West Drayton (GB)
West Drayton is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District of Middlesex, which became part of Greater London in 1965. The settlement is centred close to the Colne Valley Regional Park 2 ¹⁄₂ miles north of Heathrow Airport.
In 939 the area was known as Draegtun. Tun/ton is cognate with the later form town, but originally implied any kind of farmstead of more than one family. Dray is cognate with draught (as in draft horse/a dray) implying a portage/slope used for dragging loads, or simply notable use of the dragged plough, quite possibly given about 13 other examples in England simply land under till. It is recorded as Draitone in the 1086 Domesday Book, and as Westdrayton in 1465
In the 1086 Domesday Book, West Drayton was assessed at ten hides with land suitable for six ploughs.
The former RAF West Drayton hosted a military air traffic control centre co-located with the civil London Terminal Control Centre residual functions of which relocated to Swanwick, Hampshire entirely by January 2008. The site was redeveloped for housing.
West Drayton was finally issued with the D96 numeral cancel by the Post Office in the lists of 1874
