Hanwell, Middlesex

Description
Hanwell, a village and a parish in Middlesex. The village stands on the river Brent, adjacent to the G.W.R., on which it has a station, near the Grand Junction Canal, 2 1/2 miles NNW from Brentford; was known at Domesday as Hanewelle, belonged then to Westminster Abbey; has a post, money order, and telegraph office in the Ealing suburban district (W), and a police station. It is governed by a local board of nine members, formed in 1885. The parish includes also the hamlet of Dormans Wells, and comprises 1054 acres of land and 13 of water; population, 6139. The manor belongs to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Hanwell Park, Brent Lodge, The Spring, and The Grove are chief residences, and there are many good villas. The extensive buildings of the Central London District School stand on Cuckoo Farm, and afford accommodation for upwards of 1300 children. The Middlesex county asylum for pauper lunatics bears the name of Hanwell Asylum, but is beyond the parish, within Norwood precinct, was erected at a cost of £125, 000, stands so on an eminence as to be well seen over a long distance around, has undergone great improvement, possesses large gardens with beautiful walks, and contains accommodation for about 1900 inmates. A viaduct of 8 arches takes the railway here over the Brent. There are market-gardens. The living is a rectory in the diocese of London; gross value, £530 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of London. The church was rebuilt in 1841 at a cost of £4000, is a handsome edifice in the Early English style, and contains the remains of Jonas Hanway, the founder of the Marine Society. St Mark's Church, which was erected' in 1883, is a building of brick in the Gothic style. There are Baptist, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan chapels, a Roman Catholic convalescent home, two cemeteries, and charities worth about £150 a year.