East Bedfont
Encyclopedia
Bedfont is a small suburban town in Greater London
, some 13 miles (21 km) to the west of central London
and only 2 miles (3 km) from Heathrow Airport. It straddles the Staines Road at the west of the London Borough of Hounslow
from Baber Bridge on the River Crane to the Surrey
boundary at Ashford
.
as “Bedefunde”, the name is thought to be derived from Anglo-Saxon
Bedfunta = "Bed’s spring", or Bydenfunta = "spring
provided with a drinking-vessel".
The Staines Road follows the Roman
Via Trinobantes linking Londinium
(London) to Pontes (Staines
) and the West Country, though the name suggests older origins as the Trinobantes were a powerful Celtic tribe before the Roman invasion. Excavations prior to the building of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 site a few miles north west of Bedfont found evidence of settlement during the Bronze Age
, Iron Age
and Roman periods, suggesting there may have been people living in and around the Bedfont area during these periods.
The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin is situated on the edge of the village green and is the oldest surviving church in the borough dating from around 1150. Its Norman chancel, chancel arch and south doorway have survived the centuries, as have medieval wall paintings from the mid 13th century, which were uncovered in 1865.
The Domesday Book has an entry stating that the manors of Bedfont, Hatton and Stanmore were all held by William Fitz Other. From the early 14th century the Manor of East Bedfont was held by the Trinitarian Priory of Hounslow, before being taken by the Crown during the reformation. The Berkeley family of Cranford then held the manor before selling it to the Earl of Northumberland
in 1656. The manor of Pates, also in Bedfont, was held by the Page family, a branch of the Pages of Harrow on the Hill. Col. John Page
, a member of the family, became a wealthy Virginia merchant who served on the colonial council.
licensed the Hounslow Sword Mill in 1630 on the banks of the Duke of Northumberland's River
. The sword smiths, who came from Solingen
in Germany
, produced one thousand swords a month, which have become collector’s items and an impressive collection of these can be seen at the Gunnersbury Park Museum. There is also one on display at Warwick University.
The Longford River
, which also flows through Bedfont, also dates from the reign of Charles I.
During the English Civil War
, when both the Royalist
and Parliamentary
armies passed through Bedfont, the mill was taken by Parliamentary forces, and was converted to a gunpowder
mill in 1654.
This converted mill was supplemented by new mills closer to Baber Bridge, in the area now known as Donkey Woods. The manufacture of gunpowder was a dangerous occupation and workers were killed or maimed in many explosions down the years, with the mills being demolished and rebuilt a number of times. The water-powered gunpowder mills continued to be used until 1926 when they were closed by the then owners, Imperial Chemical Industries
.
Following on from the railways, the twentieth century saw the motor car appearing on the main road, and the building of Great South West Road in 1925 saw traffic diverted around Bedfont.
on the edge of the airport.
Housing Association in the 1980’s by the Sherborn family, who had owned it from the 17th century.
As coach services grew from the 17th to 18th centuries, so too did the number of inns in Bedfont. The Duke’s Head and The Bell were situated on Bedfont Green, and The Plough, The Sun, The White Horse and the Queen’s Head joined them in providing stabling and refreshments to the weary travellers on the road between London and the West Country.
The building of the Great Western Railway
between London and Bristol
in 1841 marked the beginning of the end for the golden age of the stagecoach
, and by 1847 both state and mail coaches had ceased to run to the west. The Waterloo
to Staines line was opened in 1848 leaving the roads mainly for the use of local traffic.
There are also many leisure clubs and pubs in Bedfont, one being the family run Bedfont Lane Community Association.
, who was the first man to swim the English Channel (25 August 1875), lived in The Limes, New Road, Bedfont from 1880 until 1883 when he died attempting to swim the rapids below the Niagara Falls
.
Bedfont Football Club is based in Bedfont, with a number of youth and adult teams.http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/bedfontfc/
Greater London
Greater London is the top-level administrative division of England covering London. It was created in 1965 and spans the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and the 32 London boroughs. This territory is coterminate with the London Government Office Region and the London...
, some 13 miles (21 km) to the west of central London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and only 2 miles (3 km) from Heathrow Airport. It straddles the Staines Road at the west of the London Borough of Hounslow
London Borough of Hounslow
-Political composition:Since the borough was formed it has been controlled by the Labour Party on all but two occasions. In 1968 the Conservatives formed a majority for the first and last time to date until they lost control to Labour in 1971. Labour subsequently lost control of the council in the...
from Baber Bridge on the River Crane to the Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
boundary at Ashford
Ashford, Surrey
Ashford is a town almost entirely in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne in England, with a small part falling within Greater London. It is a suburban development situated 15 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in London and forms part of the London commuter belt...
.
Origins and Mediaeval Bedfont
Referred to in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
as “Bedefunde”, the name is thought to be derived from Anglo-Saxon
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
Bedfunta = "Bed’s spring", or Bydenfunta = "spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
provided with a drinking-vessel".
The Staines Road follows the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
Via Trinobantes linking Londinium
Londinium
The city of London was established by the Romans around AD 43. It served as a major imperial commercial centre until its abandonment during the 5th century.-Origins and language:...
(London) to Pontes (Staines
Staines
Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...
