Ealing, the Queen of the Suburbs?, London, England

In 1902 Charles Jones, Ealing’s borough surveyor, published a book. In it he referred to Ealing as the ‘Queen of Suburbs’. His aim of course was to promote the area as a place to live.

Ealing, he said, could claim to be the best of all worlds. It was near London and easily reached by excellent railway facilities, but it was also close to the countryside.

The phrase was adopted by the council and of course by estate agents. Even today you may hear it occasionally. And even today it is regarded as a good place to live, still with many of the benefits of being near the centre of London but not in it. Although today it can hardly claim to be close to countryside!

I have lived here all my married life, and knew it even before then as it was a favourite shopping area for my mother. Let me show you around, as my belated contribution to Terri’s Sunday Stills ‘My Little Town’ theme.

But first, a little more history. The name Ealing comes from the Saxon place-name Gillingas. There is known to have been a settlement here in the 12th century, surrounded by the great forest that covered all this area west of London.

By the 16th century settlements were scattered throughout the area. Many of them were along what is now called St. Mary’s Road, near to the parish church of St. Mary’s, which dates back to the early 12th century. The centre of the parish was thus in present-day South Ealing where I now live. That’s about a mile south of the modern centre, Ealing Broadway. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).