Isleworth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Isleworth | |
  Isleworth shown within Greater London |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| London borough | Hounslow |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | London |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ISLEWORTH |
| Postcode district | TW7 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| European Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | Brentford & Isleworth |
| London Assembly | South West |
| List of places: UK • England • London | |
Isleworth (IPA: /ˈaɪzəlwɜːθ/) is a small town of ancient origin sited within the Borough of Hounslow in west London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane.
Isleworth's original area of settlement, lying alongside its boundary with the Thames to the east, is known as 'Old Isleworth'. The north-west corner of the town, bordering on Osterley to the north and Lampton to the west, is known as 'Spring Grove'.
Isleworth's previous Thames frontage of approximately one mile was reduced to little over half a mile in 1994 when borough realignments for London[1] united the district of 'St Margarets' wholly within the Borough of Richmond. As a result, Isleworth's boundary with the Thames is now almost entirely overshadowed by the nine-acre islet of Isleworth Ait. The River Crane flows into the Thames south of the Ait, and its distributary the Duke of Northumberland's River west of the Ait.
Isleworth is home to a crown court whose original remit has been expanded to include judicial work formerly conducted at the Middlesex Guildhall, involving the addition of five courtrooms.
Isleworth's municipal facilities include a public library, a public swimming pool, a gymnasium, two recreation grounds, and a town hall.
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[edit] History
Isleworth was a well established riverside settlement on the Middlesex bank of the River Thames by the time of the Norman Conquest in the 11th century. Excavations around the eastern end of Syon Park Estate unearthed evidence of a Romano-British settlement. The earliest form of the town's name is recorded in 677 as Gislheresuuyrth, Old English for 'Enclosure of a man called Gīslhere', and the settlement is recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as Gistelesworde.[2]
From the Norman Conquest until 1227 the Norman family of St Valeri held the manor of Isleworth. The family gave the manor to the Abbey of St Valeri, which stood at the mouth of the Somme, Picardy. Henry III seized Isleworth and other property of the St Valeri family and gave the manor to his brother, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, who built a new manor house, which was burned down during the Second Barons' War in 1264.
In 1431 a monastery was built on the site of the present Syon Park, and Henry V granted the nuns from the Bridgettine order land on the banks of the Thames where they built their first house in 1415.
Henry VIII demolished most of the monastery in 1539 and the site was granted to Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset. It was Seymour who built Syon House in 1548. The Royalist army occupied the house during the Battle of Brentford in November 1642, and Oliver Cromwell stayed there in 1647. Syon Park was rebuilt and landscaped by the Adam brothers and "Capability" Brown between 1766 and 1773, and is still a home for the Duke of Northumberland.
Much of Isleworth became orchards in the 18th century, which were replaced by market gardens in the 19th century to supply vegetables for the London markets. In 1862 Francis Pears decided to expand his soap making business and bought land alongside the London Road for a factory. Another, larger, factory was opened along the opposite side of the road in the 1880s and soap was made on the site until 1962.
Lower Square still has buildings dating from the 18th and early-19th centuries as well as the redevelopment of the 1980s.
[edit] Ecclesiastical sites
All Saints Church, which faces the River Thames at the eastern end of Church Street, is the parish church. It dates from the 14th century and its tower has endured fire and the passage of time to survive to the present day. By the end of the 17th century it was in need of repair and Christopher Wren, who, as well as rebuilding St Paul’s Cathedral, had repaired many London churches, was approached to submit a plan for the building. His project was deemed too expensive until 1705, when Sir Orlando Gee died and left £500 towards the work. This sum, combined with funds raised through subscriptions, meant that the work, with a few modifications, could commence and was finished in 1706. In 1943 a fire started by two school boys, who a few days later set fire to Holy Trinity Church in Hounslow, destroyed much of the building. The present church was built in 1970 to replace an earlier church building incorporating the original 14th century stone tower.
Other churches in Isleworth include Our Lady of Sorrows and St Bridget of Sweden, and the Isleworth Congregational Church.
Nazareth House was a Catholic convent and nursing home for the elderly until it was closed in 2002. However, it is still owned by the Sisters of Nazareth, who have plans to reopen it. Another convent is located at Twickenham Road with an attached secondary school, the Gumley House Convent School for Girls .
