Ealing - Definition and Overview

Ealing is an area in west London, in the London Borough of Ealing. Archaeological evidence shows that some parts of Ealing have been occupied for at least 7,000 years - iron age pots have been discovered on Horsenden Hill. The name Ealing comes from the Saxon place-name Gillingas, and a settlement is recorded here in the twelfth century, amid a great forest that carpeted the area to the west of London. As London developed, the area became predominantly market gardens. In the 1850s with improved travel (the Great Western Railway (God's Wonderful Railway) and two branches of the Grand Union Canal) villages started to grow into towns, and then merged into unbroken residential areas. Ealing Studios put the place on the map, culturally, with a series of well-known comedies - Kind Hearts & Coronets, Passport to Pimlico, The Ladykillers, etc. The studios were taken over by the BBC in 1955, and bits of Ealing started appearing in television programmes ranging from Doctor Who to Monty Python's Flying Circus.

External links

If you are interested in the area, some of these links may be of interest to you:

• Ealing Cycling Campaign (http://www.ealingcycling.org.uk)
• Ealing Friends of the Earth (http://www.ealingfoe.org.uk)
• Ealing Liberal Democrats (http://www.ealinglibdems.org.uk)
• Ealing Online for pubs, restaurants, schools, etc. (http://www.lammas.com)
• Ealing Biz - a local business and amenities directory (http://www.ealingbiz.co.uk)
• Ealing-Web guide to Ealing (http://www.ealing-web.com/home.htm)
• Knowhere guide to Ealing (http://knowhere.co.uk/560.html)
• Ealing Consortium provides supported housing and community care services for people with special needs (http://www.ealing.org.uk)
• Ealing Public Library (http://galaxy.ealing.gov.uk)
• Ealing London Farmers' Market (http://www.lfm.org.uk/ealing.asp)
• Ealing Film Festival (http://www.ealingfilmfestival.co.uk)
• Ealing Symphony Orchestra (http://www.peeco.demon.co.uk)
• Pitshanger Manor Museum (http://www.speel.demon.co.uk/other/pitshang.htm)
• The West Ealing Home Zone (http://www.fiveroadsforum.org)