View source for Middlesex

{{Short description|Historic county of England}}
{{About|the historic county in England}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox historic subdivision
<!-- Header -->
| Name                  = Middlesex
| subdivision_type      = [[historic counties of England|Historic county]]
| AltName               = 
| Image                 = 
| image_caption         = 
| flag_image              = [[File:Flag of Middlesex.svg|150px]]
| flag_link               = Flag of Middlesex
| arms_image              = [[File:Arms of Middlesex County Council.svg|100px]]
| arms_link               = Coat of arms of Middlesex
<!-- Geography -->
| Map                   = [[File:Middlesex Brit Isles Sect 5.svg|150px|Middlesex 1066–1888]]
| map_caption           = Middlesex within Great Britain as of 1888
| coordinates           = {{coord|51|30|N|0|25|W|display=title, inline|region:GB_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki}}
| AreaFirst             = {{convert|181320|acre|km2|0|order=flip|abbr=on}}<ref name=vic_pop/>
| AreaFirstYear         = 1801/1881
| AreaSecond            = 
| AreaSecondYear        = 
| AreaThird             = {{convert|148701|acre|km2|1|order=flip|abbr=on}}<ref name=vision_mddx/>
| AreaThirdYear         = 1911
| AreaLast              = {{convert|148691|acre|km2|1|order=flip|abbr=on}}<ref name=vision_mddx/>
| AreaLastYear          = 1961
| area_lost1            = Metropolitan parishes
| lost_to1              = [[County of London]]
| area_lost_year1       = 1889

<!-- History -->
| Origin                = [[Middle Saxons]]
| preceded_by           = [[Kingdom of Essex]]
| Start                 = [[Ancient counties of England|Early Middle Ages]]
| year_end              = 1965
|
<!-- Demography -->
| PopulationFirst       = 818,129<ref name=vic_pop>{{cite web | url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22159 | title=Table of population, 1801–1901 | publisher=A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 22 | year=1911 | access-date= 20 February 2008}}</ref>
| PopulationFirstYear   = 1801
| PopulationSecond      = 2,920,485<ref name=vic_pop/>
| PopulationSecondYear  = 1881
| PopulationThird       = 1,126,465<ref name=vision_mddx>{{cite vob|name=Middlesex|population=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10061441&c_id=10001043&add=N | area= http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_AREA_A&u_id=10061441&c_id=10001043&add=Y | density=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_rate_page.jsp?u_id=10061441&c_id=10001043&data_theme=T_POP&id=0 | accessdate=20 February 2008}}</ref>
| PopulationThirdYear   = 1911
| PopulationLast        = 2,234,543<ref name=vision_mddx/>
| PopulationLastYear    = 1961
| DensityFirst          = {{convert|4.5|PD/acre|order=flip}}
| DensityFirstYear      = 1801
| DensitySecond         = {{convert|16.1|PD/acre|order=flip}}
| DensitySecondYear     = 1881
| DensityThird          = {{convert|7.6|PD/acre|order=flip}}
| DensityThirdYear      = 1911
| DensityLast           = {{convert|15|PD/acre|disp=flip}}
| DensityLastYear       = 1961
| Status                = [[Ceremonial counties of England|Ceremonial county]] (until 1965)<br />[[Administrative counties of England|Administrative county]] (1889–1965)
| Government            = [[Middlesex Quarter Sessions]] (until 1889){{NoteTag|The Middlesex Quarter Sessions had jurisdiction in Westminster, but not the Tower Liberty.}}<br />Within the metropolis:<br />[[Metropolitan Board of Works]] (1855–1889)<br />[[Middlesex County Council]] (1889–1965)
| Motto                 = 
| HQ                    = ''[[#County town|see text]]''
| CodeName              = [[Chapman code]]
| Code                  =  MDX{{NoteTag|Historic boundaries excluding the [[City of London]], which is code LND.}}
<!-- Subdivisions -->
| Divisions             = [[Hundred (county subdivision)|Hundreds]] (ancient)<br />[[History of local government districts in Middlesex|Districts]] (1835–1965)
| DivisionsNames        = 
| divisions_map_caption = 
<!-- Memberships -->
| membership_title1     = 
| membership1           = 
| membership_title2     = 
| membership2           = 
| membership_title3     = 
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| membership_title4     = 
| membership4           = 
| membership_title5     = 
| membership5           = 
}}

'''Middlesex''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɪ|d|əl|s|ɛ|k|s|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Middlesex.wav}}; abbreviation: '''Middx''') is a [[Historic counties of England|former county]] in [[South East England]],<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Francis Sheppard |author2=Victor Belche |author3=Philip Cottrell |title=The Middlesex and Yorkshire deeds registries and the study of building fluctuations |journal=The London Journal |date=1979 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=176–217 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Online|doi=10.1179/ldn.1979.5.2.176}}</ref> now mainly within [[Greater London]]. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the [[River Thames|Thames]] in the south, the [[River Lea|Lea]] to the east and the [[River Colne, Hertfordshire|Colne]] to the west. A line of hills formed its northern boundary with [[Hertfordshire]]. The county was the [[List of counties of England by area in 1831|second smallest]] of the historic counties of England, after [[Rutland]].

The name of the county derives from its origin as a homeland for the [[Middle Saxons]] in the early [[Middle Ages]],<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |last=Kessler |first=P. L. |title=Kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons - Middle Saxons |url=https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/EnglandMiddlesex.htm |access-date=29 April 2024 |website=The History Files |language=en}}</ref> with the county subsequently  part of that territory in the ninth or tenth century. The [[City of London]], formerly part of the county, became a self governing [[county corporate]] in the twelfth century; the City was still able to exert influence as the [[sheriffs of London]] maintained their jurisdiction in Middlesex, though the county otherwise remained separate.<ref name="vch_middlesex">{{cite book |author= Victoria County History |title= A history of the County of Middlesex |volume= 2 |pages= 15–60. Paragraph 12 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22153 |access-date= 2 April 2012|author-link= Victoria County History }}</ref> To the east of the City, the [[Tower division|Tower Division (or Tower Hamlets)]] had considerable autonomy under [[Constable of the Tower|its own Lord Lieutenant]]. To the west, precincts around [[Westminster]] and [[Charing Cross]] became built up. 

Despite London's expansion into rural Middlesex, the [[Corporation of London]] resisted attempts to expand the [[City of London]] boundaries into the county, posing problems for the administration of local government, public infrastructure, and justice. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the population density was especially high in the southeast of the county, including the [[East End of London|East]] and [[West End of London|West Ends]] of London. In 1855 the densely populated southeast, together with sections of [[Kent]] and [[Surrey]], came under the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]] for certain infrastructure purposes, while remaining a part of Middlesex.<ref name="saint">Saint, A., ''Politics and the people of London: the London County Council (1889–1965)'' (1989)</ref> The [[Metropolitan Police]] also developed in the nineteenth century.

When [[county council]]s were introduced in 1889, about twenty per cent of the area of the historic county, along with a third of its population, was incorporated into the new [[Administrative counties of England|administrative]] [[County of London]]. The remainder formed the administrative county of Middlesex, governed by the [[Middlesex County Council]],<ref name="barlow">Barlow, I., ''Metropolitan Government'', (1991)</ref> which met regularly at the [[Middlesex Guildhall]] in Westminster. Further suburban growth, stimulated by the improvement and expansion of public transport,<ref name="wolmar">Wolmar, C., ''The Subterranean Railway'', (2004)</ref> as well as the setting up of [[Second Industrial Revolution|new industries]], led to the creation of [[Greater London]] in 1965, an area which included almost all of the historic county of Middlesex, with the rest included in neighbouring ceremonial counties.<ref name="vision_mx" />

==Governance==
[[Image:Diocese of London Survey by John Harris 1714.jpg|thumb|264px|right|Middlesex as part of the Diocese of London in 1714. The diocese was based on the East Saxon kingdom, and was probably originally larger than shown here.]]
[[File:Map of Middlesex, drawn by Thomas Kitchin, geographer, 1769.jpg|thumbnail|Map of Middlesex, drawn by [[Thomas Kitchin]], geographer, engraver to the Duke of York, 1769]]
[[File:Gray1824 middlesex.jpg|thumb|Map of Middlesex, 1824. Note: west is at the top.]]

