Middlesex

• 1. Origins And Toponymy

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  The name Middlesex means territory of the middle Saxons. This phrase derives from Old English words middel and Seaxe. An Anglo-Saxon chronicle written in Latin recorded the area as Middelseaxan in 704. The text described land at Twickenham within that province. The Saxons took their name from a knife called a seax. Their own tongue used this word for the weapon they carried into battle. Early charters show the region was not part of the core territory of Essex. It likely existed independently before becoming part of the Kingdom of the East Saxons. Kings sometimes ruled jointly, suggesting one co-king might have held this domain. The link to Essex endured through the Diocese of London re-established in 604. Boundaries continued based on the Kingdom of Essex until the nineteenth century.

• 2. Administrative Evolution

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  Middlesex County Council met regularly at the Middlesex Guildhall in Westminster after 1889. The Local Government Act 1888 created an administrative county covering about twenty per cent of the historic area. A third of its population lived there when councils were introduced. The remaining parts formed the new administrative county governed by the council. Before 1889, quarter sessions performed most limited administration on a county level. Sessions houses included Hicks Hall in Clerkenwell from 1612 to 1782. The Middlesex Sessions House stood on Clerkenwell Green from 1782 to 1921. The City of London Corporation chose the High Sheriff until that year. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works took responsibility for infrastructure in the densely populated southeast. The system remained chaotic despite these innovations. Rural areas saw parishes grouped for different administrative purposes from 1875. These bodies became urban or rural sanitary districts under later acts.

• 3. Metropolitan Expansion

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  Radial railway lines built from 1839 caused a fundamental shift away from agricultural supply. Tottenham, Edmonton and Enfield developed first as working-class residential suburbs with easy access to central London. The line to Windsor through Middlesex was completed in 1848. The railway to Potters Bar finished construction in 1850. The Metropolitan and District Railways started extensions into the county in 1878. Tram and bus networks reached districts like Acton, Willesden, Ealing and Hornsey closer to London. Public transport came under control of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. A New Works Programme enhanced services during the 1930s. Areas such as Hayes and Park Royal became ideal locations for new industries after World War I. Population growth continued rising until it peaked in 1951. Twickenham Studios were established in 1913 to host film industry facilities. Other studios included Cricklewood Studios, Gainsborough Pictures, Isleworth Studios, Kew Bridge Studios and Southall Studios.

• 4. Abolition And Redistricting

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  The London Government Act 1963 came into force on the 1st of April 1965. This legislation abolished the administrative counties of Middlesex and London. Nearly all of the historic county area became part of Greater London under the Greater London Council. Eighteen former metropolitan boroughs merged to form seven inner London boroughs including Camden, Hackney, Hammersmith, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Tower Hamlets and Westminster. Outer London boroughs formed from the remaining areas included Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames. The urban district of Potters Bar became part of Hertfordshire. Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames districts moved to Surrey. A judicial area named Middlesex existed from 1965 until its abolition on the 1st of July 2003. The Administration of Justice Act 1964 altered jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court and abolished the Middlesex magistracy.

• 5. Geography And Environment

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  The River Thames formed the southern boundary of the county. The River Lea and the River Colne created natural boundaries to the east and west respectively. Much of the south-west boundary followed a gently descending meander without hills. The largely low-lying county was dominated by clay in its north and alluvium on gravel in its south. Domesday returns for Middlesex indicate it was around 30% wooded in 1086. This figure was about double the English average at that time. The highest point is the High Road by Bushey Heath. Bentley Priory Nature Reserve houses Middlesex's oldest tree known as The Master Oak. A 20 kilometre hedge of great antiquity marked the boundary from the Colne to Barnet Gate Wood. The county was once well covered by the ancient Forest of Middlesex. Many woods were bypassed when suburbs swept over the land but remained preserved.