Cranford, London

Cranford
OS grid reference	TQ105765
London borough	Hounslow
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HOUNSLOW
Postcode district	TW5
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
London Assembly	South West

Cranford is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow. It is a suburban development located 12.4 miles (20 km) west of Charing Cross and on the eastern perimeter of London Heathrow Airport.

The area is bounded in the west by the airport and the River Crane which also flows through Cranford Park. To the north the area is bounded by the M4 motorway.

History

Cranford was known as “the prettiest village in Middlesex” for centuries, and can be found in the north west of the borough, on the eastern side of the River Crane. The name derives from “Crane Ford” probably due to the birds that gave their name to the river that runs through the village.

Prior to the Norman Conquest, the village was a small Saxon settlement completely surrounded by Hounslow Heath. The Domesday Book records the Manor of Cranford being given to a Norman baron, William Fitz Ansulf. By the 13th century, the area of Cranford Park and House, the High Street and Bath Road had been given to the Knights Templar as Cranforde St John. The rest, Cranford le Mote, included the manor house and stretched up to the north of the present M4.

The manors were reunited after the Dissolution of the Monasteries and were bought by Sir Thomas Berkeley’s widow Elizabeth in 1618. These stayed in the Berkeley family until the house and Cranford Park were sold to Hayes and Harlington Urban District Council in 1932, before being sold again to Middlesex County Council in 1935. The Park was then leased back to Hayes and Harlington Urban District Council who jointly administered it with Heston and Isleworth Borough Council, to whom Cranford had been transferred in 1934.

St Dunstan’s church, in the park adjacent to the stable block dates from the 15th century. The tower and the nave survive a fire in 1710, and the repairs were paid for by Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Berkeley on 1716. The oldest bell in the church was cast in 1338 and is said to have chimed on every occasion of national importance since.

One of Cranford's more “colourful” former residents was the MP and writer George Berkeley (1800–1881) who apparently spent childhood days at the family's Cranford estate where he and his brothers used to pick fights with the local children and horsewhip them.

This same man once famously boasted that he would never surrender to a lone highwayman. When crossing Hounslow Heath one night his carriage was stopped by a robber, which reminded Berkeley of his promise. He challenged the man: “You cowardly dog, do you think that I can't see your confederate skulking behind you?” The highwayman quickly turned around, whereupon Berkeley shot and killed him.

Another example of Berkeley's character comes from his actions following the publication of his book “Berkeley Castle” in 1836. The author was so incensed at the criticism it received in Fraser's Magazine that he hired a boxer to stand guard at the door while he badly assaulted the editor of the magazine with a hunting whip. In court he was fined £100 for the offence, and was awarded 40/-. (£2) in damages for the libel. He subsequently fought a duel with the author of the article, whom he badly injured.

The family also gave their name to Berkeley Parade, where there are now many shops , which were built on the common on the south of the Bath Road in the 1930s. These still existing “château-type” buildings with their little slated turrets were described as “ingenious architectural fun” in the journal, Architectural Review in 1939.

Cranford also boasts one of only two remaining “lock-ups” in the Metropolitan Police area, which was built in 1838 to hold drunks and vagrants overnight, before finding use as a mortuary for the parish council.

Cranford has a number of cricket teams with their roots in this area. One of these is Phoenix Cricket Club which has run from 2005 www.phoenixcricketclub.co.uk. Phoenix is managed by Sanjeev Kumar, director of cricket Jason Saverimuttu and chairman Rt Hon Cyrus Saverimuttu. One must not forget the fiery big daddy pump Phoenix skipper Fabian Saverimuttu.

The Cranford Agreement

The area's position directly below the flight path of the northern runway of Heathrow airport led to a ministerially approved undertaking – the Cranford Agreement – given on 31 July 1952 at a meeting of the Cranford Residents' and District Amenities Association that, as far as possible, the northern runway would not be used for landings or take-offs to the east. This meant that houses under the flight path would not have to suffer the noise from the take-off of planes leaving the airport, which is considerably louder than that of those landing.

The Air Transport White Paper in December 2003 proposed that since a new runway at Heathrow could not come into operation before some time in the period 2015-2020, consideration should be given to the scope for using the two existing runways more, for example through mixed-mode operations.

Nearest places

• Harlington, London
• Hatton, London
• Heston
• Hounslow
• Feltham
• Southall

Nearest stations

• Hatton Cross tube station
• Hounslow West tube station
• Hayes and Harlington railway station

Local Notables

Blessed John Haile (or Hale), a Catholic priest and rector of St. Dunstan's Church, Cranford, was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn Tree on May 4, 1535 for having defied King Henry VIII. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1888.

See also

• Cranford Agreement

External links

• St John Hale at the Catholic Community Forum