Gunnersbury

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Gunnersbury
Gunnersbury (Greater London)
Gunnersbury

Gunnersbury shown within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ195785
London borough Hounslow
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region London
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district W4
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
European Parliament London
UK Parliament Brentford & Isleworth
London Assembly South West
List of places: UKEnglandLondon

Coordinates: 51°29′34″N 0°16′40″W / 51.4927, -0.2777

Gunnersbury is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow, West London. It is a small area less than half a square kilometre within the west area of the Chiswick W4 postal district of London.

Contents

[edit] The name

Gunnersbury takes its name from Gunnersbury Park. The name includes a Danish proper name - "Gunnhild's Manor". [1]

[edit] Development

Gunnersbury consists mainly of pre-war housing of a variety of types, including flats, terrace, semi detached, and detached houses, some of which are ex-local authority built.

The defining symbol of Gunnersbury is the 18-story high BSI (British Standards Institution) building on Chiswick High Street. Below this building Gunnersbury station serves the Richmond branch of the District line and the North London Line to Stratford.

BSI building over Gunnersbury station
BSI building over Gunnersbury station
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Harvard Road, Gunnersbury
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Harvard Road, Gunnersbury

In 2001 a former bus garage to the north of the BSI building was converted into Chiswick Park business park, which is apparently the largest set of office buildings (by floor area) in West London. It houses a number of companies including SBS Broadcasting Networks Ltd, Teletext Ltd, CBS News, Technicolor, Discovery Channels Europe, Intelsat, Singapore Airlines, Qantas Airlines, Foxtons Estate Agents, and an Esporta health club.

Immediately to the east is Gunnersbury triangle nature reserve. An area of woodland, it supports a population of thousands of different species of birds, plants, and other wildlife. It has free admission and its entrance is on the south of Bollo Lane, a few meters from Chiswick Park Tube Station.

Gunnersbury also lends its name to a nearby secondary school, in Brentford. Gunnersbury Catholic School is a boys only Catholic comprehensive. It was originally a Grammar School based on Gunnersbury Avenue and backing onto Gunnersbury Park.

[edit] Nearest areas

[edit] Transport

[edit] Nearest tube stations

[edit] Nearest railway station

[edit] Trivia

The former bus garage at Chiswick Park featured in the 1971 film On the Buses, when Stan (Reg Varney) takes bus driving lessons on the garage's skidpan.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Robbins, Michael: "Middlesex", Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2003, ISBN 1 86077 269 2, page 257