Middlesex Postcode Category

HA7 (...)

UB3 (...)

UB4 (...)

UB8 (...)

Middlesex Description

Located in southeast England, Middlesex has a rich history. Almost all of its landmass is located inside the Greater London urban region and the ceremonial county of Greater London, with only a few square miles located in the surrounding counties. Three rivers provide much of the county's boundaries; the Thames in the south, the Lea to the east and the Colne to the west. The border with Hertfordshire is delineated by a range of hills to the north.

Middlesex county's name stems from its foundation as the Middle Saxon Province of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Essex, with the county of Middlesex afterwards founded from part of that region in either the ninth or tenth century, and maintaining an administrative unit until 1965. After Rutland, this county is the smallest of England's original counties.

The City of London became a county corporate in the 12th century; this granted it self-governance, and it was also able to impose political power over the rest of Middlesex as the Sheriff of London was given jurisdiction in Middlesex, while the county otherwise remained separate

Geography

The county lies inside the London Basin and the most prominent feature is the River Thames, which marks the southern boundary. The River Lea and the River Colne form natural boundaries to the east and west. The entire south west boundary of Middlesex follows a gently sloping meander of the Thames without hills. At Teddington, where the river flows north-westward, the left (Middlesex) bank is the south-west bank, hence "Middlesex bank" is more correct than "north bank" in many locations. The northern part of the county is characterized by clay, whereas the southern part is dominated by alluvium on gravel.

The boundary is defined by a line of hills that extends in a northwesterly direction, parallel to the easterly and southeastern directions. From the Colne to Barnet Gate Wood, this boundary is delineated by a 20 kilometre hedge of great antiquity. East of the wood the hedge continues, but no longer constitutes the county boundary, suggesting that the eastern half of the boundary is younger.

As the hedge travels east from Barnett Gate Wood, it eventually splits in two at Arkley, with one fork continuing east to Chipping Barnet and Cockfosters and the other forking north to create the parish boundary between Shenley and Ridge, both in Hertforshire. Neither fork is a component of the dividing line between the two counties. The Liberty of St. Albans was established in the late 8th century from portions of the Dioceses of London and Lincoln, which is likely when the county boundaries changed.

Barnet or 'Dollis' valleys cut through the mountains. (South of the boundary, these feed into the Welsh Harp Lake or Brent Reservoir which becomes the River Brent) Because of this, Hertfordshire sticks out into the county in a very long way. The county was once well wooded, with part of it covered by the ancient Forest of Middlesex; Domesday returns for Middlesex suggest that it was roughly 30% wooded (much of it wood-pasture) in 1086, about double the English average. The highest point is the High Road by Bushey Heath at 502 feet (153 m).

Economy

The Middlesex region was home to human settlers for thousands of years before the county was established.

The economy of the county was dependent on the City of London from early times and was predominantly agricultural. Crops such as grain and hay, cattle, and construction materials were all supplied to the City. Coaching, innkeeping, and the sale of goods and services at daily shops and stalls to the substantial passing trade, as well as recreation at day trip sites like Hackney, Islington, Highgate, and Twickenham, generated significant local employment and also constituted part of the early economy.

Tower Division, often known as Tower Hamlets, was an independent police jurisdiction to the east of the City with its own Lord Lieutenant.

The Corporation of London fought attempts to expand the City of London boundaries into rural Middlesex, creating difficulties in the management of local government and justice as London spread throughout the county. This was notably true at the East and West Ends of London, which were located in the southeast of the county in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1855, as a reaction to these difficulties, the highly populated southeast, along with parts of Kent and Surrey, became part of Middlesex and came under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Board of Works for the construction of certain public facilities.

In 1889, when county councils were established, the new administrative County of London absorbed roughly a third of the historic county's land area and population, while the remaining area became the administrative county of Middlesex, governed by the Middlesex County Council, which held its meetings at the Middlesex Guildhall in Westminster. Greater London, an area that included nearly all of the historic county of Middlesex with the rest included in neighboring ceremonial counties, was established in 1965 in response to further suburban growth stimulated by the improvement and expansion of public transportation and the establishment of new industries.