[edit] Notable residents of Isleworth
- In 1779 Sir Joseph Banks took a lease on, and eventually bought, a house with thirty-four acres along the northern side of what is now London Road, and proceeded to occupy it for the next forty years. Although he also had a home in central London he spent much time and effort on his Isleworth property, and steadily created a remarkable and renowned botanical masterpiece on that estate.
Sir Joseph Banks' house, built in 1754 and later modified.
- In 1804, Joseph Mallord William Turner moved to live in Sion Ferry House in Isleworth, where he drew inspiration from the picturesque banks of the Thames. He later painted subjects such as the Houses of Parliament and Hampton Court from the Thames.
- Vincent Van Gogh moved to Isleworth in 1876 to become a teacher and assistant preacher at a local school. He is said to have fallen in love with his landlord's daughter, who sadly for him did not share this affection. A blue commemorative plaque exists on the building concerned, which is on the eastern side of Twickenham Road at the Worton Road junction.
- In 1886 Andrew Pears, then head of the Pears Soap business, acquired the former home of Sir Joseph Banks, although by then it had reduced acreage. He rebuilt it in 1892/94 on a much grander scale, but to some extent retained the original structure. He created an extra floor and faced the building with new brick cladding. Additional design features and large rear extendsions succeeded in making his new dwelling a sizeable mansion, for a total construction cost of £120,000. However, it did not provide him with the higher social status he aspired to and he lived in it for only eight years. He moved to 'Mevagissey House' on the corner of St John's Road, a much smaller house named afer the birthplace of his ancestor who founded the family business.
Pears House, London Road, in 1902. Built for Andrew Pears in 1894 it still stands today, on the site of Sir Joseph Banks' former home.
- Actor William Hartnell lived opposite the London Apprentice pub during the 1960s, next door to the art collector Hugh Blaker.
- Eileen Sheridan, a supreme champion English cyclist of the 1940s & 1950s, lived in Church Street, Old Isleworth for many years.
[edit] Road passenger services
Isleworth had a tram (later converted to trolleybus) depot situated on the north side of London Road, near to the border with Hounslow. Originally named Hounslow Depot, it was renamed Isleworth and given the code "IH" in trolleybus days. It only ever accommodated the vehicles for one route - namely that of the 57 tram, which then converted to the 657 trolleybus. This service operated between Hounslow Heath & Shepherd's Bush via Hounslow Town, Isleworth, Brentford, Chiswick, and Goldhawk Road. There were ambitious plans to extend tram lines westward to Staines and possibly Maidenhead, but even the modern motor bus route still only resembles the original.
When the 657 figured in the final London trolleybus conversion of all, on May 8th 1962, Isleworth Depot closed and its replacement motor buses and staff were transferred to nearby Hounslow Garage. The service number for the route became 117. Hounslow Garage is now part of the Transdev London London United operation
There was also the 667 trolleybus, formerly the 67 tram, which passed through Isleworth en route from Hampton Court to Hammersmith via Twickenham Road and London Road from Busch Corner eastwards. Upon conversion to motor bus operation the route number changed from 667 to 267.
A long-established motor bus route serving Isleworth (and Hounslow) was the number 37. This was one of the earliest motor bus routes introduced by the London General Omnibus Company and it originally ran from Isleworth to Peckham via St Margarets, Richmond, Barnes, Putney, Wandsworth, Clapham Junction, Clapham Common, Brixton, Herne Hill and East Dulwich. It was later extended westward to Hounslow (passing Isleworth Railway Station) and for a brief time offered a summer service extending as far as Maidenhead. Even without that short-lived extension the 37 was one of London's longest routes. At first the terminus in Isleworth was actually the forecourt of The Northumberland Arms public house. Later, for "short" running timings, this changed to stands in Magdala Road and then in South Street, outside the Public Hall.
[edit] Nearest places
[edit] Nearest tube stations
Old Isleworth (fronting the River Thames) is closest to Richmond.
[edit] Nearest railway stations
[edit] Schools
- Gumley House Convent School for Girls
- Isleworth and Syon School for Boys
- The Green School
- Worple Primary School
- St Mary's Primary School
- Isleworth Town Primary School
- The Blue School
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si1993/Uksi_19931391_en_1.htm
- ^ Mills, A. D. (1996). Dictionary of English Place-Names, p.188. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-283131-3.
[edit] External links
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