Isleworth ( ) is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hounslow, west London, England. Its main retail street London Road becomes Hounslow High Street and adjoining Treaty Centre for shopping centre only a few hundred metres away from its westernmost point. No physical signs mark this boundary, which reflects how Isleworth contained the east of Hounslow, originally.
Isleworth sits west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane and the original area of settlement, alongside the Thames, is known as Old Isleworth. The northwest corner of the town, bordering on Osterley to the north and Lampton to the west, is known as Spring Grove. Both postally and historically Osterley is part of Isleworth, however it has its own tube station.
Isleworth's former Thames frontage of approximately one mile, excluding that of the upmarket attractions of Syon Park, was reduced to little over half a mile in 1994 when a borough boundary realignment was effected in order to unite the district of Margaret's wholly within London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. As a result, the riverside is those parts overlooking the islet of Isleworth Ait: the short-length River Crane flows into the Thames south of the Isleworth Ait, and its artificial distributary the Duke of Northumberland's River west of the Isleworth Ait, one of two Colne distributaries constructed for aesthetic reasons between 1600 and 1750.
The town is the birthplace of broadcaster David Attenborough.
Etymology DateFormSource 695 Gislheresuuyrth An Anglo-Saxon charter. 1086 Gistelesworde The Domesday Survey 1301 Istelworth Roll. 1415 YstelworthRoll. 1418 ThistelworthPlea Roll of the Court of Common PleasNational Archives; CP 40/629; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H5/CP40no629/aCP40no629fronts/IMG_0798.htm, with London, in the margin, and the plaintiff Thomas Brigge or Berigge, clerk, on a plea of debt, with Richard Beaupe of Thistelworth, Middx YhistelforthGeorge James Aungier, in "History of Syon Monastery, the Parish of Isleworth and the Chapelry of Hounslow", 1840 Islleworth 1540 Istyllworth Local document IstelwortheAn assize (court sitting) document in the reign of Elizabeth I 1554 Thyslyworth Plea Roll, Court of Common Pleas. 1593 Thistleworth or Gistelesworth Norden and Lysons, historians 1702 Istleworth Shown on a memorial in the parish church. 1742 Isleworth Title of an engraving by Thomas Priest.Collage
History
Roman and Anglo Saxon Excavations around the eastern end of the Syon Park estate have unearthed evidence of a Romano-British settlement. 'Gislheresuuyrth', meaning in Old English Enclosure belonging to [a man called] Gīslhere, is first referred to as a permanent settlement in an Anglo-Saxon charter in the year 695.Thames Landscape Strategy, the Arcadian River Thames between Hampton and Kew The Domesday Book says that during the reign (1042–1066) of Edward the Confessor the manor belonged to "Earl Algar" (probably Ælfgar of Mercia), and a modern road off South Street today carries his name.'And So Make a City Here' by G E Bate F.R.Hist.S. p68 published: Thomasons Hounslow 1948
Granted to Saint Valeri Barons Isleworth was a well-cultivated farming and trading settlement, more valuable than many of its neighbours at the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. For centuries it continued to stretch from the Middlesex bank of the Thames in the east, west to include the centre of what was its hamlet then chapelry Hounslow (including the medieval founded Hounslow Priory) and to bound Whitton, as far north so as to bound Southall (in Hayes parish at the time), and as south as to bound Twickenham. The Domesday Book (1086) as Gistelesworde records its 55 ploughlands, 118 households and amount rendered, £72 per year, to its feudal system overlords.Domesday map Retrieved 25 December 2013Mills, A. D. (1996). Dictionary of English Place-Names, p.188. Oxford University Press, Oxford. . After the Conquest, successive Norman barons of the Saint Valeri family held the manor of Isleworth but there is no evidence that they lived there – it being held as a source of rentals and subinfeudation/lettings/charitable giving power. One of the later barons gave several manorial rents and privileges to London's Hospital of Saint Giles. He also gave the church and advowson to the Abbey of Saint Valeri, at the mouth of the Somme in Picardy.Bate (FRHS), G.E. (1948). "And So Make a City Here" p.68. Thomasons, Hounslow.
Transfer to Earldom of Cornwall
In 1227, when he took control of England from his childhood regents, Henry III seized Isleworth manor and other property of the Saint Valeri family and gave the manor to his brother, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. He built a new moated manor house, which is described in the Black Book of the Exchequer – having a tiled roof, chimney, two bedchambers and an inner courtyard. Outwith the moat was an outer courtyard with a number of buildings for servants and supplies, and a short distance away was a watermill. The exact location is unknown, but a report long ago of 'Moated Place' puts the likely place between the Northumberland Arms and Twickenham Road, with the watermill being near Railshead, on the only suitable water then existing, the Crane. The seemingly classic medieval manor house was burned down during the Second Barons' War in 1264.