===Origin and toponymy===
The county has its roots in the settlement of the [[Middle Saxons]].<ref name="auto"/> The extent of the province is not clear, and probably varied over time, but it is clear that it occupied at least the area of the current county and much of [[Hertfordshire]]. Although the province appeared to have come under the dominion of, and is only ever recorded as a part of the [[Kingdom of the East Saxons]], charter evidence shows that it was not part of their core territory. However, it is probable the county was independent at some point.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stephenson |first=Carl |date=November 1944 |title=Anglo-Saxon England. By F. M. Stenton. [The Oxford History of England, edited by G. N. Clark.] Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1943. Pp. vii, 748. $7.50. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/abs/anglosaxon-england-by-f-m-stenton-the-oxford-history-of-england-edited-by-g-n-clark-oxford-the-clarendon-press-1943-pp-vii-748-750/2043C67699F9853C35D136AF5EC803DD |journal=The Journal of Economic History |language=en |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=216–217 |doi=10.1017/S0022050700081407 |issn=1471-6372|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

At times, Essex was ruled jointly by co-Kings, and it is thought that the Middle Saxon province is likely to have been the domain of one of these co-kings.<ref>Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England, Chapter 3, Barbara Yorke, 1990, Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-16639-X}}</ref> This link to Essex endured through the [[Diocese of London]], re-established in 604 as the East Saxon see, and its boundaries continued to be based on the [[Kingdom of Essex]] until the nineteenth century.

The name means ''territory of the [[middle Saxons]]''. The word is formed from the [[Old English]], 'middel' and '[[Seax]]e'<ref name=mills>{{Harvnb|Mills|2001|p=151}}</ref> ('Saxons') ({{abbreviation|cf.|compare}} [[Essex#History|Essex]], [[Sussex#Toponymy|Sussex]] and [[Wessex]]). In 704, it is recorded as ''Middleseaxon'' in an Anglo-Saxon chronicle, written in Latin, about land at Twickenham. The Latin text reads: "''in prouincia quæ nuncupatur Middelseaxan Haec''".<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=de Gray Birch |editor1-first=Walther |title=Cartularium Saxonicum: A Collection of Charters Relating to Anglo-Saxon History (Cambridge Library Collection – Medieval History) (Volume 1 |date=24 May 2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1108045070 |pages=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ysgq2XUV_KgC&q=%27in+prouincia+qu%C3%A6+nuncupatur+Middelseaxan+Haec&pg=PA163 |access-date=30 November 2018}}</ref>

The [[Saxon]]s derived their name, ''Seaxe'' in their own tongue, from the ''[[seax]]'', a kind of knife for which they were known. The seax appears in the heraldry of the English counties of [[Essex]] and Middlesex, each of which bears three seaxes in their ceremonial emblem, or rather the Tudor heralds' idea of what a seax looked like, portrayed in each case like a [[falchion]] or [[scimitar]]. The names 'Middlesex', 'Essex', '[[Sussex]]' and '[[Wessex]]', contain the name 'Seaxe'.

===Early county government===
{{Further|List of places in Middlesex}}
{{Further|History of local government districts in Middlesex}}

It is not known exactly when Middlesex was established as a county, possibly the early tenth century,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rippon|first1=Stephen|title=Kingdom, Civitas and County|date=2018 |orig-year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-875937-9|pages=320–321}} p8</ref> but it is clear that it did not cover the whole of the former [[Middle Saxons|Middle Saxon Province]] of Essex. It was recorded in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as being divided into the six [[hundred (country subdivision)|hundreds]] of [[Edmonton (hundred)|Edmonton]], [[Elthorne (hundred)|Elthorne]], [[Gore (hundred)|Gore]], Hounslow ([[Isleworth (hundred)|Isleworth]] in all later records),<ref name=isleworth>{{cite web |url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22269 |title=The hundred of Isleworth |publisher = A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3 |year=1962 |access-date=20 February 2008 }}</ref> [[Ossulstone]] and [[Spelthorne (hundred)|Spelthorne]]. The [[City of London]] has been self-governing since the thirteenth century and became a county in its own right, a [[county corporate]].{{NoteTag|The City of London continues to be a county distinct from Greater London.}} Middlesex also included [[City and Liberty of Westminster|Westminster]], which was separate from the City of London. [[Westminster Abbey]] dominated the area of Westminster, until the [[Dissolution of the monasteries|Dissolution of the Monasteries]] greatly reduced its influence. A [[Westminster Court of Burgesses|Court of Burgesses]] was established, in 1585, to fill the power vacuum left behind by the Abbey.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Background - Westminster - London Lives |url=https://www.londonlives.org/static/WestminsterLocalGovernment.jsp |access-date=2 May 2022 |website=www.londonlives.org}}</ref><ref name="rural_old">{{cite web |title=The Proceedings of the Old Bailey |url=http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/history/london-life/rural-middlesex.html |access-date=20 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026152503/http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/history/london-life/rural-middlesex.html |archive-date=26 October 2007}}</ref>

Of the six hundreds, Ossulstone contained the districts closest to the City of London. During the 17th century it was divided into four divisions, which, along with the [[Liberty of Westminster]], largely took over the administrative functions of the hundred. The divisions were named [[Finsbury division|Finsbury]], [[Holborn division|Holborn]], [[Kensington division|Kensington]] and [[Tower division|Tower]].<ref name=ossulstone>{{cite vob |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10031163 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224083334/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10031163 |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 December 2012 |name=Ossulstone hundred |accessdate=20 February 2008 }} {{Cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10031163 |title=Ossulstone Hundred : Relationships and change |access-date=20 February 2008 |archive-date=24 December 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224083334/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10031163 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The county had [[Parliamentary representation from Middlesex|parliamentary representation]] from the 13th century.

Middlesex outside the metropolitan area remained largely rural until the middle of the 19th century and so the special boards of local government for various metropolitan areas were late in developing. Other than the Cities of London and Westminster, there were no ancient [[borough]]s.<ref name=sessions>London Metropolitan Archives – [http://217.154.230.218/NR/rdonlyres/EAC40083-0CF8-491A-909E-19E4165F9B7B/0/infono25.pdf A Brief Guide to the Middlesex Sessions Records] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704190912/http://217.154.230.218/NR/rdonlyres/EAC40083-0CF8-491A-909E-19E4165F9B7B/0/infono25.pdf |date=4 July 2011 }}, (2009). Retrieved 26 July 2009.</ref> The importance of the hundred courts declined, and such local administration as there was divided between "county business" conducted by the [[justice of the peace|justices of the peace]] meeting in [[quarter sessions]], and the local matters dealt with by parish vestries. As the suburbs of London spread into the area, unplanned development and outbreaks of [[cholera]] forced the creation of [[local board of health|local boards]] and [[poor law union]]s to help govern most areas; in a few cases parishes appointed [[improvement commissioners]].<ref>{{harvnb|Robbins|2003|pp=199–205}}</ref> In rural areas, parishes began to be grouped for different administrative purposes. From 1875 these local bodies were designated as urban or rural sanitary districts.<ref>Royston Lambert, ''Central and Local Relations in Mid-Victorian England: The Local Government Act Office, 1858–71'', ''Victorian Studies'', Vol. 6, No. 2. (Dec. 1962), pp. 121–150.</ref>

===Tower Division===
The [[Tower division|Tower division, better known as the Tower Hamlets]], was an area in the Southeast of the county covering what is now the [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets]] as well as most of what is now the [[London Borough of Hackney]]. The territory had its origin in the medieval [[Stepney#Manor and Ancient Parish|Manor of Stepney]].

The area was unusual in combining [[Hundred (county subdivision)|Hundred]] and many County responsibilities, to form a "county within a county" comparable to one of the [[Ridings of Yorkshire]]. Of particular note was its military autonomy: it had its own [[Lord-Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets]] and was thus independent of the [[Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex]].

