Did you know that...
The first Anglo-Saxon settlers arrived in the Uxbridge UB8 area around the year 400. Among them, there was a tribe called the Wixan after which several lands were named. The area now known as Uxbridge UB8 used to be called Wixan’s Bridge.
Remains of human settlements were found in Uxbridge UB8 when the shopping center, The Chimes, was built. It was concluded that the remains date back to the Bronze Age.
Even though Uxbridge has only one canal connecting London with Birmingham, the Grand Union Canal, the area is sometimes called ‘the Venice of West London’.
In 1836, a watermill was built near the Uxbridge Lock. During the ownership of William King, it converted to roller mills and named ‘Kingsmill’ (the name still continues to be used as a brand of one of the best known UK’s bread makers). This mill produced most of London’s flour for about 200 years. The original building of derelict flour mill is used as a set of apartments these days.
One of two shopping centres in the area has had a peculiar construction in the past. Can you imagine shopping in the open air? The Mall opened in 1975 and it didn’t have a roof, so locals still remember how cold it was. Lack of shelter made it unpopular, so a new owner redeveloped it and presented the Pavilions Shopping Centre in the early 1980s. The other shopping centre, intu Uxbridge (formerly The Chimes), has a significant location, as it stands on the site of the old Harman’s brewery, established in Uxbridge in 1763.