Rectory, glebe and advowson (right to appoint the vicar) The Abbey of Saint Valeri in Picardy held the livings (benefices) and revenues of several English parish church lands and, responding to growing disquiet over these foreign holdings, in 1391 it transferred those of Isleworth (for a fee) to William of Wykeham, who endowed them to Winchester College, which he founded. The Wardens and Scholars of Winchester College therefore became proprietors of productive rectory (which had glebelands). This lasted for 150 years, then in 1543 King Henry VIII exchanged with Winchester certain manors elsewhere for five churches in Middlesex, including All Saints.
Four years later he gave the Isleworth rectory and advowson to the Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, but they returned to the crown when the Duke was executed in 1552. Soon after, they were given to the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor, with whom they remain today.'And So Make a City Here' by G E Bate F.R.Hist.S. pp106/7 published: Thomasons Hounslow 1948 The castle-like stone church tower by the river remains from this period, see below.
Transfer of Manor to Syon Monastery In 1415 Henry V granted nuns from the Swedish Bridgettine order land on the bank of the Thames, firstly in Twickenham opposite his new Sheen Palace, where they built their first house Syon Monastery. In 1422 Henry V transferred ownership of Isleworth Manor from the Duchy of Cornwall to Syon Monastery,Aungier, p.39; Rot. Parl. 9 Hen V, p.1, m.7 which in 1431 was selected for the new site within their manor to rebuild their monastery. This is the site of the present Syon House.Aungier, G.J. History and Antiquities of Syon Monastery, London, 1840
Granted to Duke of Somerset Henry VIII demolished most of Syon Monastery after 1539 and the site and manor was granted to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. It was Seymour who built Syon House in 1548. Lady Jane Grey was taken from here to the Tower by Royal barge in anticipation of her being crowned Queen of England.
Acquired by Earl of Northumberland Forty-six years later, in 1594 Queen Elizabeth I granted a lease of the manor of Syon to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland on his marriage to Dorothy Devereux the younger daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, who later received a grant of the freehold from King James I in 1604.Victoria County History, A History of the Co. of Middlesex, Vol.3, Syon House, pp.97–98 It has remained in the possession of the Percy family, now the Dukedom of Northumberland, for over four hundred years. The Royalist army occupied the house during the Battle of Brentford in November 1642. Syon Park was rebuilt and landscaped by the Adam brothers and "Capability" Brown between 1766 and 1773. It became the new home of the Dukes of Northumberland when Northumberland House in the Strand was demolished in 1874.
Georgian and Victorian times Much of Isleworth became orchards in the 18th century (including part of Hugh Ronalds' renowned nursery), and then market gardens in the 19th century, supplying the London markets. Lower Square and Church Street still have buildings dating from the 18th and early 19th centuries. A striking element of this period was the establishment in Isleworth of many mansions and large houses, principally for aristocrats and high achievers. This phenomenon arose owing mainly to the collection of royal and noble residences and ecclesiastical establishments that already existed nearby. The subject is examined in depth in the "Notable houses" section.
There is evidence of a Black community in Isleworth in the 18th century. This community was primarily made up of enslaved people of colour, from Africa, Asia or the Caribbean. Some of these people had fled from bondage and chose to seek their freedom in the streets of London. With very few exceptions, little is known about people of colour in 18th century London. However, as a result of contemporary sources like advertisements seeking the capture and return of runaway slaves, an insight can be gained into the lives of two people, Marina Dellap and Prince, who resided in the area in 1765.
Workhouse and former Hospitals Brentford Workhouse Infirmary and West Middlesex Hospital before 1980
The Brentford Poor Law Union had a workhouse built in 1838 covering much land to the east of Twickenham Road in Isleworth. At the turn of the 20th century, this was totally rebuilt as an infirmary, with a much larger workhouse newly erected in the grounds.The Workhouse – www.workhouses.org.uk This infirmary functioned until 1920, when it became 'West Middlesex Hospital'. In 1931 it was upgraded to a county hospital, but in 1948 (under the NHS) 'County' was dropped from its title. It later became a teaching hospital, and added 'University' to its title in 1980.Hospital Records Details The National Archives The Victorian buildings were closed in 2003, and largely redeveloped as housing, called Union Lane, after the original workhouse. The hospital was rebuilt on the adjacent site.
Percy House Auxiliary Military Hospital
Within the old union workhouse complex stood a school, facing Twickenham Road, called Percy House – Percy being the surname of the dukes of Northumberland. Owing to its gradual disuse as a school it was adapted to function as a military hospital during World War I of 1914–18. From 1915 onwards it treated some 5,000 war-wounded soldiers, and ceased operation at the end of 1918. Among the VAD nurses was Sophia Duleep Singh. The building was demolished in 1978.
Mogden Isolation / South Middlesex Fever Hospital
An isolation hospital existed on the south side of Mogden Lane, which runs west from Twickenham Road. Opened in 1897, Mogden Isolation Hospital was renamed 'South Middlesex Fever Hospital' in 1938 but continued under local authority control. When the National Health Service was formed it became, in 1948, simply South Middlesex Hospital. It closed in 1991.
20th century