Gunnersbury
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox UK place Gunnersbury is an area of West London, England.
ToponymyEdit
The name "Gunnersbury" originally meant "Gunner's (Gunnar's) fort", and is a combination of an old Scandinavian personal name + Middle English -bury, meaning, "fort", or "fortified place".<ref>english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/origins-of-english-place-names/</ref>
DevelopmentEdit
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's Mildmay line 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.<ref name="Clegg Pubs">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In August 1921, London General Omnibus Company established a bus overhaul facility off Chiswick High Road.<ref>Inspecting General Overhaul Works Commercial Motor 1 September 1925</ref> It incorporated a Training School with a bus skidpan.<ref>Chiswick London Bus Rally 1983 YouTube clip</ref> In 1989, London Transport closed the works.<ref>BEL grows in London Commercial Motor 20 July 1989</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2001 the site was redeveloped as the Chiswick Business Park with 12 medium density office buildings.<ref>Chiswick Business Park Invest Hounslow</ref><ref>Route 27 Comes to Chiswick Business Park Chiswick Herald</ref> 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.<ref name=LNR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Just to the north of Gunnersbury Triangle, the Chiswick Park Footbridge connects Gunnersbury's Chiswick Business Park with Chiswick Park tube station. It was designed by Expedition Engineering and Useful Studios.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Gunnersbury lends its name to a nearby secondary school, formerly a grammar school, in Brentford. Gunnersbury Catholic School is a boys-only Catholic comprehensive with a co-educational sixth form. It used to be located on Gunnersbury Avenue and it backed on to Gunnersbury Park. Since 1984, it has been located in The Ride, Brentford.
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Gunnersbury Baptist Church.jpg
Gunnersbury Baptist Church
- BSI-building--Gunnersbury-312.JPG
BSI building over Gunnersbury station
- 18th Century Temple at Gunnersbury.JPG
18th-century mock temple in Gunnersbury Park
- Russian-orthodox-church-Chiswick-314.JPG
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, Harvard Road
- Chiswick Park - geograph.org.uk - 8932.jpg
TransportEdit
Nearest tube stationsEdit
Nearest railway stationEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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