===Metropolitan challenges===
[[File:Map_of_Middlesex.jpg|thumb|right|County of Middlesex ({{small|{{Circa|1891–1895}}}})]]
{{Further|Population of Middlesex (1801–1881)}}
By the 19th century, the [[East End of London]] had expanded to the eastern boundary with Essex, and the [[Tower division]], an area which approximated to the East End, had reached a population of over a million.<ref name=vic_pop/> When the railways were built, the north western suburbs of London steadily spread over large parts of the county.<ref name=wolmar/> The areas closest to London were served by the [[Metropolitan Police]] from 1829, and from 1840 the entire county was included in the [[Metropolitan Police District]].<ref name=met>Order in Council enlarging the Metropolitan Police District (SI 1840 5001)</ref>

Local government in the county was unaffected by the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]], and civic works continued to be the responsibility of the individual parish vestries or ''ad hoc'' [[improvement commissioners]].<ref>''Local Government Areas 1834 -1945'', V D Lipman, Oxford, 1949</ref><ref>[[Joseph Fletcher (statistician)|Joseph Fletcher]], ''The Metropolis; its Boundaries, Extent, and Divisions for Local Government'' in ''Journal of the Statistical Society of London'', Vol. 7, No. 2. (June 1844), pp. 103–143.</ref> From 1855, the parishes of the densely populated area in the south east, but excluding the City of London, came within the responsibility of the [[Metropolitan Board of Works]] for certain infrastructure purposes, though the area remained a part of Middlesex.<ref name=saint/> Despite this innovation, the system was described by commentators at the time as one "in chaos".<ref name=barlow/>

===1889 - Administrative County of London===
In 1889, under the [[Local Government Act 1888]], the metropolitan area of approximately {{convert|30000|acre|km2}} became part of the administrative [[County of London]].<ref name=eb1911/> The Act also provided that the part of Middlesex in the administrative county of London should be "severed from Middlesex, and form a separate county for all non-administrative purposes".
[[File:Middlesex 1851 and 1911.png|200px|thumb|Map showing boundaries of Middlesex in 1851 and 1911, aside from minor realignments. The small yellow area in the North is Monken Hadley, which was [[List of Hertfordshire boundary changes|transferred to Hertfordshire]]; the larger yellow area in the Southeast was transferred to the newly created County of London in 1889.]]
[[File:1882 Reynolds Map.jpg|thumb|Map in 1882 shows complete urbanisation of the East End]]
The part of the County of London that had been transferred from Middlesex was divided in 1900 into 18 [[Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London|metropolitan borough]]s:<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.middlesex-heraldry.org.uk/publications/seaxe/SeaxeOS06-198501.pdf | work=The Seaxe | title=Civic Heraldry in Middlesex | issue=6 | date=January 1985 | page=4 | publisher=Middlesex Heraldry Society | access-date=18 July 2019 }}</ref>
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green|Bethnal Green]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea|Chelsea]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury|Finsbury]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Fulham|Fulham]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Hackney|Hackney]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith|Hammersmith]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead|Hampstead]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Holborn|Holborn]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Islington|Islington]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Kensington|Kensington]] (Royal Borough)
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Paddington|Paddington]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Poplar|Poplar]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch|Shoreditch]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone|St Marylebone]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras|St Pancras]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Stepney|Stepney]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington|Stoke Newington]]
* [[Metropolitan Borough of Westminster|Westminster]] (City)

===1889 - Middlesex County Council===
Following the Local Government Act 1888, the remaining county came under the control of [[Middlesex County Council]] except for the parish of [[Monken Hadley]], which became part of [[Hertfordshire]].<ref name=hadley>{{cite vob|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10020530&c_id=10001043|name=Monken Hadley|accessdate=20 February 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001000231/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10020530|archive-date=1 October 2007}} {{Cite web |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp;jsessionid=D1C662A8A716903791E545A2366549A0?u_id=10020530 |title=Monken Hadley AP/CP through time &#124; Census tables with data for the Parish-level Unit |access-date=12 May 2023 |archive-date=5 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605061055/https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp;jsessionid=D1C662A8A716903791E545A2366549A0?u_id=10020530 |url-status=live}}</ref> The area of responsibility of the [[Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex]] was reduced accordingly. Middlesex did not contain any [[county borough]]s, so the county and [[administrative county]] (the area of county council control) were identical. At this time, Middlesex regained the right to appoint its own sheriff, lost in the 12th century.<ref name=vch_middlesex/><ref>{{harvnb|Robbins|2003|p=189}}</ref>

The [[Local Government Act 1894]] divided the administrative county into four [[rural district]]s and thirty-one [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|urban districts]], based on existing [[sanitary district]]s. One urban district, [[South Hornsey]], was an [[exclave]] of Middlesex within the [[County of London]] until 1900, when it was transferred to the latter county.<ref name=youngs>Frederic Youngs, ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England'', Vol.I : Southern England, London, 1979</ref> The rural districts were [[Hendon Rural District|Hendon]], [[Potters Bar Urban District|South Mimms]], [[Staines Rural District|Staines]] and [[Uxbridge Rural District|Uxbridge]]. Because of increasing urbanisation these had all been abolished by 1934.<ref name=vision_mx>{{cite vob |name=Middlesex |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10061441 |accessdate=20 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315025055/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10061441 |archive-date=15 March 2008 }} {{Cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10061441 |title=Middlesex AdmC through time &#124; Administrative history of Administrative County: Hierarchies, boundaries |access-date=20 February 2008 |archive-date=1 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201154636/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10061441 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Urban districts had been created, merged, and many had gained the status of municipal borough by 1965. The districts as at the 1961 census were:<ref name=census_1961>{{cite vob | name=Census 1961: Middlesex | population=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/census/table_page.jsp?tab_id=EW1961COU_M3&u_id=10061441&show=&min_c=1&max_c=5as | accessdate=20 February 2008}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align="center"
|<ol>
<li>[[Potters Bar Urban District|Potters Bar]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Enfield|Enfield]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Southgate|Southgate]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Edmonton|Edmonton]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Tottenham|Tottenham]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Wood Green|Wood Green]]</li>
<li>[[Friern Barnet Urban District|Friern Barnet]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Hornsey|Hornsey]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Finchley|Finchley]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Hendon|Hendon]]</li>
<li>[[London Borough of Harrow|Harrow]]</li>
<li>[[Ruislip-Northwood Urban District|Ruislip-Northwood]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Uxbridge|Uxbridge]]</li>
</ol>
| [[File:Middlesex.svg|361px]]<br>Middlesex urban districts in 1961
| <ol start=14>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Ealing|Ealing]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Wembley|Wembley]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Willesden|Willesden]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Acton|Acton]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Brentford and Chiswick|Brentford and Chiswick]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Heston and Isleworth|Heston and Isleworth]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Southall|Southall]]</li>
<li>[[Hayes and Harlington Urban District|Hayes and Harlington]]</li>
<li>[[Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District|Yiewsley and West Drayton]]</li>
<li>[[Staines Urban District|Staines]]</li>
<li>[[Feltham Urban District|Feltham]]</li>
<li>[[Municipal Borough of Twickenham|Twickenham]]</li>
<li>[[Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District|Sunbury-on-Thames]]</li>
</ol>
|}

After 1889, the growth of London continued, and the county became almost entirely filled by suburbs of London, with a big rise in population density. This process was accelerated by the [[Metro-land]] developments, which covered a large part of the county.<ref>Royston, J., ''Revisiting the Metro-Land Route'', Harrow Times. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> The expanding urbanisation had, however, been foretold in 1771 by [[Tobias Smollett]] in ''[[The Expedition of Humphry Clinker]]'', in which it is said:

{{Blockquote|Pimlico and Knightsbridge are almost joined to Chelsea and Kensington, and, if this infatuation continues for half a century, then, I suppose, the whole county of Middlesex will be covered in brick.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7k_AQAAMAAJ&q=tobias+smollett+middlesex&pg=PA93|title=The Miscellaneous Works Of Tobias Smollett|access-date=30 January 2015|last1=Smollett|first1=Tobias George|last2=Anderson|first2=Robert|year=1806}}</ref>}}

