Chiswick

Area in the western borough of Hounslow in London, England, lying approximately halfway between central London and Heathrow Airport, with upmarket Bedford Park to the north and a long loop of the River Thames to the south. It includes the districts of Grove Park and Bedford Park, and the wards of Chiswick Homefields, Chiswick Riverside, Turnham Green, and Gunnersbury. Chiswick is a leafy and attractive suburb, noted for its retail facilities (on Chiswick High Road), a significant variety of restaurants and food outlets, and expanding office space.

Chiswick was a popular country retreat for city dwellers from the 16th century, and is known for its pleasant surroundings, with architecture ranging from Chiswick Mall – a mile-long, riverside stretch of grand 17th-century houses – and 18th-century Palladian Chiswick House, to elegant 1880s houses by Norman Shaw, and 21st-century offices by Richard Rogers. Also of interest is the Musical Museum, on Chiswick High Road. Artist William Hogarth, writer Alexander Pope, and poet W B Yeats were among the area's many famous residents. It is also home to the Royal Horticultural Society gardens, where Joseph Paxton first began work as a gardener in 1823. The British Standards Institution (BSI), which was founded in 1901 and is the oldest standards-setting body in the world, is based here.