Gunnersbury is an area of

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...

, England.

Toponymy

The name "Gunnersbury" originally meant "Gunner's (Gunnar's) fort", and is a combination of an old Scandinavian personal name +

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

-''bury'', meaning, "fort", or "fortified place".

Development

Gunnersbury consists mainly of pre-war housing of a variety of types, including flats, terrace, semi detached, and

detached houses A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling. Definitions ...

, some of which are ex-local authority built. The defining symbol of Gunnersbury is the 18-storey high BSI (

British Standards Institution The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the Standards organization, national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies standards certification services ...

) building on

Chiswick High Road Chiswick High Road is the principal shopping and dining street of Chiswick, a district in the west of London. It was part of the main Roman road running west out of London, and remained the main road until the 1950s when the A4 was built across ...

. Between 1966 and 1992 the block housed a divisional headquarters of

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

UK. Below this building

Gunnersbury station Gunnersbury () is an interchange station in Gunnersbury, London, situated on the District line of the London Underground and the Mildmay line of the London Overground. The station is located off Chiswick High Road ( A315) and opened on 1 January ...

serves the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

branch of the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines), Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One br ...

and the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

Mildmay line The Mildmay line is the service operated by London Overground on the North London and West London railway lines. It passes through the inner suburbs of London, between Richmond and Clapham Junction in the south-west and Stratford in the east, ...

to Stratford. On the north side of the High Road is The Gunnersbury, formerly the John Bull pub, built in 1853, with a billiards saloon built a little later. It became a music venue, visited by bands including

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

. In August 1921,

London General Omnibus Company The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer. Overview The London General Omnibus Company was f ...

established a bus overhaul facility off Chiswick High Road. It incorporated a Training School with a bus skidpan. 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 CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

Discovery Channel Europe Discovery Channel (Europe) is the Pan-European version of the Discovery Channel. Over the years, the Discovery Channel has been split into many different channels for specific regions. Most language regions in Western Europe now have their own v ...

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly Intel-Sat, Intelsat) is a Luxembourgish-American multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed ...

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

Foxtons Foxtons Group plc is a British estate agency company dealing with both lettings and sales. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. History Foxtons was founded by Jon Hunt in 1981 in Notting Hill, London, as a two-person estate agency. ...

, and a

Virgin Active Virgin Active Limited is a chain of health clubs in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Italy, Australia, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom. History Virgin Active was founded in 1999. Their first club opened in Preston, Lancashire that ...

health club. Immediately to the east is

Gunnersbury Triangle Gunnersbury Triangle is a local nature reserve in Chiswick, in the London boroughs of London Borough of Ealing, Ealing and London Borough of Hounslow, Hounslow, immediately to the east of Gunnersbury. It was created in 1983 when, for the firs ...

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 Chiswick Park () is a London Underground station in the Acton Green, London, Acton Green district of Chiswick in West London. The station is served by the District line and is between Turnham Green tube station, Turnham Green and Acton Town tub ...

. Just to the north of Gunnersbury Triangle, the Chiswick Park Footbridge connects Gunnersbury's

Chiswick Business Park Chiswick Business Park is a business park in Gunnersbury, West London, fronting on to Chiswick High Road. History Bus maintenance site The land on which the Chiswick Business Park was built had been owned by the Rothschild family and planted ...

with Chiswick Park tube station. It was designed by

Expedition Engineering Expedition Engineering is a London-based consulting firm, delivering structural engineering services. History Expedition Engineering was founded in 1999 by Professor Chris Wise (engineer for the Millennium Bridge, London) and Seán Walsh, ...

and Useful Studios. Gunnersbury lends its name to a nearby secondary school, formerly a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. Gunnersbury Catholic School is a boys-only

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

comprehensive with a co-educational sixth form. It used to be located on Gunnersbury Avenue and it backed on to

Gunnersbury Park Gunnersbury Park is a park between Acton, Brentford, Chiswick and Ealing, West London, England. Purchased for the nation from the Rothschild family, it was opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, then Minister of Health, on 21 May 1926. ...

. Since 1984, it has been located in The Ride, Brentford. In 1886, Gunnersbury was given its own

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, dedicated to Saint James. The church stood on

, 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. File:Gunnersbury Baptist Church.jpg, Gunnersbury Baptist Church File:BSI-building--Gunnersbury-312.JPG, BSI building over

File:18th Century Temple at Gunnersbury.JPG, 18th-century mock temple in

Image:Russian-orthodox-church-Chiswick-314.JPG,

Russian Orthodox Church Abroad The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (), also called Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia or ROCOR, or Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Currently, t ...

, Harvard Road File:Chiswick_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_8932.jpg,

Transport

Nearest tube stations

Acton Town tube station Acton Town is a London Underground station in the south-west corner of Acton, West London, in the London Borough of Ealing, close to its boundary with the London Borough of Hounslow. The station is served by the District and Piccadilly lines ...

Toponymy

Development

Transport

Nearest tube stations

Nearest railway station

References

External links