Public transport in the county, including the extensive network of trams,<ref name=reed>Reed, J., ''London Tramways'', (1997)</ref> buses and the London Underground came under control of the [[London Passenger Transport Board]] in 1933<ref name=lpt>Office of Public Sector Information – ''[https://archive.today/20121223195009/http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1933/cukpga_19330014_en_1 London Passenger Transport Act 1933 (as amended)]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> and a [[New Works Programme]] was developed to further enhance services during the 1930s.<ref name=wolmar/> Partly because of its proximity to the capital, the county had a major role during the Second World War. The county was subject to [[The Blitz|aerial bombardment]] and contained military establishments, such as [[RAF Uxbridge]] and [[Heston Aerodrome|RAF Heston]], which were involved in the [[Battle of Britain]].<ref name=battle>Royal Air Force – [http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/september28.html Battle of Britain Campaign Diary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216223244/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bob1940/september28.html |date=16 February 2008 }}. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref>

===County town===
[[File:middlesex.guildhall.london.arp.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|The [[Middlesex Guildhall]] at [[Westminster]], which now houses the [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]]]]

Middlesex arguably never, and certainly not since 1789, had a single, established [[county town]]. The [[City of London]] could be regarded as its county town for most purposes<ref name="LSE London"/> and provided different locations for the various, mostly judicial, county purposes. The [[assizes|county assizes]] for Middlesex were held at the [[Old Bailey]] in the City of London.<ref name=rural_old/> Until 1889, the [[High Sheriff of Middlesex]] was chosen by the [[City of London Corporation]]. The [[sessions house]] for the Middlesex Quarter Sessions was [[Hicks Hall]] in [[Clerkenwell]] (just outside the City boundary) from 1612 to 1782, and [[Middlesex Sessions House]] on [[Clerkenwell Green]] from 1782 to 1921. The quarter sessions performed most of the limited administration on a county level prior to the creation of the Middlesex County Council in 1889. 

[[New Brentford]] was first promulgated as the county town in 1789, on the basis that it was where elections of [[knight of the shire|knights of the shire]] (or [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]]) were held from 1701.<ref name=eb1911>Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911 Edition</ref><ref name=ealing_brentford>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22575&strquery=ealing%20growth |title=Ealing and Brentford: Growth of Brentford |publisher = A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7 |year=1982 |access-date=20 February 2008}}</ref> Thus a traveller's and historian's London regional summary of 1795 states that (New) Brentford was "considered as the county-town; but there is no town-hall or other public building".<ref name=environ_brentford>{{cite web |url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45404&strquery=brentford |title=Brentford |publisher=The Environs of London: volume 2: County of Middlesex |year=1795 |access-date=20 February 2008 }}</ref> Middlesex County Council took over at the Guildhall in [[Westminster]], which became the [[Middlesex Guildhall]]. In the same year, this location was placed into the new [[County of London]], and was thus outside the council's area of jurisdiction.

===Creation of Greater London===
The population of inner London (then the [[County of London]]) declined after its creation in 1889 as more residents moved into the outer suburbs. In the [[Interwar Britain|interwar years]], suburban London expanded further, with improvement and expansion of public transport,<ref name="wolmar"/> and the setting up of [[Second Industrial Revolution|new industries]].

After the [[Second World War]], from 1951 to 1961, the populations of the administrative county of London<ref name=lcc_pop>{{cite vob |population=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10041790&c_id=10001043&add=N |name=County of London |accessdate=20 February 2008 }}</ref> and of inner Middlesex were in steady decline, with population growth continuing in the outer parts of Middlesex.<ref name=census_1961/><ref name=mdx_pop>{{cite vob |population=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10061441&c_id=10001043&add=N |name=Middlesex |accessdate=20 February 2008 }}</ref> According to the 1961 census, Ealing, Enfield, Harrow, Hendon, Heston & Isleworth, Tottenham, Wembley, Willesden and Twickenham had each reached a population greater than 100,000, which would normally have entitled each of them to seek [[county borough]] status. If this status were to be granted to all those boroughs, it would mean that the population of the administrative county of Middlesex would be reduced by over half, to just under one million.

Evidence submitted to the [[Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London]] included a recommendation to divide Middlesex into two administrative counties of North Middlesex and West Middlesex.<ref name="LSE London"/> However, the commission instead proposed abolition of the county and merging of the boroughs and districts. This was enacted by Parliament as the [[London Government Act 1963]], which came into force on 1 April 1965.

The Act abolished the administrative counties of Middlesex and London.<ref>[[London Government Act 1963]], '''Section 3:''' ''(1) As from 1 April 1965—''<br />
''(a) no part of Greater London shall form part of any administrative county, county district or parish;''<br />
''(b) the following administrative areas and their councils (and, in the case of a borough, the municipal corporation thereof) shall cease to exist, that is to say, the counties of London and Middlesex, the metropolitan boroughs, and any existing county borough, county district or parish the area of which falls wholly within Greater London;''<br /> The new enlarged administration became known as the [[Greater London Council]] or its acronym, the GLC.

The former separate (joint) fire and ambulance service of Middlesex, the second largest in Britain after London was largely absorbed into enlarged London organisations under the newly formed GLC, the exception being those areas moving into Surrey and Hertfordshire.
''(c) the urban district of Potters Bar shall become part of the county of Hertfordshire;''<br />
''(d) the urban districts of Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames shall become part of the county of Surrey.''<br />
'''Section 89:''' ''(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, that is to say—''
<br />
'' 'county' means an administrative county;''</ref> The [[Administration of Justice Act 1964]] abolished the Middlesex magistracy and [[Lord-lieutenant|lieutenancy]], and altered the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court.

====New London boroughs from former London CC area====
Eighteen of London County Council Metropolitan Boroughs were part of the ancient county of Middlesex. In 1965 these merged to form seven of the twelve current boroughs of [[Inner London]]:

* [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]] was formed from the metropolitan boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead|Hampstead]], [[Metropolitan Borough of Holborn|Holborn]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras|St Pancras]].
* [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]] was formed from the metropolitan boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Hackney|Hackney]], [[Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch|Shoreditch]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington|Stoke Newington]].
* [[London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham|Hammersmith]] (known as Hammersmith and Fulham from 1979) was formed from the metropolitan boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith|Hammersmith]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of Fulham|Fulham]].
* [[London Borough of Islington|Islington]] was formed from the metropolitan boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury|Finsbury]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of Islington|Islington]].
* [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea|Kensington and Chelsea]] was formed from the metropolitan boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea|Chelsea]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of Kensington|Kensington]].
* [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets|Tower Hamlets]] was formed from the metropolitan boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green|Bethnal Green]], [[Metropolitan Borough of Poplar|Poplar]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of Stepney|Stepney]].
* The [[City of Westminster]] was formed from the metropolitan boroughs of [[Metropolitan Borough of Paddington|Paddington]] and [[Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone|St Marylebone]] and the City of [[Metropolitan Borough of Westminster|Westminster]].<ref name=saint/>

====New London boroughs from former Middlesex CC area====
In April 1965, nearly all of the area of the historic county of Middlesex became part of [[Greater London]], under the control of the [[Greater London Council]], and formed the new [[outer London]] boroughs of [[London Borough of Barnet|Barnet]] (part only), [[London Borough of Brent|Brent]], [[London Borough of Ealing|Ealing]], [[London Borough of Enfield|Enfield]], [[London Borough of Haringey|Haringey]], [[London Borough of Harrow|Harrow]], [[London Borough of Hillingdon|Hillingdon]], [[London Borough of Hounslow|Hounslow]] and [[London Borough of Richmond upon Thames|Richmond upon Thames]] (part only).<ref name=schedule>Office of Public Sector Information – [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1963/cukpga_19630033_en_1 London Government Act 1963 (as amended)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817142118/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1963/cukpga_19630033_en_1 |date=17 August 2010 }}. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref>

====Areas transferred to Surrey and Hertfordshire County Councils====
The remaining areas were [[Potters Bar Urban District]], which became part of the administrative county of [[Hertfordshire]], and [[Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District]] and [[Staines Urban District]], which became part of the administrative county of [[Surrey]].<ref name=vision_mx/> Following the changes, local acts of Parliament relating to Middlesex were henceforth to apply to the entirety of the nine "North West London Boroughs".<ref name=local_law>The Local Law (North West London Boroughs) Order 1965 (S.I. 1965 No. 533)</ref> 

