath stone in the Decorated style. It was erected from designs by the late Sir G. Gilbert Scott, R.A., and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, S porch, vestry, and a grand tower at the SE angle, surmounted by a shingled broach spire rising to a height of 170 feet. It has a beautiful alabaster reredos and ten stained windows. The parish of St John's, Uxbridge Moor, was formed in 1842. The living is a vicarage of the gross value of £300, in the gift of the Bishop of London. The church, erected in 1838, is a plain structure of brick in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, porch, and a western bell-cote. All the livings are in the diocese of London. There are Baptist, Congregational, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan chapels, a Catholic Apostolic church, and a Friends' meeting-house. The cemetery in Kingston Lane, Hillingdon, has an area of four acres, and two mortuary chapels. The workhouse of the Uxbridge union is a plain building of brick erected in 1837, and capable of holding 250 inmates. A cottage hospital with six beds stands on Uxbridge Common, and there are numerous small charities. Area of the township, 87 acres; population, 3154; of the ecclesiastical parish of St Margaret, 3154; of St Andrew, 3055; of St John, 1961.

Uxbridge Parliamentary Division, of Middlesex was formed under the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, and returns one member to the House of Commons. Population, 67,789. The division includes the following:-Uxbridge- Cowley, Cranford, Harefield, Harlington, Harmondsworth, Hayes, Hillingdon, Ickenham, Northolt, Ruislip, Uxbridge (township of), West Drayton; Spelthorne-Ashford, Bedfont (East), Feltham, Hampton, Hampton Wick (liberty of), Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Uxbridge from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Uxbridge)

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Middlesex is online.

Maps

Online maps of Uxbridge are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Villages, Hamlets, &c