CHURCHES.
The original relationship between the
churches of Isleworth, Heston, Twickenham, and
Hampton is not known. A priest at Isleworth, of
which Heston and Twickenham were then part, was
mentioned in Domesday Book, but there is no
reference to one at Hampton. (fn. 36) Walter of St. Valery
(fl. 1086), who owned both Isleworth and Hampton,
was said in the 12th century, however, to have given
the four churches to the Abbey of St. Valéry
(Somme). A document of c. 1300 relating to St.
Valéry's English lands refers to Hampton, Heston,
and Twickenham as chapels of Isleworth, but this
may have been because Isleworth remained the
administrative centre of the abbey's rectorial estate,
rather than because the other churches were in fact
founded from it. Two 12th-century charters, one
probably copying the other, call all the four churches
by that title, and another calls them all chapels. (fn. 37)
By the 13th century they seem to have been ecclesiastically distinct, (fn. 38) and the parishes of Isleworth
and Heston then probably remained virtually unchanged in area until the parish of Holy Trinity
Hounslow was created out of them in 1835. After
this other new churches were steadily built and the
parishes of the two parent churches were correspondingly diminished. (fn. 39)
The date when St. Valéry ordained vicarages in
the churches it owned in Middlesex is unknown, but
Hampton is known to have had a vicar by 1254,
Twickenham by 1286, Isleworth by 1290, and Heston
by 1310. (fn. 40) The advowsons of Isleworth and Heston
belonged to St. Valéry until 1391, though vicars
were presented by the Crown while the abbey's
English lands were sequestered in the 14th century. (fn. 41)
They then descended with the rectorial estates to
the Crown. (fn. 42) In 1558 Mary granted both advowsons
to the Bishop of London, but this grant does not
seem to have taken effect. (fn. 43) In the case of Heston
the Crown presented in 1560, but the bishop, who
acquired the rectorial estate in 1562, held the
advowson as well by 1570. (fn. 44) By 1562 the advowson of
Isleworth belonged to St. George's Chapel, Windsor,
which had held the rectory since 1547. (fn. 45) The bishop
and St. George's are still the respective patrons. (fn. 46)
The church of Isleworth was dedicated to ALL
SAINTS by 1485. (fn. 47) A vicarage is first mentioned in
1290, when it was worth £2, an eighth of the value of
the rectory. (fn. 48) In 1474 Syon Abbey compounded for
all vicarial tithes and dues from its demesne lands.
The vicar was to receive £2 a year and daily meat and
drink at the upper table in the abbey hall, while his
servant was to be fed at the grooms' table. The abbey
was also to give him a robe each year. (fn. 49) By 1535 the
composition was apparently worth £7 8s. (fn. 50) It seems
to have been commuted for a money payment of
£10 at the Dissolution: in any case, it formed a
large proportion of the vicar's income of £18. (fn. 51) By
1650 the vicarage was worth about £30 or £40, and
augmentations from the rectory lands were granted
to it during the Interregnum. (fn. 52) The expansion of
market-gardening in the 17th and 18th centuries
caused disputes about tithes. (fn. 53) In 1724 it was
decided that garden produce grown in fields should
pay tithes to the rectory, not to the vicar, but a
customary modus was paid to the vicar from marketgardens in 1840, when the tithes were commuted. (fn. 54)
From the 18th century the rectory paid £20 a year
as a composition for vicarial tithes. (fn. 55) The vicarial
tithes were commuted for £800 10s., although the
average gross income of the vicar had been only
£775 (£681 net) in 1835. (fn. 56) When St. John's Church
was founded £100 were deducted from the income
of the parent church for it, (fn. 57) and other deductions
may have been made for other churches afterwards,
for in 1884 the vicar received about £550 net and in
1955-6 the net endowment was £338 and the whole
net income was £404. (fn. 58) There is no record of any
vicarial glebe before 1818, when the vicar held 6
acres in the south of the parish in addition to the
vicarage house. (fn. 59) By 1840 he held only the house
and a rood of land in Whitton Road. (fn. 60) The former
vicarage house can probably be identified with the
house next to the Dairyhouse for which the vicar
paid rent to Isleworth manor in 1540. (fn. 61) Glover marks
it on its later site in 1635. (fn. 62) It was rebuilt in 1865
and sold about 1945 when the present vicarage at
No. 61 Church St. was purchased instead. (fn. 63)
In the Middle Ages the church had a lady
chapel and lights to the Virgin, the Holy Cross, St.