) and the West Country, though the name suggests older origins as the Trinobantes were a powerful Celtic tribe before the Roman invasion. Excavations prior to the building of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 site a few miles north west of Bedfont found evidence of settlement during the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
and Roman periods, suggesting there may have been people living in and around the Bedfont area during these periods.
The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin is situated on the edge of the village green and is the oldest surviving church in the borough dating from around 1150. Its Norman chancel, chancel arch and south doorway have survived the centuries, as have medieval wall paintings from the mid 13th century, which were uncovered in 1865.
The Domesday Book has an entry stating that the manors of Bedfont, Hatton and Stanmore were all held by William Fitz Other. From the early 14th century the Manor of East Bedfont was held by the Trinitarian Priory of Hounslow, before being taken by the Crown during the reformation. The Berkeley family of Cranford then held the manor before selling it to the Earl of Northumberland
Earl of Northumberland
The title of Earl of Northumberland was created several times in the Peerages of England and Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders were the House of Percy , who were the most powerful noble family in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages...
in 1656. The manor of Pates, also in Bedfont, was held by the Page family, a branch of the Pages of Harrow on the Hill. Col. John Page
John Page (Middle Plantation)
Colonel John Page , a merchant in Middle Plantation on the Virginia Peninsula, was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Council of the Virginia Colony. A wealthy landowner, Page donated land and funds for the first brick Bruton Parish Church. Col...
, a member of the family, became a wealthy Virginia merchant who served on the colonial council.
The growth of the town and industrialisation
Charles ICharles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
licensed the Hounslow Sword Mill in 1630 on the banks of the Duke of Northumberland's River
Duke of Northumberland's River
The Duke of Northumberland's River consists of two sections of artificial waterway. The older name: "Isleworth Mill Stream", or River, more accurately describes the economic motivation for their construction.-The western section :...
. The sword smiths, who came from Solingen
Solingen
Solingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2009 population of 161,366 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, produced one thousand swords a month, which have become collector’s items and an impressive collection of these can be seen at the Gunnersbury Park Museum. There is also one on display at Warwick University.
The Longford River
Longford River
The Longford River is an artificial waterway that diverts water 19km from the River Colne at Longford to Bushy Park and Hampton Court Palace where it reaches the Thames on the reach above Teddington Lock....
, which also flows through Bedfont, also dates from the reign of Charles I.
During the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, when both the Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
and Parliamentary
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
armies passed through Bedfont, the mill was taken by Parliamentary forces, and was converted to a gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
mill in 1654.
This converted mill was supplemented by new mills closer to Baber Bridge, in the area now known as Donkey Woods. The manufacture of gunpowder was a dangerous occupation and workers were killed or maimed in many explosions down the years, with the mills being demolished and rebuilt a number of times. The water-powered gunpowder mills continued to be used until 1926 when they were closed by the then owners, Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
.
Following on from the railways, the twentieth century saw the motor car appearing on the main road, and the building of Great South West Road in 1925 saw traffic diverted around Bedfont.
Postwar development and the construction of Heathrow
By 1946 another form of transport began to impact on the village when Heathrow Airport opened and became the largest employer in the area, with the effect of increasing the demand for local housing. The village of Heathrow was lost, as was some of the hamlet of Hatton. This sits beneath the airport's flight path, but The Green Man public house survives from around the 16th century together with a few period properties near the pub and London Underground stationHatton Cross tube station
Hatton Cross tube station is on the Heathrow branch of the London Underground Piccadilly line. It is in Travelcard Zones 5 and 6 and stands between the Great South West Road and the Heathrow Airport Southern Perimeter Road....
on the edge of the airport.
Buildings of interest
Bedfont has the unique claim of having two surviving manor houses. Pates Manor, once owned by the Page family, is behind the church and is the oldest house in the Borough with one wing dating from the late 15th century. Fawns Manor, on the south side of the Green, dates from the 16th century and was sold to the British AirwaysBritish Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
Housing Association in the 1980’s by the Sherborn family, who had owned it from the 17th century.
As coach services grew from the 17th to 18th centuries, so too did the number of inns in Bedfont. The Duke’s Head and The Bell were situated on Bedfont Green, and The Plough, The Sun, The White Horse and the Queen’s Head joined them in providing stabling and refreshments to the weary travellers on the road between London and the West Country.
The building of the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
between London and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
in 1841 marked the beginning of the end for the golden age of the stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
, and by 1847 both state and mail coaches had ceased to run to the west. The Waterloo
Waterloo station
Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is owned and operated by Network Rail and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1....
to Staines line was opened in 1848 leaving the roads mainly for the use of local traffic.
There are also many leisure clubs and pubs in Bedfont, one being the family run Bedfont Lane Community Association.
Sport
Captain Matthew WebbMatthew Webb
Captain Matthew Webb was the first recorded person to swim the English Channel without the use of artificial aids. On 25 August 1875 he swam from Dover to Calais in less than 22 hours.-Early life and career:...
, who was the first man to swim the English Channel (25 August 1875), lived in The Limes, New Road, Bedfont from 1880 until 1883 when he died attempting to swim the rapids below the Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
.
Bedfont Football Club is based in Bedfont, with a number of youth and adult teams.http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/bedfontfc/