Northfields, London

Human settlement in England

Northfields

Northfield Avenue

Northfields

Location within Greater London

OS grid reference| TQ153802
London borough|

* Ealing

Ceremonial county| Greater London
Region|

* London

Country| England
Sovereign state| United Kingdom
Post town| LONDON
Postcode district| W13, W5
Dialling code| 020
Police| Metropolitan
Fire| London
Ambulance| London
UK Parliament|

* Ealing Southall

London Assembly|

* Ealing and Hillingdon

List of places

England
London

51°30′00″N 0°18′54″W﻿ / ﻿51.500°N 0.315°W﻿ / 51.500; -0.315

Northfields is an area in Ealing, west London. It is centred on Northfield Avenue, a shopping street of mostly independent shops and restaurants. It lies partially in the Ealing W5 and partially in west Ealing's W13 postcode. It lies in the southwest corner of Ealing.

From the 14th century this area was part of the manor of Coldhall, or West Ealing. Great and Little Northfields were two large fields in the late Middle Ages, lying in the extreme west of Ealing parish. By the mid-17th century, Northfields Road as it was first called, was constructed to connect Little Ealing (next to South Ealing) to the road to Uxbridge (the current Uxbridge Road running from Shepherds Bush to Uxbridge). Yet the area remained rural, covered in apple orchards into the late nineteenth century.

Today the area is served by the Piccadilly line from Northfields tube station designed by architect Charles Holden and by the E2 and E3 bus services running to Greenford, Ealing, Brentford, Hanwell, Acton and Chiswick, and the N11, a night bus to Central London. Northfields is a middle-class area, with high levels of education, employment and home ownership.[1] It is home to three local authority primary schools, Little Ealing Primary School, Fielding Primary School and Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School.

Northfield Avenue has an annual street festival organised by the local trade association, NABA (Northfield Avenue Business Association). The first festival was held in summer 2007.

## History[edit]

The Plough Inn which marks the junction of Little Ealing Lane and Northfield Avenue was in existence by 1722.[2] Maps of Ealing from 1890 and before show Northfields as almost entirely rural, with just a few houses along Little Ealing Lane.[3] The rest of the area was largely orchards. The arrival of the District Railway in 1883, and the opening of the Northfields Halt in 1908, prompted development of the area.

## Notable residents[edit]

The acrobat and tightrope walker Charles Blondin was best known for his crossing of Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Blondin retired to live in Northfields from 1886 until his death in 1897 in a house on the site of what is now Niagara House, opposite The Plough pub on Northfield Avenue.[4] Blondin Avenue, Blondin Park and Niagara Avenue are named after him; they were formerly the site of part of Hugh Ronalds' renowned nursery.[5]

Between 1815 and 1817 John Quincy Adams, later to become the 6th President of the United States lived with his family at Little Boston House in Windmill Road in Little Ealing in Northfields.[6]

The pop singer Dusty Springfield was a pupil at St Anne's Convent School on Little Ealing Lane in the 1950s.[7]

The BBC Weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker lives in this area.

## Notable buildings[edit]

Former ODEON cinema, now Ealing Christian Centre

A former cinema on Northfield Avenue is the area's only Grade 2* listed building. Built in 1932 in an unusual Spanish style, it closed in 1987 and was converted into the Ealing Christian Centre in 1994.

Other Grade 2 listed buildings in Northfields are:[8]

* Rochester House
* Place House (Ealing Fields High School)
* The Forester public house, architect Nowell Parr
* Northfields tube station[9]
* 53 Northfield Road (Orchard Lofts)

## References[edit]

1. ^ Hidden London
2. ^ Hidden London
3. ^ Ealing c1890
4. ^ "Northfields - Hidden London".
5. ^ Ronalds, B.F. (2017). "Ronalds Nurserymen in Brentford and Beyond". Garden History. 45: 82–100.
6. ^ "An American President in Ealing | Little Ealing History".
7. ^ childrenshomes.org.uk, Peter Higginbotham /. "The Convent, Ealing, Middlesex". www.childrenshomes.org.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
8. ^ http://www.ealing.gov.uk/ealing3/export/sites/ealingweb/services/environment/planning/planning_policy/new_plan_for_the_environment/_volume2/chapter10schedule1009.pdf [dead link]
9. ^ "NORTHFIELDS LONDON REGIONAL TRANSPORT STATION INCLUDING FORECOURT WALLS AND PLATFORMS, non Civil Parish - 1263487 | Historic England".