Nicholas, and All Saints. (fn. 64) One lamp was apparently
maintained by the lessee of the rectory. (fn. 65) In 1547 the
church had a house in Hounslow worth 40s. a year,
of which 6s. 8d. was divided between the choir and
the poor at the yearly obit. (fn. 66) The vicar had a clerk
in 1339 and vicar's chaplains or curates are mentioned
at later dates. (fn. 67) Isleworth had a good many vicars
who served only for short periods and a number who
were pluralists, some of whom combined the cure
with other livings nearby. Edward More, for instance,
head master of Winchester 1508-17, was vicar of
Isleworth from 1515 to 1521 and of Heston from
1513 to 1529. Later the church was held once with
Hanwell and once with Ruislip and for a large part
of the 18th century with Surrey livings. Since St.
George's held the patronage, it is not surprising that
a number of vicars were canons of Windsor. (fn. 68)
These included Richard Milward (vicar 1678-80),
the editor of Seldon's table-talk, William Cave (vicar
1690-1713), an ecclesiastical historian, and William
Drake (vicar 1777-1801), an antiquary and philologist. (fn. 69)
John Hale (vicar 1521-35) was executed in 1535
along with the Carthusians and others, with whom
he had discussed the royal supremacy in hostile
terms at Isleworth. Some lay people of the neighbourhood also seem to have been disaffected. (fn. 70) William
Turner, the naturalist, who was chaplain to the Duke
of Somerset and preached at Isleworth about 1551,
was a fairly extreme Protestant, (fn. 71) but Thomas Wood,
a former chaplain to Mary Tudor, held the living
from 1562 to 1566 although he had been deprived
of that of Harlington in 1560. (fn. 72) Nicholas Byfield
(vicar 1615-22) was a prominent puritan and sabbatarian who preached twice every Sunday and held
expository lectures on Wednesdays and Fridays. (fn. 73)
About 1600 the parishioners began to appoint
lecturers whom they paid themselves: (fn. 74) 'afternoon
lecturers' were still elected in the 19th century,
though by this time, one of the vicar's curates was
often chosen. (fn. 75) At least one of the early lecturers,
William Jemmat, was a puritan. (fn. 76) He was there when
William Grant became vicar in 1639, and two years
later the parishioners said that Grant had ejected
Jemmat and replaced him with a man of scandalous
life called Bifield. (fn. 77) They also accused Grant of loose
living, belief in confession and celibacy of the clergy,
sabbath-breaking, bowing to the altar, and other
high-church practices. He defended himself against
the more damaging charges, and declared that
Jemmat had left of his own accord after Grant,
finding the vicarage 'a very poor thing of itself', had
decided to do all the work himself. Grant alleged
that only six out of a thousand communicants had
signed the petition, but it is clear that, however
small the opposition to him, he had come into open
conflict, sometimes during service, with some of
its members. (fn. 78) In 1642 he was ordered to permit
another lecturer, who had been chosen by the parish
with his consent, the free use of the pulpit on Sunday
afternoons and Wednesdays: this lecturer was a nonconformist after 1660. (fn. 79) The living was eventually
sequestered in 1643 and given to Samuel Rolle, a
very moderate puritan, who also became curate or
lecturer of Hounslow. (fn. 80) He was ousted once more in
1661 (fn. 81) by Grant, and a new common prayer book,
two books of articles, and a surplice were purchased
for the church in 1662. (fn. 82) During the Interregnum
the lessee of the rectory had moved the reading-desk
behind a pillar and put a pew for himself in its place,
and Grant had some trouble over putting it back.
Churchwardens' presentments, in fact written by
him, list 174 people who had not taken communion
and nine who had not been to church, for four years
before 1664. (fn. 83) In 1685 the benches on either side of
the communion table were ordered to be removed: (fn. 84)
the ritual arrangements in the new church which was
built in 1707 are discussed below, in the description
of the building.
