OS grid reference TQ195785 Ceremonial county Greater London Country England Dialling code 020 UK parliament constituency Brentford and Isleworth | London borough Hounslow Region London Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town London | |
 | ||
Gunnersbury park
Gunnersbury is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow, with its northern edge in the London Borough of Ealing, west London. It has an area of less than half a square kilometre and is within the west area of the Chiswick W4 postal district of London.
Contents
- Gunnersbury park
- Map of Gunnersbury London UK
- Toponymy
- Development
- Nearest areas
- Nearest tube stations
- Nearest railway station
- References
Map of Gunnersbury, London, UK
Toponymy
The name "Gunnersbury" means "Manor house of a woman called Gunnhildr", and is from an old Scandinavian personal name + Middle English -bury, manor or manor house.
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-storey high BSI (British Standards Institution) building on Chiswick High Road. Between 1966 and 1992 the block housed a divisional headquarters of IBM UK. Below this building Gunnersbury station serves the Richmond branch of the District line and the London Overground to Stratford.
In August 1921, London General Omnibus Company established a bus overhaul facility off Chiswick High Road. It incorporated a Training School with a bus Skid-Pan. In 1989, London Transport closed the works. In 2001 the site was redeveloped as the Chiswick Business Park with 12 medium density office buildings. It houses companies including SBS Broadcasting Networks, CBS News, Technicolor, Discovery Channel Europe, Intelsat, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Foxtons, and a Virgin Active health club.
Immediately to the east is Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve. An area of woodland, it supports many species of birds, plants, and animals. It has free admission and its entrance is on the south of Bollo Lane, a few yards from Chiswick Park Tube Station.
Gunnersbury lends its name to a nearby secondary school, formerly a Grammar School, in Brentford. Gunnersbury Catholic School is a boys only Catholic comprehensive. It lies on Gunnersbury Avenue and backs on to Gunnersbury Park.
In 1886, Gunnersbury was given its own parish church, dedicated to Saint James. The church stood on Chiswick High Road, near Chiswick Roundabout. The church was decommissioned just over a century later, in 1987, and demolished soon afterwards. The parish was united with that of St Paul's, Brentford.