Hounslow
Hounslow () is a large suburban town, and the principal town of the London Borough of Hounslow in Greater London, England. Hounslow is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. It is located near London Heathrow Airport and is about  west-southwest of Charing Cross,  south-east of Slough,  south of Southall,  north-west of Twickenham, and  north-east of Staines-upon-Thames. The town of Hounslow, including its localities Cranford, Heston, Hounslow West and Lampton, was 103,337 in the 2011 census, whereas the wider borough had a population of 254,000.

Historically part of Middlesex, since 1965 Hounslow has been part of the London Borough of Hounslow, with parts in the London Boroughs of Hillingdon, Richmond upon Thames, and Ealing. Prior to this, Hounslow was part of the Municipal Borough of Heston and Isleworth, from 1835 until 1965. Whitton was part of the Municipal Borough of Twickenham, while Cranford was part of the Hayes and Harlington Urban District and Feltham Urban District. Additionally, Norwood Green was part of the Municipal Borough of Southall.

Hounslow has a large shopping centre, called the Treaty Centre, which adjoins its high street and many restaurants, cafés and small businesses, many of which are associated with product assembly, marketing, telecommunications and Heathrow Airport. It is connected to Central London by South Western Railway's Hounslow Loop Line and Hounslow station, and by the London Underground's Piccadilly line through three stations - Hounslow West, Hounslow Central and Hounslow East.

Etymology
The name Hounslow is spelt in old records as 'Hundeslow' and similar, pointing to Anglo-Saxon Hundes hlāw, meaning "the dog's mound" or "the mound of a man named or nicknamed Hound".

History
Positioned on the Bath Road (where it forks to the Staines Road at the Bell Inn), Hounslow was centred around Holy Trinity Priory founded in 1211. The priory developed what had been a small village into a town with regular markets and other facilities for travellers heading to and from London. Although the priory was dissolved in 1539 the town remained an important staging post on the Bath Road. The adjacent Hounslow Heath that had been used as a military encampment by both Oliver Cromwell and James II developed a reputation as the haunt of highwaymen and footpads. Nearby important landowners included those of Osterley House, Syon House, Hanworth Park House and Worton Hall.

In 1756 Sir Thomas Morris, a distant relative of Bernard Matthews, established the base of his chicken farming empire. As a rich philanthropist who started from humble beginnings, he used his wealth to establish a school for the under privileged children of the town, believing every child had the right to education.

The building of the Great Western Railway line from London to Bristol from 1838 reduced long-distance travel along the Bath Road. By 1842 the local paper was reporting that the 'formerly flourishing village', which used to stable 2,000 horses, was suffering a 'general depreciation of property'. The Hounslow Loop Line was constructed in 1850, prompting new development.

One of the earliest surviving houses in the town is The Lawn, in front of the Civic Centre with its public tennis courts, in brown brick with three double-hung sash windows set back in reveals with flat arches, roof with parapet and porch of fluted doric columns, pilasters, entablature and semi-circular traceried fanlight.

The construction of the Great West Road (a revival of an earlier name for the Bath Road as a by-pass for it around the north of Brentford, Isleworth and Hounslow centres) in the 1920s attracted the building of the factories and headquarters of large companies. The factories were a great local source of employment until a decline in the 1970s, attracting workers from a wide area and leading to a great deal of housing development. In the next two decades offices largely replaced factories on the Great West Road and further expansion in hotel and housing stock has taken place, an example being the Blenheim Centre, an image of which is in the gallery section below.

Shopping facilities 
Hounslow Town Centre is a busy predominantly retail centre, with a small number of commercial offices and civic buildings. There is a large shopping centre called the Treaty Shopping Centre, containing Debenhams, JD, Next, H&M and many large branches of chain stores found in British high streets. It includes a food court along with over 50 shops. There is a large ASDA superstore located within the Blenheim Centre complex along with B&M, a Barnado's charity shop, a local health centre, a gym run by The Gym Group and Jungle V.I.P (a children's indoor play area).

