| Heathrow | |
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Heathrow
Heathrow shown within Greater London |
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| OS grid reference | TQ074754 |
|---|---|
| London borough | Hillingdon |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | London |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HOUNSLOW |
| Postcode district | TW6 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | Hayes and Harlington |
| London Assembly | Ealing and Hillingdon |
| List of places: UK • England • London | |
Heathrow was a small hamlet of Middlesex on the outskirts of London, that was demolished in 1944 for the construction of London Heathrow Airport. The hamlet was a mile and a half east of Longford; its site is now part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.
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A sizeable Neolithic settlement is believed to have been in the Heathrow area, as many artefacts have been found in the gravel around what is now the airport, and the Colne Valley.[1] Waste pits filled with struck flint, arrowheads and fragments of pottery were also found in the area, indicating a settlement, though none other remains of such a settlement.[2]
Heathrow was one of the last settlements formed in the parish of Harmondsworth.[3][4] Its name was previously La Hetherewe (about year 1410), Hithero, Hetherow, Hetherowfeyld, Hitherowe, and Heath Row, and came from Anglo-Saxon Hǣþrǣw = "row of houses on a heath". The earliest written appearance of the name, spelt "Heathrow", was in 1453.[3]
Ordnance Survey maps dating back to before the Second World War show an earthwork, a quarter of a mile to the south of the Bath Road, that had been excavated in 1723 by William Stukley. He believed it to have been a Roman settlement, and named it "Caesar's Camp".[5]
See File:Heathrow Before World War II Map.jpg#Road names for names of roads on the old map.
Agriculture became the main source of income for residents in the hamlet, as the brickearth soil in the area made farming ideal, so Heathrow became part of the west Middlesex market gardening industry. Many residents grew fruit, vegetables, and flowers,[4] which they would travel into London to sell, on the return journey collecting manure for farming.[7]
The Middlesex Agricultural and Growers' Association held annual ploughing matches in Heathrow, until the last, the 99th, was held on 28 September 1937.[8]
The Royal Commission on Historic Monuments listed 28 historically significant buildings in the parish of Harmondsworth, a third of which were in Heathrow.[9] Notable buildings included Heathrow Hall, an 18th-century farmhouse, which was on the Heathrow Road.[10]
In 1929, Fairey Aviation bought 150 acres (61 ha) of land just southeast of Heathrow hamlet, to establish an airfield for flight testing. It came to be called the Great West Aerodrome, which over the years became London Heathrow Airport.