Two of the pluralist vicars of the 18th century
were said to do a good deal of the duty themselves
and all kept curates. Throughout the century services were held two or three times on Sundays, there
were communion services at least monthly, and the
children were catechized in Lent. (fn. 85) Changes seem
to have come fairly gradually in the 19th century
and probably began under H. W. P. Richards (vicar
1855-88), who described how he changed from surplice to gown before preaching when he first came
to the parish. (fn. 86) When a new chancel was built and
the high pews (see plate facing p. 128) were removed
in 1865 this was expressly said to be 'not for ornamentation but [for] greater accommodation . . . because the altar would no longer encroach upon the
area of the church'. (fn. 87) The first new churches were
opened soon after Richards's arrival, though they had
been begun in his predecessor's time. (fn. 88) In 1878 he
opened a mission house in Hartland Road: charity
funds were used for this purpose and it served for
parochial and charitable work. (fn. 89) In 1884 Richards
supported an appeal for funds for another new
church by explaining that his two curates shared his
net income of £550. (fn. 90) In 1886 evening services were
being held in the school at Brentford End in the
winter, and in a cottage at the Railshead: (fn. 91) this last was
superseded by All Soul's Church at St. Margarets. (fn. 92)
About 1916 the leader of a former undenominational
mission in South Street was ordained into the Church
of England and the mission was attached to the
parish church. It was rebuilt in 1922 and part of the
building was used as a church hall in 1958. (fn. 93) In 1959
the parish had 231 persons on its electoral roll. (fn. 94)
The main Sunday services were then sung eucharist
at 9.15 and matins at 10.30.
Isleworth church was supposed in 1635 to be 'very
ancient because of many coats of arms blazoned on
the church windows, with certain grave stones
graven with a Saxon character'. (fn. 95) In 1705 the church
was said to be incommoded by four great pillars in
the middle. (fn. 96) The chancel is said to have been rebuilt in 1398-9. (fn. 97) There was a gallery by 1670. (fn. 98)
The only part of the present church which survives
from before 1707 is the tower, which was built in the
15th century of ragstone with freestone dressings.
It has three stages and an embattled parapet with
pinnacles at the corners, and has been much restored.
The cupola surmounting it is said to have been taken
down in 1866. (fn. 99) Sir Orlando Gee (1619-1705) (fn. 1) of
Syon Park left £500 to rebuild the church. After his
death a parish meeting was held which appointed
trustees for rebuilding and considered 'a report of
Sir Christopher Wren made in the year 1703 and a
scheme or design for a church to be built'. It was
resolved to build according to this design but at
cheaper rates if possible; it is therefore uncertain
how much the new church owed to Wren. (fn. 2) It was
opened in 1707. (fn. 3) The body of the church was of red
brick, divided by square brick piers into a nave and
aisles of six bays, with galleries running the whole
length of each side, and two ranges of round-headed
windows. Externally four pilasters with capitals and
a continuous cornice divided it into three double
bays: the cornice and capitals seem to have been
removed when the roof was altered, probably in
1866-7 when a new Gothic chancel was built. (fn. 4)
Before this the aisles seem to have had flat roofs:
afterwards there was a single mansard roof over the
whole nave and aisles. The original chancel consisted
of an extension of a few feet from the centre aisle
of the nave. This had a segmental pediment, and the
parapets of the side aisles, with vases on the angles,
were swept up to meet it. (fn. 5)
A west gallery was added in the nave soon after
the church was built. (fn. 6) Until 1867 the pews were
arranged in four main blocks, with a narrow line
of seats dividing the centre aisle, in which also
stood the three-decker pulpit, the stove, and the font
(see plate facing p. 128). The stools were for the parish
almspeople. (fn. 7) There were more pews against the east
wall on either side of the low rails which surrounded
the altar on three sides. (fn. 8) In 1746 there were complaints that the Countess of 'Montrallis' (fn. 9) had raised
her pew nineteen inches so that many of the inhabitants could not see the communion table or the
minister officiating there. (fn. 10) The arrangement of the
church was not substantially altered until after 1864,
when it was pointed out that in spite of the inadequate number of free seats, eight of the 77 large pews
had only one inmate and 14 had only two. (fn. 11) By 1867
a new Gothic chancel and east vestries had been
built, the west gallery had been removed, and the
old pews and pulpit replaced. (fn. 12) In 1943 the church
was damaged by arson so that only the tower, the
nave and chancel walls, and the vestries remained
standing. (fn. 13) A temporary church inside the nave was
dedicated in 1950. (fn. 14) A gift of 1918 for cleaning the
altar rails has not been used since 1943, but a bequest
of 1931 for the repair of the church is still used to
maintain the temporary building and the ruins. (fn. 15)
The sundial on the south wall of the nave was set
up in 1761 to replace one that had been blown
down. (fn. 16) Of the six brasses of the 15th and 16th
centuries, five have been preserved by the vicar
since the church was burnt down. The sixth, to
Margaret Dely (d. 1561), a nun of Syon, was found
after the fire to have disappeared. (fn. 17) The wall monuments ranged from 1625 to the 19th century. (fn. 18) Many
of them survived the fire but in 1958 they were said
to be in bad condition: most of them were under
wooden covers. (fn. 19) The monuments to Sir Orlando
Gee and Anne Dash (formerly Tolson) (fn. 20) in the
tower survive undamaged.