In 1974, the three [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|urban districts]] that had been transferred to Hertfordshire and Surrey were abolished and became the districts of [[Hertsmere]] (part only) and [[Borough of Spelthorne|Spelthorne]] respectively.<ref name="autogenerated1">The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972 (SI 1972/2038)</ref> In 1995 the village of [[Poyle]] was transferred from Spelthorne to the [[Berkshire]] borough of [[Slough]].<ref name=poyle>Office of Public Sector Information – [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1994/Uksi_19940330_en_1.htm Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey (County Boundaries) Order 1994] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202095925/http://opsi.gov.uk/SI/si1994/Uksi_19940330_en_1.htm |date=2 February 2009 }}. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> Additionally, the Greater London boundary to the west and north has been subject to several [[List of Greater London boundary changes|small changes]] since 1965.<ref>Office of Public Sector Information – [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1993/Uksi_19931342_en_1.htm The Heathrow Airport (County and London Borough Boundaries) Order 1993]. Retrieved 23 February 2008.</ref><ref>Office of Public Sector Information – [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1993/Uksi_19931391_en_1.htm The Greater London and Surrey (County and London Borough Boundaries) (No. 4) Order 1993]. Retrieved 23 February 2008.</ref>

====Judicial areas====
On its creation in 1965, Greater London was divided into five Commission Areas for justice. The one named "Middlesex" consisted of the boroughs of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Enfield, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow.<ref name=justice_act>Administration of Justice Act 1964 (1964 C. 42)</ref> It was abolished on 1 July 2003.<ref name=commission_2003>Office of Public Sector Information – [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20030640.htm ''The Commission Areas (Greater London) Order 2003'' (Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 640)]. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref>

==Earldom==
The title [[Earl of Middlesex]] was created twice, in 1622 and 1677, but became extinct in 1843.<ref name=eb1911/>

==Geography==
The county lay within the [[London Basin]]<ref name=nature>Natural England – [http://www.english-nature.org.uk/Science/natural/profiles%5CnaProfile66.pdf London Basin Natural Area]. Retrieved 23 February 2008.</ref> and the most significant feature was the [[River Thames]], which formed the southern boundary. The [[River Lea]] and the [[River Colne, Hertfordshire|River Colne]] formed natural boundaries to the east and west. The entire south west boundary of Middlesex followed a gently descending [[meander]] of the Thames without hills. In many places "Middlesex bank" is more accurate than "north bank" — for instance at [[Teddington]] the river flows north-westward, so the left (Middlesex) bank is the south-west bank.{{NoteTag|County descriptions are standard in [[rowing (sport)|boat races]], and the historic county descriptions of the respective sides of the river are still used during the famous [[The Boat Race|University Boat Race]] and the professional and amateur [[Head of the River Race]].}} The largely low-lying county was dominated by clay in its north and [[alluvium]] on gravel in its south.

[[File:Cantium southsexia surria meddlesexia Atlas.jpg|thumb|250px|Hand-drawn map of Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Middlesex from 1575]]

In the north, the boundary ran along a [[boxing the compass|WSW/ENE]] aligned ridge of hills. From the Colne to [[Barnet Gate Wood]], this boundary is marked by a 20 kilometre [[hedge]] of great antiquity. East of the wood the hedge continues but did not forms the county boundary, suggesting that the eastern part of the boundary is younger.

After Barnett Gate Wood the hedge continues east to [[Arkley]] where it divides into two branches, one continuing east to [[Chipping Barnet]] and [[Cockfosters]], with another heading north to form the parish boundary between [[Shenley]] and [[Ridge, Hertfordshire|Ridge]], both in Hertforshire. Neither branch formed part of the county boundary. The change to the county boundary was probably caused in the late 8th century, before Middlesex took the form of a county, when the [[Liberty of St Albans]] was created from parts of the Dioceses of [[Diocese of London|London]] and [[Diocese of Lincoln|Lincoln]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rippon|first1=Stephen|title=Kingdom, Civitas and County|date=2018 |orig-year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-875937-9|pages=320–321}}</ref>

The hills are broken by Barnet or 'Dollis' valleys. (South of the boundary, these feed into the [[Brent Reservoir|Welsh Harp Lake or Brent Reservoir]] which becomes the [[River Brent]]).{{NoteTag|The Dollis Valley greenwalk follows this steep upper valley of the Dollis Brook.}} This formed a long protrusion of Hertfordshire into the county.<ref name=physical>{{cite web |url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22094 |title=The Physique of Middlesex |publisher=A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1 |year=1969 |access-date=20 February 2008 }}</ref> The county was once well wooded,<ref name=nature/> with much of it covered by the ancient [[Forest of Middlesex]]; Domesday returns for Middlesex indicate that it was around 30% wooded (much of it [[silvopasture|wood-pasture]]) in 1086, about double the English average.<ref>Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape, Rackham, p50</ref> The highest point is the High Road by [[Bushey Heath]] at {{convert|502|ft|0}}.<ref name=height_history>The Mountains of England and Wales – [http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/CountyTopsHistoric.php Historic County Tops]. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref>

[[Bentley Priory Nature Reserve]] houses Middlesex's oldest tree: The Master Oak.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Haloing the 'Master' oak at Bentley Priory, Harrow |url=https://thinktrees.co.uk/case-studies/bentley-priory-harrow/ |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=Think Trees |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Economic development==
There were settlements in the area of Middlesex that can be traced back thousands of years before the creation of a county.<ref>Twickenham Museum, http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=364 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110065450/http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=364 |date=10 November 2014 }}, retrieved 30 March 2012</ref> The economy of the county was dependent on the City of London from early times and was primarily agricultural.<ref name=rural_old/> A variety of goods were provided for the City, including crops such as grain and hay, livestock and building materials. Tourism began to develop in the late 16th century and, in 1593, [[John Norden]] noted that the county was attracting visitors to its "divers devices, neatly decked with rare inventions, environed with orchards of sundry delicate fruits, gardens with delectable walks, arbours, alleys, and great variety of pleasing dainties."<ref>S.G. Mendyk, ''Speculum Britanniae: regional study, antiquarianism, and science in Britain to 1700'', 1989.</ref> Inns and tea gardens at Isleworth, Tottenham, Edmonton and Hornsey are noted in the 17th and 18th centuries for attracting day-trippers from London. [[Hampton Court Palace]] was among the historic buildings opened to the public in the 19th century and 350,000 people visited in 1851.<ref>{{harvnb|Robbins|2003|pp=190–192}}</ref>

During the 18th century, the inner parishes of Middlesex became suburbs of the City and were increasingly urbanised.<ref name=rural_old/> In 1794, Thomas Cox wrote of Middlesex:
{{Blockquote|We may call it almost all London, being chiefly inhabited by the citizens, who fill the towns in it with their country houses, to which they often resort that they may breathe a little sweet air, free from the fogs and smoke of the City.<ref>''Magna Britannia et Hibernia Antiqua et Nova'' Thomas Cox, E. Nutt (publisher) (1720) Vol iii. p.1</ref>}}

In 1803, Sir John Sinclair, president of the [[Board of Agriculture (1793–1822)|Board of Agriculture]], spoke of the need to cultivate the substantial [[Finchley Common]] and [[Hounslow Heath]] (perhaps prophetic of the [[Dig for Victory]] campaign of [[World War II]]) and fellow Board member Middleton estimated that one tenth of the county, {{convert|17000|acres}}, was uncultivated common, capable of improvement.<ref>{{harvnb|Robbins|2003|p=38}}</ref> However, [[William Cobbett]], in his ''[[Rural Rides]]'' first serialised in 1822, said that 
:"A more ugly country between [[Egham]] and [[Kensington]] would with great difficulty be found in England. Flat as a pancake, and until you come to Hammersmith, the soil is a nasty, stony dirt upon a bed of gravel. [[Hounslow Heath]] which is only a little worse than the general run, is a sample of all that is bad in soil and villainous in look. Yet this is now enclosed, and what they call 'cultivated'. Here is a fresh robbery of villages, hamlets, and farm and labourers' buildings and abodes."<ref>Cobbett, William (1966) [1830]. ''[[Rural Rides]]'', Volume I. [https://archive.org/details/ruralrides01cobb/page/124/mode/1up?view=theater "Through Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, and Sussex, between 7 October and 1 December 1822"]. Introduction by [[Asa Briggs]]. London: Dent (Everyman series), p. 124</ref>
[[Baron Macaulay|Thomas Babington]] wrote in 1843, "An acre in Middlesex is worth a principality in [[Utopia]]"<ref>{{harvnb|Robbins|2003|pp=xiii, 28}}</ref> which contrasts neatly with its agricultural description.

