Ashford is a town in Spelthorne, in Surrey, England, including some areas within the London Borough of Hounslow. The town lies 14 mi west of central London. Its name derives from a crossing point of the River Ash, a distributary of the River Colne. Historically part of Middlesex, the town has been part of Surrey since 1965. Ashford consists of relatively low density low- and medium-rise buildings, none of them being high rise. If excluding apartments most houses are semi-detached. In 2011 it had a population of 27,382.