A new retail area, the High Street Quarter, will be located near Hounslow High Street and is set to contain a 27-storey residential tower along with many shops, restaurants, and a ten-screen Cineworld cinema multiplex.

Economy
Hounslow is an economic hub within the west of the capital city, with it having a large shopping centre which adjoins its high street and many restaurants, cafés and small businesses, many of which are associated with product assembly, marketing, telecommunications and Heathrow Airport, which has many businesses and public sector jobs in and around it to which the local population commute.  The settlement is also partially employed in the Commuter Belt with access between 45 and 60 minutes from most of Central London.

DHL Air UK has its head office in the Orbital Park in Hounslow.

Transport

Major roads 
There are three major roads in Hounslow. The east-west roads, the A4 'Great West Road' and the 'Bath Road' that connects Hounslow to Central London and Slough, and the A30 'Great South West Road' that connects it to Staines-upon-Thames, which meet at Henlys Roundabout in Hounslow West. There is also the north-south road, the A312 'The Causeway' and 'The Parkway', which connects Hounslow to Hampton in the south and Harrow to the north.

Additionally, A and B roads in Hounslow include the A314 'Hanworth Road' that starts in Hounslow and finishes is Hanworth, Feltham. The historic A315 'London Road', 'Hounslow High Street', 'Hanworth Road', 'Grove Road' and 'Staines Road';  which starts in Central London down to Bedfont, Feltham. In doing this, it connects Hounslow to towns and districts such as Kensington, Hammersmith, Chiswick, Brentford and Isleworth.

East-west roads
The A4 Great West Road joins with the A3006 Bath Road (from the A315) before Henlys Roundabout, which is in Hounslow West, from which a WNW route passes Heathrow Airport, terminals 1 to 3 and terminal 5 as the Bath Road and a WSW route, the A30, passes terminal 4, bypasses Staines and reaches the M25; the remainder is a mostly-minor route to Land's End, Cornwall.

The M4 motorway is two miles north; its nearest junction, J3, being northwest along the A312.

The A315 is the historic WSW road out of London, on which Hounslow's High Street is placed. To the east, it bisects Isleworth, Brentford and Chiswick. To the west it bisects North Feltham and Bedfont before joining the A30.

North-south roads
The north-south A312, The Parkway, to the west of Hounslow leads south to Hampton or north to Harrow passing Waggoners' Roundabout (WNW of Henlys Roundabout in Hounslow West), Hayes, Yeading and Northolt.

Three minor roads converge on Heston from the A315 in parts of Hounslow, the A3063, A3005 and B363. The single road re-divides just north in Norwood Green into a northwest road to Southall (the A3005) and into the A4127 that passes by Hanwell, briefly using the A4020 west before bypassing Dormers Wells, passing Greenford to reach Sudbury, the town immediately to the west of Wembley and North Wembley.

For longer journeys north, the M4, A4 or A30 then M25 provides the best routes. For longer journeys south, Hanworth Road leads to the A316 that becomes the M3 motorway.

Trains and Underground

There are three main London Underground stations in the town; Hounslow East, Hounslow Central and Hounslow West, with all the stations being on the Piccadilly line. The District line used to operate now-discontinued services to Hounslow, and the town also has abandoned stations on the old line, such as Hounslow Town.

Hounslow railway station, operated by South Western Railway is on the railway line to London Waterloo, or westwards to Reading, Weybridge, Woking or Windsor.  The railway line also offers services on the Hounslow Loop Line, opened 1850, further around the loop to Twickenham and Richmond. It is situated a fair distance from the town centre and is used far less than the Underground stations.

Bus services

Hounslow bus garage, with an adjoining bus station close to the High Street. In 1962, as a result of the final stage of the London trolleybus programme of conversion to motor bus operation when Isleworth garage was closed, the staff from that depot (coded IH) were transferred to Hounslow. The property is owned by the RATP Group, which took it over with the purchase of London United from Transdev. In addition to its frequent and regular daytime services throughout the surrounding areas Hounslow figures on the N9 night service from Heathrow Airport to Central London.

