After climbing over the Chiltern Hills by the use of 52 locks from the Marsworth Junction, the Grand Union Canal turns east in Yiewsley to route towards London.

[6] Within the brickearth and gravels deposited by the Thames significant quantities of early human tools were found when commercial excavations began in Yiewsley on an industrial scale in the 19th century.

[6] The principle collector was Robert Galloway Rice (1852-1933), a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries who recorded over 2600 items from the Yiewsley area between approximately 1905 and 1929.

[7] In his 1978 Archaeological Report, Early Man in West Middlesex, The Yiewsley Palaeolithic sites, Palaeontologist Desmond Collins states the following with regard to the archaeological significance of the Yiewsley sites: “..the Yiewsley pits have yielded one of the largest series of Lower Palaeolithic stone hand tools in Europe and the area remains one of the richest Palaeolithic sites in Britain.”[6] “A feature unique to Yiewsley is the presence in a higher level of stone tools of a Middle palaeolithic (Mousterian) date, isolated for the first time, and indicating occupation during the Neanderthal period some 70,000 years ago – a period of man's development otherwise poorly represented in the archaeology of Britain”[6] In 1913–1914,[8] there was the discovery of a Bronze Age urnfield cemetery with the excavation of 14 Deverel-Rimbury cinerary urns.

[10] In the spring of 893, after overwintering at Appledore and then plundering through Kent and Sussex, a Viking raiding army turned to head for the Danish controlled lands in the east (later known as the Danelaw).

[11][12] Yiewsley (or Wifeleslēah) and the land of the Middle Saxons had been part of the Kingdom of Essex but came under Mercian control in the reign of King Æthelbald (716-757AD).

By the time of the siege of Thorney Island in 893, eastern Mercia had conquered by the Danes and with his power diminished Æthelred had been forced to cede overlordship to King Alfred the Great of Wessex.

For the majority of its existence Yiewsley was a hamlet in the Parish of St John the Baptist Church, Hillingdon, with a tenurial relationship with Colham Manor.

[13] In Colham Manor's fertile arable fields in the late 14th century, wheat was the predominant crop grown, but also rye and oats were farmed.

[15] The plentiful and consistent supplies of water from the River Colne had played an important role in Hillingdon Parish becoming a flour milling centre.

At the northern end of the High Street is Yiewsley Grange (Also known as Brookside) which overlooks the River Pinn and is Hillingdon Manor School today.

At Hanwell the canal parted from the Brent and was routed west, following the natural 100 foot contour to avoid the building of expensive and time consuming locks.

It is likely the aqueduct over the Fray's River at Cowley Lock wasn't completed until the Autumn of 1795 with measures undertaken there to allow traffic to pass through.

In 1801 the Paddington Arm of the canal opened from Bulls Bridge near Hayes and would be of national importance as a trade route into and from the Capital.

[19] The building of the canal enabled the bulk transportation of what became known as Cowley (or London) stock bricks, made from Yiewsley's rich deposits of brick-earth.

[20] Although figures for Yiewsley's brick production in the nineteenth century are not available, in July 1879 brickmaker Samuel Pocock stated at a committee of the House of Commons discussing the proposed Langley and Slough Branch of the Grand Junction canal that he had purchased his West Drayton brickfields (south of his existing Hillingdon Parish brickfields at Starveall) in March 1874 and had been making 15-20 million bricks per year.

[22] By the 1890s it is estimated 100 million bricks per year were being produced in West Middlesex supplying the demand for building materials of Victorian London.

The construction of the Great Western Railway (GWR) began in 1835 and the line between Paddington and Maidenhead was opened on 4 June 1838 with West Drayton being its first station.

Having been constructed in Newton-le-Willows by Charles Tayleur & Co., the locomotive, together with another engine called Premier had been taken by barge from the London docks and unloaded between Horton Bridge and West Drayton Station.

[25] On 9 April 1839 the world's first commercial telegraph was inaugurated between Paddington and West Drayton Station by William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.

The 10.25am Exeter Express drawn by the locomotive Prometheus traveling at around 60mph towards Paddington collided with the rear of a stationary Bristol goods train ladened with timber and blocks of Bath stone which was in the process of being moved into sidings.

[25] In 1920 the Admiralty Engineering Laboratory was operational in the south of the Yiewsley Urban District, specializing in experimental work for the Royal Navy.

Gear)[43] for synchronizing machine gun fire through aircraft propellers at his laboratory at the Haddon Engineering Works in Alperton.

Gear was not only more reliable than a mechanical linkage system, but also allowed a higher rate of fire and was readily adaptable to any type of engine and airframe.

Road Machines of Horton Parade employed 250 people manufacturing a range of contractors' plant including weight batching equipment, dumpers and Mono-Rail transporters.

[51] In 1952 James Whitson & Co. moved from Sipson and began manufacturing coaches and fire engines in Yiewsley High Street.

With the Railways becoming the principal form of transportation in the latter half of the 19th century, it would appear businesses believed it was commercially advantageous to adopt West Drayton as their address.

Yiewsley has an active High Street with national retail outlets Tesco, Iceland, B&M Stores, Home Bargains, Aldi and Savers situated on it.

After the opening of the brick-fields, Yiewsley's population started to grow, and work began to provide for the building of a Mission Church (also referred to as a chapel of ease).

West Drayton railway station is located at the southern end of Yiewsley High Street and is on the Great Western Main Line.