The building of radial railway lines from 1839 caused a fundamental shift away from [[agricultural supply store|agricultural supply]] for London towards large scale house building.<ref name="LSE London">{{cite book | publisher=[[London School of Economics]] | title=Memorandum of Evidence to The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London |date=July 1959 | author=Greater London Group }}</ref> [[Tottenham]], [[Edmonton, London|Edmonton]] and [[Enfield Town|Enfield]] in the north developed first as working-class residential suburbs with easy access to central London. The line to [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] through Middlesex was completed in 1848, and the railway to [[Potters Bar]] in 1850; and the [[Metropolitan Railway|Metropolitan]] and [[District Railway|District]] Railways started a series of extensions into the county in 1878. Closer to London, the districts of [[Acton, London|Acton]], [[Willesden]], [[Ealing]] and [[Hornsey]] came within reach of the tram and bus networks, providing cheap transport to central London.<ref name="LSE London"/>

After [[World War I]], the availability of labour and proximity to London made areas such as [[Hayes, Hillingdon|Hayes]] and [[Park Royal]] ideal locations for the developing [[Second Industrial Revolution|new industries]].<ref name="LSE London"/> New jobs attracted more people to the county and the population continued to rise, reaching a peak in 1951. Middlesex became the location of facilities for the film industry. [[Twickenham Studios]] were established in 1913. There were also studios at [[Cricklewood Studios]], [[Gainsborough Pictures]], [[Isleworth Studios]], [[Kew Bridge Studios]] and [[Southall Studios]].

==Former postal county== <!-- linked from [[Postal counties of the United Kingdom]] -->
Middlesex (abbreviated Middx) is a [[Postal counties of the United Kingdom|former postal county]].<ref name=digest>{{cite web |url= https://www.poweredbypaf.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Latest-Programmers_guide_Edition-7-Version-6.pdf |title= Royal Mail programmers' guide |publisher= Royal Mail |year= 2009 |access-date= 25 July 2023 }}</ref> Counties were an element of postal addressing in routine use until 1996, intended to avoid confusion between [[post town]]s, and are no longer required for the routing of the mail.<ref name=mail>{{Harvnb|Royal Mail|2004|p=9}}</ref> The postal county did not match the boundaries of Middlesex because of the presence of the [[London postal district]], which stretched into the county to include Tottenham, Willesden, Hornsey and Chiswick.<ref name=hmso_postal>HMSO, ''[http://www.londonancestor.com/po/1map-w.htm Names of Street and Places in the London Postal area]'', (1930). Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> Addresses in this area included "LONDON" which is the post town but any overlap with the then County of London was coincidental. 

In 1965, [[Royal Mail]] retained the postal county because it would have been too costly to amend addresses covering the bulk of Outer London.<ref name=times_postal>{{cite newspaper The Times |title=G.P.O. To Keep Old Names. London Changes Too Costly. |date=12 April 1966 |location= London |issue= 56603 |page= 11}}</ref> Exceptionally, the Potters Bar post town was transferred to Hertfordshire. Geographically the postal county consisted of two unconnected areas, {{convert|6|mi|0}} apart. The first was in and around Enfield and the second, larger area was to the west.<ref name=map_front>{{Harvnb|Geographers' A-Z Map Company|2008|p=1}}</ref> This led the retention of 25 Post Towns to this day:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Postcode area || Post towns
|-
| [[EN postcode area|EN]] (part) || ENFIELD; POTTERS BAR (until 1965)
|-
| [[HA postcode area|HA]] || EDGWARE, HARROW, NORTHWOOD, PINNER, RUISLIP, STANMORE, WEMBLEY
|-
| [[TW postcode area|TW]] (part) || ASHFORD, BRENTFORD, FELTHAM, HAMPTON, HOUNSLOW†, ISLEWORTH, SHEPPERTON, STAINES, SUNBURY-ON-THAMES, TEDDINGTON, TWICKENHAM†
|-
| [[UB postcode area|UB]] || GREENFORD, HAYES, NORTHOLT, SOUTHALL, UXBRIDGE, WEST DRAYTON
|}

† = postal county was not required

The postal county had many border inconsistencies where its constituent [[post town]]s encroached on neighbouring counties, such as the villages of [[Denham, Buckinghamshire|Denham]] in Buckinghamshire, [[Wraysbury]] in Berkshire and [[Eastbury, Hertfordshire|Eastbury]] in Hertfordshire which were respectively in the post towns of [[Uxbridge]], [[Staines upon Thames|Staines]] and [[Northwood, London|Northwood]] and therefore in the postal county of Middlesex. [[Egham Hythe]], Surrey also had postal addresses of Staines, Middlesex. Conversely, [[Hampton Wick]] was conveniently placed in [[Kingston upon Thames|Kingston]], Surrey with its sorting offices just across the river.<ref name=waugh>{{cite news| work=The Independent | url= https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/property/property-boom-fuels-calls-to-reform-postcode-lottery-591325.html | archive-url= https://archive.today/20130114050632/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/property/property-boom-fuels-calls-to-reform-postcode-lottery-591325.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 14 January 2013 |access-date=2 November 2009 |author=Paul Waugh |title=Property boom fuels calls to reform 'postcode lottery' |date=29 May 2003 |location= London}}</ref> Nearby [[Hampton Court Palace]] has a postal address of [[East Molesey]], therefore associating it with Surrey.<ref name=palace>{{cite web|publisher=Historic Royal Palaces|url=http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/planyourvisit/gettingthere.aspx |title=Hampton Court: How to find us|access-date=2 November 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Middlesex former postal county.svg|thumb|center|500px|Middlesex former postal county]]

The Enfield post town in the [[EN postcode area]] was in the former postal county. All post towns in the [[HA postcode area]] and [[UB postcode area]] were in the former postal county. Most of the [[TW postcode area]] was in the former postal county.

==Culture and community==

===Flag and coat of arms===
The [[Flag of Middlesex|Middlesex Flag]] is included in the [[Flag Institute]]'s registry of county and regional flags.<ref>[{{Flag Institute|Middlesex}} Flag Institute Entry for Middlesex]</ref> The flag is a banner of the arms of the former Middlesex County Council, abolished in 1965. A similar design had been used traditionally as a local badge in Middlesex and neighbouring Essex for centuries.

[[File:Uxbridge tube station MMB 03.jpg|thumb|Coats of arms of Middlesex (left) and Buckinghamshire (right) in stained glass at the exit from [[Uxbridge tube station]]]]
[[File:County of Middlesex sign, Barnet, 2014.jpg|thumbnail|right|''County of Middlesex'' sign in 2014, on the border between the London Boroughs of Barnet and Enfield]]
[[Coat of arms|Coats of arms]] were attributed by the mediaeval [[Officer of arms|heralds]] to the kingdoms of the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Heptarchy]]. That assigned to the [[Kingdom of Essex]], of which the [[Middle Saxons|Middle Saxon Province]] was part, depicted three "[[seax]]es" or short notched swords on a red background. The seaxe was a weapon carried by Anglo-Saxon warriors, and the term "Saxon" may be derived from the word.<ref name=armoury>Doherty, F., ''[http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_seax.html The Anglo Saxon Broken Back Seax]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref><ref name=saxon>Online Etymology Dictionary – [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Saxon Saxon]. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> These arms became associated with the two counties that approximated to the kingdom: Middlesex and [[Essex]]. County authorities, militia and volunteer regiments associated with both counties used the attributed arms.