The eight bells were all recast in 1903, and two
more were added in 1931. (fn. 21) The plate was recast in
1867, except for a collecting plate for the charity
school marked 1751. (fn. 22) The registers start in 1566
and are substantially complete though many were
badly damaged when the church was burnt, and
parts are virtually illegible. (fn. 23)
In 1847 or 1848 the adjoining Rectory House was
bought and pulled down to enlarge the graveyard. (fn. 24)
The church of ST. LEONARD, Heston, had a
vicar by 1310. (fn. 25) In 1535 the living was valued at £11,
in 1547 at £16, and in 1650 at about £60. (fn. 26) In the
18th century the income seems to have risen from
£80 to £270 and by 1835 it was about £654 gross. (fn. 27) In
1955-6 the endowment was £251 net and the income
£414 net. (fn. 28) The vicar's income came from small
tithes and glebe. All the parish appears to have been
tithable except the demesne lands of Hounslow
manor which belonged to Hounslow Friary in the
Middle Ages. In 1731 the lord of Hounslow manor
succeeded in reaffirming the freedom of the excepted
lands from tithe. (fn. 29) In 1650 the glebe was estimated at
15 acres: (fn. 30) an acre of copyhold land had apparently
been left to the living by will in 1636. (fn. 31) At the inclosure of 1818 most of the glebe was concentrated
behind the vicarage, and the small tithes were commuted for 278 acres on the north of the Bath Road. (fn. 32)
All the glebe except a small strip in Cranford Lane
has since been sold, part of it apparently having been
used to endow St. Paul's, Hounslow Heath. (fn. 33) There
was a vicarage house on the present site in 1635. (fn. 34)
It was rebuilt in the 19th century.
The lights in the medieval church included ones
to Holy Cross, the Virgin, and St. Leonard. (fn. 35) In
1547 the income from 3 roods of land was used to
find a rood light and to repair the church. (fn. 36) Many
of the medieval vicars served for very short periods. (fn. 37)
At least one of them owned land in Middlesex apart
from his glebe, and used it to endow Hounslow
Friary. (fn. 38) One early-16th-century vicar held Heston
first with Isleworth (fn. 39) and then with Cranford, his
successor combined it with Hampton, and it was
held again with Cranford in 1575-91, with Littleton
in 1594-1616, with London parishes at different
times in the 17th century, and with Bedfont for some
years in the 18th. (fn. 40) Thomas Bownell (vicar 1560-70)
was followed by his son Mordecai, one of the
pluralists mentioned above, who lost the living for a
time as the result. (fn. 41) Like his successors, however, he
kept a curate. (fn. 42) In 1642 the pluralist vicar was forced
to resign. (fn. 43) His successor, who was said to perform
the duties ably and painstakingly in 1650, died in
1661, still holding the living. (fn. 44) About 1728 the vicar
was at odds with most of the parish, (fn. 45) and about 1736-
43 the curate, left in charge by a vicar who lived in
Italy, neglected the registers if nothing else. (fn. 46) The
holding of services varied during the century: about
1723 there were two Sunday services, six-weekly
communion services, and catechizings during the
winter, 'if they come'. It was perhaps a little later
that the vicar was said to have given up catechizing
but promised to resume it. (fn. 47) Later the total dropped
to one service on Sundays, and four communion
services a year (there were some 40 communicants
about 1770) but the second Sunday service was
resumed towards the end of the century. (fn. 48) No records
except for the registers survive for the 19th century,
and little is known about the later history of the
parish. It is probable that in the life of the church as
of the village Heston remained comparatively unchanged during the 19th century. Apart from St.