Hounslow Heath Aerodrome was a grass airfield and was operational from 1910 to 1920. It was in the London borough of Hounslow, and in 1919 was the location from which the first scheduled daily international commercial air services took place.

Hounslow Heath and other parks
Hounslow Heath is a large public open space and local nature reserve to the west of Hounslow, a London borough. It now covers about  and is only the residue of the historic Hounslow Heath that once covered over .

The Heath has major historical importance: routes from London to the west and southwest of Britain used to pass through it. Staines Road, the northern boundary of the present Heath, was the Roman Road, Trinobantes. There are several historic references to Roman camps on or close to the Heath. Continuous recorded history dates back to Norman times, where it gave its name to the former hamlet of Heathrow. Hounslow Heath was also known for the extremely high numbers of highway robberies and highwaymen in the area, who mostly focused on targeting the wealthy and noble.

Hounslow has a very high immigration rate. According to the 2011 Census, more than 50% of Hounslow residents are born outside of the UK.

Sport
A printed programme dated 7 July 1935 suggests that there may have been motor cycle speedway racing at a venue in Dockwell Lane branded as Hounslow Speedway.  The best information suggests that more than one meeting was staged in conjunction with the Hounslow Motor Cycle and Car Club. The Irish Guards GAA club are based in Hounslow.

Notable people
 Dave Cousins, singer and songwriter, leader of the Strawbs, was born in Hounslow.
 Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A., English-Sri Lankan musician and visual artist, was born in Hounslow.
 Asim Chaudhry, actor and comedian.
 Phil Collins, singer-songwriter and Genesis drummer, was born and raised in Hounslow.
 Elvis Costello, singer-songwriter, attended Archbishop Myers' Secondary School (now St Mark's Catholic School).
 Cyril Cusack (1910–1993), actor, lived in Hounslow at the time of his death.
 Sophie Ellis-Bextor, singer-songwriter, model and occasional DJ, was born in Hounslow.
 Violet Englefield, actress and singer, was born in Hounslow.
 Mo Farah, Olympic 10,000 m and 5,000 m gold medalist, lived in Hounslow.
 Ian Gillan, vocalist of rock band Deep Purple, was born in Hounslow.
 Gustavus Green (1865–1964), aircraft engine pioneer, was born in Hounslow.
 Charles Hawtrey (1914–1988), Carry On film legend, was born in Hounslow.
 Patsy Kensit, actress and singer, lived in Hounslow during her teenage years.
 Francis Maddison (1927–2006), historian, was born and educated in Hounslow.
 Bill Mason, Olympic rower and coach of Imperial College London rowing team, lives in Hounslow.
 Ian McLagan, keyboardist of the Small Faces and Faces, was born and raised in Hounslow.
 Dermot Morgan (1952–1998), Father Ted actor, lived in Hounslow at the time of his death.
 Kunal Nayyar, actor, was born in Hounslow but moved to India at a young age.
 Alistair Overeem, mixed martial arts champion, was born in Hounslow.
 Katherine Parkinson, actress, was born in Hounslow.
 Sir Alec Reed, founder of the REED employment agency, was born in Hounslow.
 Naomi Scott, singer and actress, was born and raised in Hounslow.
 Jay Sean, singer, was born in Hounslow.
 Cyril Vosper (1935–2004), adherent then critic of Scientology, was born in Hounslow.
 Maria Whittaker, 1980s Page Three girl, was born in Hounslow.
 Jack Wild (1952–2006), actor, Artful Dodger in the film Oliver! and star of H.R. Pufnstuf, grew up in Hounslow.

Demography and housing

Twinning
Hounslow is twinned with the following settlements around the world:

  Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
  Lahore, Pakistan
  Ramallah, Palestine

The London Borough of Hounslow also has a sister district agreement with Leningradsky District in Krasnodar Krai, Russia.

Gallery