In 1910, it was observed that the county councils of Essex and Middlesex and the [[High Sheriff of the County of London|Sheriff's Office]] of the [[County of London]] were all using the same arms. Middlesex County Council decided to apply for a formal grant of arms from the [[College of Arms]], with the addition of a heraldic "difference" to the attributed arms. Colonel Otley Parry, a [[justice of the peace]] for Middlesex and author of a book on military badges, was asked to devise an addition to the shield. The chosen addition was a "Saxon Crown", derived from the portrait of King [[Athelstan of England|Athelstan]] on a silver penny of his reign, stated to be the earliest form of crown associated with any English sovereign. The grant of arms was made by [[letters patent]] dated 7 November 1910.<ref name=times_armorial>{{cite newspaper The Times |title= Armorial bearings of Middlesex |date= 7 November 1910 |issue= 39423 |page= 11}}</ref><ref name=fox>''The Book of Public Arms'', A.C. Fox-Davies, 2nd edition, London, 1915</ref><ref name=scott>''Civic Heraldry of England and Wales'', W.C. Scott-Giles, 2nd edition, London, 1953</ref>
{{Blazon-arms
|img1    = Arms of Middlesex County Council.svg
|legend1 = Arms of the Middlesex County Council
|text    = The arms of the Middlesex County Council were [[blazon]]ed:<br />''Gules, three seaxes fessewise points to the sinister proper, pomels and hilts and in the centre chief point a Saxon crown or.''
}}
The undifferenced arms of the kingdom were eventually granted to Essex County Council in 1932.<ref name=civic_essex>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/essex.html#essex_cc Essex County Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203015014/http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/essex.html#essex_cc |date=3 February 2007 }}''. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> Seaxes were also used in the insignia of many of the boroughs and urban districts in the county, while the Saxon crown came to be a common heraldic charge in English civic arms.<ref>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/middlesex.html Middlesex (obsolete)]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008</ref><ref name=scott_giles>C W Scott-Giles, ''Royal and Kindred Emblems'', ''Civic Heraldry of England and Wales'', 2nd edition, London, 1953, p.11</ref> On the creation of the [[Greater London Council]] in 1965 a Saxon crown was introduced in its coat of arms.<ref name=glc>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/obs_county.html#glc Greater London Council]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref> Seaxes appear in the arms of several [[London borough|London borough council]]s and of [[Spelthorne Borough Council]].<ref>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/surrey.html#spelthorne_bc Spelthorne Borough Council]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008</ref><ref name=civic_glondon>Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – ''[http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/great_london.html Greater London]''. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref>

===Military units===
As well as the ancient county [[fyrd]] and [[militia#United Kingdom|militia]], Middlesex military units have included the [[Middlesex Regiment]], the [[Middlesex Yeomanry]] and their predecessors.
[[File:Middlesex Regiment Cap Badge.jpg|thumb|Middlesex Regiment Cap Badge]]
In the south-east, the Tower Division, effectively a separate county, [[Tower division#Military function|had its own military arrangements]].

===County day===
Middlesex Day is celebrated each year on 16 May. This commemorates the actions of the [[57th (West Middlesex) Regiment]] in 1811, at the [[Battle of Albuera]], during the [[Peninsular War]]. 
During the battle, [[William Inglis (British Army officer)|Lieutenant-Colonel William Inglis]], despite his injuries, refused to retire from the battle but remained with the regimental colours, encouraging his men with the words "Die hard 57th, die hard!" as they came under intense pressure from a French attack. The regiment held and the battle was won. The 'Die Hards' subsequently became the West Middlesex's regimental nickname and the phrase [[Die hard (phrase)|Die Hard]] entered the language. In 2003, an early day motion in the House of Commons noted the celebration of 16 May, the anniversary of Albuhera, as Middlesex Day.<ref>Randall J., [https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/22809/middlesex-day Early Day Motion 13 May 2003]. Retrieved on 12 June 2019</ref>

===County flower===
In 2002 [[Plantlife]] ran a [[County flowers of the United Kingdom|county flowers]] campaign to assign flowers to each of the counties of the United Kingdom. The general public was invited to vote for the bloom they felt most represented their county. The [[Anemone nemorosa|wood anemone]] was chosen as the flower of Middlesex. The flower was a common sight in the [[Forest of Middlesex]].

When the suburbs of London swept over Middlesex, many of its woods were bypassed and preserved. The wood anemone still blooms there to this day.<ref>Bevan, D., [http://www.muswell-hill.com/muswell/history/woodland/ The Natural History of Haringey's Ancient Woodlands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530035707/http://www.muswell-hill.com/muswell/history/woodland/ |date=30 May 2019 }}, Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref><ref>Plantlife, [https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/wood-anemone wood anemone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308081858/https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/wood-anemone |date=8 March 2021 }}. Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref>

===County history societies===
The [[London and Middlesex Archaeological Society]] (LAMAS) was founded in 1855 for the study of the archaeology and local history of the City of London and the county of Middlesex. It works in close association with the [[Museum of London]] and with the [[Museum of London Archaeology]]. It has over 40 affiliated local history societies in Middlesex.<ref>LAMAS [http://www.lamas.org.uk/affiliated-societies.html Affiliated Societies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514202254/http://www.lamas.org.uk/affiliated-societies.html |date=14 May 2019 }} Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref>

The interests of family historians in Middlesex are supported by two member organisations of the [[Federation of Family History Societies]]: The London, Westminster and Middlesex Family History Society and the West Middlesex Family History Society.<ref>London, Westminster and Middlesex Family History Society [http://www.lwmfhs.org.uk] Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref><ref>West Middlesex Family History Society [https://www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/federation-of-family-history-societies-members/west-middlesex-family-history-society] Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref> For genealogical research Middlesex is assigned [[Chapman code]] MDX, except for the City of London ("square mile") assigned LND.

===Literature===
Sir [[John Betjeman]], Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984, was born in 1906 in [[Gospel Oak]] and grew up in Highgate. He published several poems about Middlesex and suburban life. Many were featured in the televised readings ''[[Metro-land (TV)|Metroland]]''.<ref name=wilson>Wilson, A., ''Betjeman'', (2006)</ref>

{{Cquote|<poem>Dear Middlesex, dear vanished country friend,
Your neighbour, London, killed you in the end.</poem>|||Contrasts: Marble Arch to Edgware – A Lament, John Betjeman (1968)<ref>{{cite book | title=Betjeman's England |date=2010 | publisher=Hachette UK | isbn=9781848543805 | author1=John Betjeman |author2=Stephen Games}}</ref>}}

==Sport==
Middlesex continues to be used as a geographic frame of reference by a number of sporting associations.

===Rugby union===
Seven rugby union clubs at national league levels 1 to 4 have some or all of their other teams playing in Middlesex leagues (those marked * having grounds in Middlesex). These are [[Harlequin F.C.|Harlequins]]*, [[Saracens F.C.|Saracens]]*, [[London Scottish F.C.|London Scottish]], [[London Irish Amateur|London Irish]]*, [[Richmond F.C.|Richmond]], [[Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club|Ealing Trailfinders]]*, and [[Barnes Rugby Football Club|Barnes]].

[[Middlesex Rugby Football Union|Middlesex Rugby]] is the governing body for rugby union in Middlesex. The union selects players from its 88 affiliated clubs for the Middlesex team in the [[County Championship (rugby union)|County Championship]]. It runs the [[Middlesex RFU Senior Cup]] open to the top 8 Middlesex clubs that play between tiers 6–7 of the English rugby union system. It also runs the [[Middlesex RFU Senior Bowl]] and the [[Middlesex RFU Senior Vase]] for sides from lower down the pyramid. It helps run the [[Herts/Middlesex 1]] (tier 9) and [[Herts/Middlesex 2]] (tier 10) leagues. Middlesex Rugby is also active in promoting youth rugby and women's rugby in the county.<ref>Middlesex Rugby [https://middlesexrugby.com/clubs/playingclubrugby/womenandgirls/   Women & girls club rugby in Middlesex] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508145054/https://middlesexrugby.com/clubs/playingclubrugby/womenandgirls/ |date=8 May 2019 }} Retrieved 12 June 2019</ref>

===Football===
The [[Middlesex County Football Association]] regulates and promotes football in the county. The Middlesex F.A. organises many cup competitions, the most prestigious being the [[Middlesex Senior Cup]] (founded in 1889) and the [[Middlesex Senior Charity Cup]] (founded in 1901).