* v
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London Borough of Ealing

Districts|

* Acton
* Acton Green
* Bedford Park
* Dormers Wells
* Ealing (including Brentham Garden Suburb and Pitshanger)
* East Acton
* Greenford
* Hanger Hill
* Hanwell
* North Acton
* Northolt
* Norwood Green
* Park Royal
* Perivale
* South Acton
* Southall
* West Acton
* West Ealing (including Northfields)

Attractions|

* Ealing Jazz Festival
* Hoover Building
* London Motorcycle Museum
* Museum of Asian Music
* Pitzhanger Manor Gallery and House
* The Questors Theatre
* Wharncliffe Viaduct

Parks and open spaces|

* Blondin Park
* Ealing Common
* Fox Wood
* Grove Farm
* Gunnersbury Triangle
* Horsenden Hill
* Islip Manor Meadows
* Litten Nature Reserve
* Long Wood
* Northala Fields
* Northolt Manor
* Perivale Wood
* Walpole Park

Constituencies|

* Ealing Central and Acton
* Ealing North
* Ealing Southall

Tube and rail stations|

* Acton Central
* Acton Main Line
* Acton Town
* Boston Manor
* Castle Bar Park
* Chiswick Park
* Drayton Green
* Ealing Broadway
* Ealing Common
* Greenford
* Hanger Lane
* Hanwell
* North Acton
* North Ealing
* Northfields
* Northolt
* Northolt Park
* Park Royal
* Perivale
* South Acton
* Southall
* South Ealing
* South Greenford
* Sudbury Town
* West Acton
* West Ealing

Places of worship|

* Ealing Abbey
* Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Southall
* London Buddhist Vihara
* St Alban's, Acton Green
* St Anselm's, Southall
* St Gabriel's, North Acton
* St John's, Ealing
* St Mary's, Ealing
* St Mary's, Hanwell
* St Mary's, Perivale
* St Mary with St Richard, Northolt
* St Peter's, Ealing
* St Stephen's, Ealing
* St Thomas Cathedral, Acton
* St Thomas the Apostle, Hanwell

Other topics|

* Coat of arms
* Council
* Grade I and II* listed buildings
* People
* Public art
* Schools

* Category
* Commons

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Areas of London

Central activities zone|

* Bloomsbury
* City of London wards
* Holborn
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* Southwark
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Town centre
network|

| International|

* Knightsbridge
* West End

|

Metropolitan|

* Bromley
* Croydon
* Ealing
* Harrow
* Hounslow
* Ilford
* Kingston
* Romford
* Shepherd's Bush
* Stratford
* Sutton
* Uxbridge
* Wood Green

Major|

* Angel
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Districts
(principal)|

* Acton
* Beckenham
* Belgravia
* Bethnal Green
* Brentford
* Camberwell
* Canada Water
* Carshalton
* Chadwell Heath
* Chingford
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* Tolworth
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* Twickenham
* Upminster
* Upper Norwood
* Wanstead
* Wealdstone
* Welling
* West Ham
* West Hampstead
* West Norwood
* Whitechapel
* Willesden Green
* Woodford

Neighbourhoods
(principal)|

* Abbey Wood
* Alperton
* Anerley
* Archway
* Barnes
* Barnsbury
* Battersea
* Beckton
* Bermondsey
* Bow
* Brent Cross
* Brockley
* Canonbury
* Charlton
* Chelsea
* Chessington
* Chipping Barnet
* Chislehurst
* Clerkenwell
* Elmers End
* Gidea Park
* Greenford
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* Hackbridge
* Hackney
* Ham
* Hampton
* Hanwell
* Hanworth
* Harold Wood
* Highams Park
* Highbury
* Highgate
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* Hook
* Holloway
* Hoxton
* Ickenham
* Isle of Dogs
* Isleworth
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* Kensal Green
* Kew
* Lambeth
* Manor Park
* Mortlake
* Neasden
* Northolt
* Nunhead
* Plaistow (Newham)
* Poplar
* Roehampton
* Rotherhithe
* Seven Kings
* Seven Sisters
* Shoreditch
* Stamford Hill
* Stepney
* St Helier
* Surrey Quays
* Tottenham
* Upper and Lower Clapton
* Upper Holloway
* Walworth
* Wapping
* West Drayton
* Worcester Park
* Yiewsley

Fictional|

* Canley (borough) (The Bill: TV soap)
* Charnham (suburb) (Family Affairs: TV soap)
* London Below (magical realm) (Neverwhere: TV series, novel)
* Walford (borough) (EastEnders: TV soap)

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