WEST TWYFORD
West Twyford, known in the 19th century as
Twyford Abbey, was a separate parish (fn. 1) adjoining
East Twyford (Willesden) and containing only
281 a. in 1901. (fn. 2) Although depopulated from the
Middle Ages and subject in the 17th century to
the parish officers of Willesden, West Twyford
was later regarded as extra-parochial and
acquired the status of a civil parish under the
Extra-Parochial Places Act, 1857. (fn. 3) It was transferred to Willesden M.B. in 1934 but, after
popular protest, was mostly returned to Ealing.
The ancient boundaries were formed by the river
Brent on the north and partly by Masons Green
Lane on the west and Norwood Lane on the
south. (fn. 4)
Except for some Taplow Gravel and alluvium
along the Brent, West Twyford lay entirely on
the London Clay which provided a gently undulating landscape rising from some 25 m. at the
western end of the Brent to 44 m. at the southern
border, where the ground rose towards Hanger
Hill. A small stream ran northward from the
southern boundary alongside the church to join
the Brent. The name Twyford or 'two fords'
presumably referred to crossing points of the
Brent, possibly those represented by Stonebridge in Willesden and Vicar's bridge a short
way west of West Twyford in Alperton. (fn. 5) The
Paddington branch of the Grand Junction canal
was driven across the north-east quarter of West
Twyford in 1801. (fn. 6)
Twyford Lane was described in the 13th
century as a lane from the house and church of
West Twyford to London, (fn. 7) by what route is
uncertain. In the 18th century it ran south from
the Brent and then west to Hanger Lane, which
linked West Twyford with Ealing, Alperton, and
Harrow. From Twyford Lane, Masons Green
Lane ran south to Acton and Norwood Lane ran
east from Masons Green Lane towards Harrow
Road in Willesden. (fn. 8) Twyford Lane (later
Twyford Abbey Road) was extended eastward
from its bend south of the church to Twyford
Abbey Farm and the canal towpath in the early
19th century. Norwood Lane had dwindled to a
green lane by the 1820s and was obliterated by
the building of the G.W.R.'s Birmingham line in
1904; its course was nearly followed by Coronation Road, built to serve the Royal Agricultural
Show at Park Royal. (fn. 9) The north end of Masons
Green Lane had disappeared by 1894. The
North Circular Road was built along the northern
border of West Twyford in 1934-5 and suburban
roads were built adjoining it shortly afterwards. (fn. 10)
West Twyford remained undeveloped until
the opening of the Royal Agricultural Society's
grounds at the beginning of the 20th century.
The G.W.R. opened a station called Park Royal
in Acton parish and in 1904 extended the line
across the southern tip of West Twyford on its
way to Greenford. The London Passenger
Transport Board took over the line in 1947. In
1903 the Metropolitan District opened its line
from North Ealing to South Harrow (and later to
Uxbridge). The line passed very close to West
Twyford's western boundary and a station called
Park Royal and Twyford Abbey, in Hanwell
detached, was opened in Twyford Abbey Road in
1903. In 1931 it was replaced by a station called
Park Royal, from 1936 Park Royal (Hanger Hill),
in Western Avenue in Ealing. (fn. 11)
West Twyford, like neighbouring settlements,
probably originated as a clearing of the Middlesex forest in the late Saxon period. By 1086 there
were six tenants there. (fn. 12) The small community,
still comprising six holdings, was by 1181 served
by a chapel (fn. 13) and had ten inhabited houses in the
mid 13th century. (fn. 14) It was probably during the
late 13th century that West Twyford became
depopulated, later permitting the lords of the
manor to inclose all the land into their demesne. (fn. 15)
By 1593 the manor house was the only habitation
in the parish and the church had become a private
chapel. (fn. 16) A few people described as of West
Twyford in the late 16th and early 17th centuries
were servants at the manor house (fn. 17) and there was
still only one house in 1801. When Thomas
Willan rebuilt the manor house c. 1806, he built
Twyford Abbey Farm for the principal tenant. (fn. 18)
A third house, probably Canal Cottage, had been
added by 1821, and a fourth by 1831. Nine
houses were built between 1861 and 1881, (fn. 19)
including Twyford House, a farmhouse south of
Twyford Lane.
By 1907 there were buildings connected with
mushroom farming west of Twyford Abbey
Farm and a small mission hall south of the
canal. (fn. 20) Mushrooms were grown at Twyford
Bridge farm by 1908 (fn. 21) and at two other farms in
1925, but one was in the hands of building
contractors by 1930 and the other was demolished c. 1935. (fn. 22) The first factory was built in
Coronation Road in 1913 and more factories were
opened during the First World War in the Park
Royal area, part of which lay within West
Twyford but which is treated as a whole under
Acton. The construction of the North Circular
Road in 1934-5 stimulated further building at
Park Royal, both of factories and of housing
estates. Guinness Brewery, which acquired
property along the former boundary between
West and East Twyford in 1933, built houses at
Iveagh Avenue and Ramsford Road for its
workers, besides its imposing factory buildings.
Other housing included Brentmead Gardens in
1934-5 and the Waddington estate in 1937. In
1948 Guinness Brewery built another 46 houses
at Moyne Place. (fn. 23)
The population was 8 in 1801, 43 in 1831, 87 in
1901, 311 in 1931, and 2,995 in 1951. (fn. 24)