Актон: История и современность лондонского пригорода

Town in Greater London, England

Acton ('/æ//k//t//ə//n///) is a town and area in west London, England, within the London Borough of Ealing. It is 6.1 mile (10 km) west of Charing Cross. At the 2011 census, its four wards, East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 62,480, a ten year increase of 8,791 people. North Acton, West Acton, East Acton, South Acton, Acton Green, Acton Town, Acton Vale and Acton Central are all parts of Acton. Acton means "oak farm" or "farm by oak trees", and is derived from the Old English āc (oak) and tūn (farm). flakes

Landholders figuring in county records were resident by 1222 and houses were recorded from the late 13th century. The main settlement, Church Acton or Acton town, lay slightly west of the centre of the parish along the highway to Oxford (Uxbridge Road) at the 5 mile post out of London. By 1380 some of the tenements, such as The Tabard and The Cock, along the south side of the road, were inns. The hamlet of East Acton, mentioned in 1294, consisted of farmhouses and cottages north and south of common land known as East Acton green by 1474. There were 241 inhabited houses in 1801 and 426 by 1831. Growth took place mainly in the established residential neighbourhoods of Acton town and East Acton, but Acton Green also had acquired a cluster of cottages and houses at the bottom of Acton Lane by 1842. Acton was mostly rural in 1831. The few mansions contrasted sharply with most of the houses, which were described as 'beneath mediocrity of character'. Despite an overall rise in the number of houses, poor rates had to be increased in the 1820s because of a growing number of empty dwellings. the last laundry closed in the late 1970s and is now a low redbrick block of flats. The parish of Acton formed a local board of health in 1865 and became an urban district in 1894. In 1895, Acton Cemetery was opened on farmland near to what is now North Acton Station.

The town was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Acton in 1921. This authority combined with the municipal boroughs of Ealing and Southall to form the London Borough of Ealing, within Greater London, in 1965. Acton formed an urban district and, later, municipal borough of Middlesex from 1894 to 1965. Its former area was used to form part of the London Borough of Ealing in 1965. During the 20th century Acton was a major industrial centre employing tens of thousands of people, particularly in the motor vehicles and components industries. The industries of North Acton merged with the great industrial concentrations of Park Royal and Harlesden. One of the most important firms was Renault which made cars, including the 4CV and Dauphine, at a factory in North Acton from 1926 until 1960. Renault has remained on the site continuously since the 1920s and still has its main London showroom on the Park Royal site. Further south Acton Vale had famous names including Napier & Son (engines), H. Bronnley & Co (Soaps), Evershed & Vignoles (electrical equipment), Lucas CAV (automotive electrical), Vandervell Products (bearings), and Wilkinson Sword (swords and razors).

Acton is now principally residential, though it maintains some light industry, particularly in the northeast Park Royal area, and the south near the border with Chiswick. Waitrose started in Acton, as Waite, Rose and Taylor on the High Street near the police station with its second branch opening in Churchfield Road in 1913. Acton is home to the largest housing estate in west London, the South Acton estate, with approximately 2,000 homes and 5,800 residents. This area is currently in the Phase 2 of a major 15 year phased regeneration which includes near total demolition of the existing residential units, and the construction of new and more numerous residential units. Since World War II, Acton has had a small but notable population of Polish immigrants. In recent years, a number of Antipodean immigrants have settled there; there are several Australian and South African pubs concentrated in a small area. The Japanese School in London has also attracted a Japanese community to West Acton. East Acton's King Fahd Academy is also attracting Arab and mainly Saudi immigrants to the area. The Somali community is concentrated around Church Road, and there are two mosques near the High Street. The Irish community has diminished somewhat in recent years, but there are still a number of Irish pubs in the area. Acton will host the starting point of the 25 kilometre Thames Tideway Tunnel (also known as the "Super Sewer") at the Acton Storm Tanks in Canham Road. This will be built to avoid the discharge of sewage from Combined Sewer Overflow into the River Thames.

The Acton High Street has a range of pubs which vary in theme and clientele. The recently refurbished 'Mount' on Acton High Street hosts a Market on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Visitors can shop at stalls selling a range of produce. Acton's library, swimming baths (built in 1904) and Town Hall are examples of tall Victorian municipal buildings that can be found along the High Street. Acton Swimming Baths closed in December 2011 for a three year development project, replacing the existing pools with a 25m 8 lane pool and a smaller teaching pool. The site reopened in April 2014
An indoor climbing wall opened on the high street, housed in a building constructed in the 1920s as an Art Deco cinema. The building was later used as a bingo hall before being refurbished into a bouldering centre. On the east end of Acton High Street is Acton Park, which features mini golf, bar and pizza restaurant operated by Putt in the Park. The South Eastern corner of the park includes tennis courts, outdoor fitness equipment and a multi purpose basketball and 5 a side football court. The park also features a large children's play area including an adventure playground partially created from local trees felled during a storm, a pond, an art block and Acton Skate Park, run by the Ealing Skatepark Association, which opened in April 2019.

There are six state funded primary schools in Acton, Berrymede Junior School, Derwentwater Primary School, East Acton Primary School, St Vincent's RC Primary School, West Acton Primary School, West Twyford Primary School. The Ark (charity) has opened two primary academies in Acton, Ark Priory Primary Academy in 2013 and Ark Byron Primary Academy in 2015, the latter is based in Acton Park.

Acton has three state funded secondary high schools, Ark Acton Academy (formerly Acton High School), Twyford Church of England High School and The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls, and an independent school, the Barbara Speake Stage School. Acton was once home to another independent school, Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls before it changed its site to Elstree, the Acton site becoming the Cardinal Newman Roman Catholic High School.

The Japanese School in London is in Acton.

Leo Sayer's 1983 single Orchard Road refers to Acton's Churchfield Road. In the TV series Minder, Arthur Daley's car lot was by the railway bridge in The Vale with the door of the Winchester Club in Newburgh Road off Churchfield Road. The lock up was on the Bush Industrial Estate. Minder locations in Acton featured throughout series 7 to 10. The first Waitrose store in the UK was in Acton. Originally called "Waite, Rose and Taylor", it opened in 1904, at number 263 Acton Hill. A metal plate commemorating this has been inserted into the pavement outside these premises as it was not possible to obtain permission from the current owners of the building to affix a plaque onto it. The TV series Motherland used locations in Acton and Chiswick including Southfield Primary School, Southfield Park (episode 'Good Job' Series 2) and Acton Park ('Christmas Special' 2020).

London Buses routes 7, 70, 72, 94, 95, 207, 218, 228, 260, 266, 272, 283, 306, 427, 440, 487, E3, N7, N11, N207 and SL8 serve Acton.

Transport for London, led by then Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, proposed to build a West London Tram between Shepherd's Bush and Uxbridge town centre. It would have run along the A4020, the Uxbridge Road, through Acton, Ealing, West Ealing, Hanwell, Southall and Hayes End. This proposed scheme was highly controversial and resulted in strong differences in opinion between TfL, who supported the scheme, and local councils throughout the proposed route, who all took a 'no tram' stance. The West London Tram was finally scrapped when former Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed that the long awaited Crossrail would go ahead in October 2007. Acton Main Line railway station is now a station on the Elizabeth line, delivered by the Crossrail project, with 4 trains per hour in each direction.