The [[Middlesex County Football League]] was founded in 1984 and currently comprises 5 divisions. The premier divisions sits at level 7 of the [[National League System]].

===Cricket===
[[File:Lords 10jpg.jpg|thumb|Middlesex vs Sussex at Lord's]]
[[Middlesex County Cricket Club]] is one of eighteen first-class [[County cricket|county clubs]] within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. The club was founded in 1864 but teams representing the county have played top-class cricket since the early 18th century and the club has always held first-class status. Middlesex have won thirteen [[County Championship]] titles (including 2 shared titles), the most recent in 2016.

[[Middlesex Cricket Board|The Middlesex Cricket Board]] is the governing body of all recreational cricket in Middlesex.

[[Middlesex County Cricket League|The Middlesex County Cricket League]] is the top-level competition for all recreational [[club cricket]] in the county. The League now consists of twenty two divisions in total. The top division has been designated an [[ECB Premier Leagues|ECB Premier League]].

===Other sports===
Middlesex Bowling Association has over 80 affiliated clubs throughout the county.<ref>Middlesex Bowling Association [http://www.middlesexcba.co.uk/ Clubs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703213705/http://www.middlesexcba.co.uk/ |date=3 July 2019 }} Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref>

Middlesex County Amateur Swimming Association organises training, competitions and representative county teams in swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming.<ref>Middlesex County Amateur Swimming Association [https://uk.teamunify.com/Home.jsp?team=reczzmcauk] Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref>

Middlesex County Athletics Association is the organisation controlling Amateur Athletics in Middlesex under the direction of [[UK Athletics]].<ref>Middlesex County AA [http://www.middlesexaa.org.uk/] Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref>

[[File:North Middlesex Golf Club ponds 1.JPG|thumb|left|North Middlesex Golf Club]]
Middlesex Golf represents all aspects of golf within the county. It has 33 affiliated golf clubs.<ref>Middlesex Golf [https://www.middlesexgolf.co.uk] Retrieved 13 June 2019.</ref>

Middlesex Tennis, affiliated to the [[LTA (organization)|LTA]], works to create more opportunities for people in Middlesex to play and compete in tennis at all levels of the game.<ref>Middlesex Tennis [https://www.middlesex.tennis/  About us] Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref> The Middlesex County Championships are the highlight of Middlesex's Competition Calendar.<ref>Middlesex Tennis [https://www.middlesex.tennis/competitions/county-championships County Championships] Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref>

Middlesex County Badminton Association has over 80 affiliated clubs and organises men's, ladies' and mixed leagues.<ref>Middlesex County Badminton Association [http://www.middlesexbadminton.co.uk/] Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref>

Middlesex Squash & Racketball Association is responsible for organising and promoting squash in Middlesex. It was founded in the 1930s and ran the first Middlesex Open Championships in 1937.<ref>Middlesex Squash and Racketball Association [http://www.middlesexsra.com/home/info/msra-mission-statement MSRA Mission Statement] Retrieved 12 June 2019.</ref>

Middlesex County Archery Association is the governing body for the sport of archery in the county.<ref>Middlesex County Archery Association [http://www.middlesexarchery.org.uk/] Retrieved 13 June 2019.</ref>

Middlesex Small-Bore Rifle Association brings together small-bore rifle and airgun clubs in the county, and organises teams to represent the County in competitions.<ref>Middlesex Small-Bore Rifle Association [https://www.msbra.co.uk/] Retrieved 13 June 2019.</ref>

Middlesex County Chess Association aims to foster chess throughout Middlesex. It has 15 affiliated clubs.<ref>Middlesex County Chess Association [http://middlesexchess.blogspot.com] Retrieved 13 June 2019.</ref>

Middlesex County Bridge Association runs the Middlesex Cup and the Middlesex League and enters county teams in national and regional competitions.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.bridgewebs.com/mcba/ |title= Middlesex County Bridge Association |publisher= BridgeWebs |date= 28 July 2023 |access-date= 29 July 2023 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex|List of Lord Lieutenants of Middlesex]]
* [[Custos Rotulorum of Middlesex]] – List of Keepers of the Rolls
* [[High Sheriff of Middlesex|List of High Sheriffs of Middlesex]]
* [[Middlesex (UK Parliament constituency)]] – Historical list of MPs for the Middlesex constituency

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin|40em}}
* {{citation |title=London Postcode and Administrative Boundaries|publisher=Geographers' A-Z Map Company|author=Geographers' A-Z Map Company|year=2008|edition=6|isbn=978-1-84348-592-6}}
* {{citation|title=Dictionary of London Place Names|year=2001|surname=Mills|first=A.D.|publisher=Oxford|isbn=0-19-280106-6}}
* {{citation|title=A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 2 | url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22150 |year=1911|editor-first=William |editor-last=Page | series= [[Victoria County History]] | publisher=[[British History Online]]}}
* {{cite book|last=Brett-James|first=Norman G.|title=Middlesex|year=1951|publisher=Robert Hale|location=London}} [[County Books series]]
* {{cite book|last=Robbins|first=Michael|title=Middlesex|orig-year=1953|year=2003|publisher=Phillimore|location=Chichester|isbn=978-1-86077-269-6}}
* {{citation|title=Address Management Guide|year=2004|author=Royal Mail|edition=4|publisher=[[Royal Mail|Royal Mail Group]]}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Middlesex}}
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/place.aspx?gid=66&region=1 Victoria County History of Middlesex] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008192206/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/place.aspx?gid=66&region=1 |date=8 October 2014 }}
*[http://wikishire.co.uk/map/#middlesex/base=outline Map of Middlesex] on Wikishire
* [http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php?Number=1033993 Historic boundary as layer for Google Earth] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130103205935/http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php?Number=1033993 |date=3 January 2013 }}
* [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/381480/Middlesex= Article on Middlesex from Encyclopædia Britannica]
*[http://www.middlesexfederation.com/ The Middlesex Federation]
* Maps of [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22200&filename=fig06.gif&pubid=84 Middlesex] subdivisions: [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=26930&filename=fig08.gif&pubid=87 Edmonton], [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22381&filename=fig01.gif&pubid=86 Elthorne], [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=26876&filename=fig01.gif&pubid=87 Gore], [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22269&filename=fig04.gif&pubid=85 Isleworth] and [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22200&filename=fig07.gif&pubid=84 Spelthorne]
** [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22489&filename=fig01.gif&pubid=88 Ossulstone]: [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22489&filename=fig02.gif&pubid=88 Outer Finsbury], [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image-publicationMap.aspx?pubid=30 Inner Finsbury] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025113255/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image-publicationMap.aspx?pubid=30 |date=25 October 2012 }}, [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22544&filename=fig02.gif&pubid=89 Outer Kensington], [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=28683&filename=fig82b.gif&pubid=182 Inner Kensington], [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22631&filename=fig02.gif&pubid=90 Holborn] and [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22692&filename=fig02.gif&pubid=91 Tower]
* [http://www.westlondonchat.com/photos Middlesex and West London Photo Galleries]

{{Geographic location
|title = Neighbouring counties (1889–1965)
|Centre    = Middlesex
|North     = [[Hertfordshire]]
|Northeast = [[Hertfordshire|Herts]]/[[Essex]]
|East      = [[Essex]]
|Southeast = [[County of London|London]]
|South     = [[Surrey]]
|Southwest = [[Surrey]]
|West      = [[Berkshire]]
|Northwest = [[Buckinghamshire]]
}}
{{England counties/1889}}
{{Middlesex}}
{{Local government in London}}
{{London Government Act 1963}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Middlesex|*]]
[[Category:Counties of England established in antiquity]]
[[Category:Counties of England disestablished in 1965]]
[[Category:Greater London predecessors]]
[[Category:Former counties of England]]
[[Category:Home counties]]