Greenford exists as a large town within the London Borough of Ealing, which is in west London. Greenford formerly belonged to the county of Middlesex. Some of the most notable landmark locations within the town include Horsenden Hill, Betham House and a minor Parish church. The Greenford postal area code covers quite a sizeable area.

The first documented mention of the name was in 848 when it was called ‘Grenan Forda’, which was formed through Old English and stands for ‘place at the green ford’. Greenford was once much larger as it consisted of what is now known as Perivale, but at the time the only distinguishable differences between the two locations was that modern day Greenford was referred to as Great Greenford and Perivale was known as Little Greenford. From 1894 to 1926, Greenford formed a major part of the Greenford Urban District, until it was incorporated into the Municipal Borough of Ealing.

>Greenford is often contributed with being the origin of the organic chemical industry because it is the location where William Perkin’s accidentally synthesised Aniline dye whilst trying to artificially create quinine (Which was an expensive natural material which was heavily in demand due to its believed properties for treating Malaria). Most dyes at this time were created through natural sources and were expensive and often degraded quickly- Perkin’s discovery meant that he had created a durable, seemingly cheap alternative, and thus he became rich off the many dyes he went on to create and distribute. This attracted many people to this industry and eventually led to what we know now as the chemical industry. Nowadays, a blue plaque commemorates the building in Greenford where Perkins discovered the substance.

These days, Greenford is home to large number of businesses, including noteworthy organisations such as GSK, IBM, British Bakeries, Royal Mail, Panavision, and many more. It also consists of a number of parks, schools, a heritage centre (which displays a variety of commonplace items that could be found in households around Britain from the past) and is also the site of the London Motorcycle Museum.

Greenford is situated in the London Borough of Ealing in west London. The name Greenford was recorded in 848 as ‘Grenan Forda’ meaning ‘place at the green ford’. The village was centred around the Holy Cross Church which dates back to the Middle Ages.

Greenford is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The population was about 130 people, and they were mainley farmers.There were many farms in Greenford and the former agricultural land called Ravenor farm was brought by the council and retained as open park land. The park opened to the public in 1928. Ravenor Park was used during World War II as an underground air raid shelter.

In 1903 the Great Western Railway opened from Marylebone to High Wycombe with a loop line running south from Greenford to the main line between Hanwell and West Ealing.In 1958 a diesel train service was started between Greenford and Ealing.

Greenford county school, a grammer school for girls and boys was built in 1939 to teach some 600 students. The school survived bombing raids meant for RAF Northolt. The school today teaches 1700 students.

Greenford started to change from a leafy village to a large town as factories such as Glaxo Laboratories, Lyons tea makers and Rockware Glass Syndicate arrived in 1935. This brought many families into the area in the 1930s. By 1951 nearly 33,000 people lived in Greenford.

The council wanted to preserve some open land and in 1932 they acquired Marnhams Field and Horsenden Hill to be protected by the green belt.