Mary, Spring Grove, which was founded by outside
initiative, the only new church built in the parish was
St. Paul's, Hounslow Heath. (fn. 49) The parish room by
the church was opened in 1880 and weekday services
were held there for some years. (fn. 50) All Saints' Mission
church, Broad Walk, was opened in 1953. (fn. 51) The
main Sunday service at the parish church in 1959
was matins at 11 o'clock. There were then 847
persons on the electoral roll. (fn. 52)
In 1865 Heston church consisted of an aisled nave,
chancel, north and south chapels, west tower, west
and south porches, and a north porch then used as a
vestry. There was apparently a Norman arch in the
chancel and other parts of the building dated from the
13th century, but most of it seems to have been of
the late 15th century. (fn. 53) In 1865 the building was in
bad repair and was considered too small, while the
lowness of the chancel arch was said to impede the
voice during communion services. (fn. 54) The chancel
arch was also partly blocked by a three-decker
pulpit, while high pews stretched through the arch
into the chancel. (fn. 55) In spite of protests from outside
the parish the church was therefore rebuilt, apart from
the tower, to the designs of Thomas Bellamy. (fn. 56) It is
built of ragstone, mainly in the Decorated style and
on the same general plan as the old church except
for an additional north aisle. Efforts were evidently
made to perpetuate some of the original features,
including the separate gabled roofs of the chancel
and chapels at the east end. The arcade dividing
the two north aisles appears to incorporate some
original late-13th-century stonework. The late-15thcentury west porch, which is built of timber on a
stone base, was also apparently reconstructed from
the original materials. The tower is square and fourstoried with an embattled parapet. The west door
and the stoup beside it, like the tower, are of the 15th
century. The lych-gate is an earlier 19th-century
reconstruction from materials of the 15th or early
16th century. (fn. 57) The font-cover is 16th-century,
though much restored, and there are three brasses of
the 16th and 17th centuries. The earliest of these
is on the chancel floor and is to the wife (d. 1581) of
Mordecai Bownell, a vicar. It is damaged but still
has the figures of a woman and child in bed, above
which is Christ in glory, with an angel at the side.
There are a number of monuments of which the
earliest is a floor-slab to Thomas Bownell (vicar
1560-70). Among the others is one to Robert Child
(d. 1782), signed by Robert Adam and P. M. van
Gelder. (fn. 58)
The bells were all recast in the 19th century. (fn. 59)
Two pieces of plate date from the late 17th century
and others from the eighteenth. (fn. 60) The first register
begins in 1559 (marriages) and 1560 (baptisms and
burials). Thereafter there are several gaps of a few
years each. (fn. 61) Entries in the late 16th century and the
17th show that there was then a private chapel at
Osterley Park. (fn. 62)
The church of HOLY TRINITY, Hounslow,
was originally the chapel of the Trinitarian friary at
Hounslow. It survived the Dissolution and in 1547
was being maintained by the parishioners of Isleworth and Heston, no doubt chiefly by such of them
as lived in Hounslow. (fn. 63) The chapel, however,
formed part of the manor-house or former friary
building and was the private property of its owners. (fn. 64)
One of these owners, Anthony Roan (fl. 1571), was
said to have given the chapel and £2 a year to the
inhabitants on condition they maintained a minister
there: (fn. 65) the chapel in fact remained the property of
his successors, and the £2 became the endowment
of the living: (fn. 66) by 1723 it had increased to £20 and
was supplemented by local contributions. In 1766
it was worth £30, with pew rents in addition. (fn. 67)
Because the chapel stood on the north side of the
road in Heston parish, it was sometimes referred to
as a chapel of ease of that church. (fn. 68) The curates
seem always to have been appointed by the owner
of Hounslow manor. Two were licensed in the 16th
and 17th centuries, (fn. 69) but they never seem to have
received licences in the 18th, and Joseph Benson
(d. 1861) recorded that he became curate in 1814
without licence, because the bishop doubted from
whom he could accept a nomination. (fn. 70) It may have
been its status as a donative that led Glover to
describe the chapel in 1635 as a peculiar. (fn. 71)
There seems to have been a fairly steady succession of curates from the Dissolution. (fn. 72) One, who had
been described as reader as early as 1577, gave a
bond to study Latin in 1592 when he was only a
deacon. He became vicar of Feltham the following
year, possibly retaining his position at Hounslow. (fn. 73)
In 1615-16 the curate was also vicar of Heston. (fn. 74) In
1650 the chapel was said to be vacant for want of
maintenance, and in 1657 the vicar of Isleworth had
leave to preach and lecture weekly in Hounslow
chapel. (fn. 75) In 1664 the curate was probably also
perpetual curate of New Brentford. (fn. 76) The 18thcentury curates included Wetenhall Wilkes, who
published a poem called Hounslow Heath in 1747, (fn. 77)
and John Huckell (1729-71), a poet of rather greater
reputation. (fn. 78) In the early part of the century communion services were held monthly and at the three
great festivals, and about 1723 there were two services on Sundays and apparently one on each weekday. Parents, however, would not prepare and send
their children to catechism. The charity school maintained in the town early in the 18th century seems
to have been closely connected with the chapel. (fn. 79)
In the 18th century the curates kept rather rough
registers which show that the chapel was used quite
extensively for the baptism of Hounslow children,
and that a fair number of marriages were also celebrated there. Very few burials are recorded and nearly
all of these were of members of the Bulstrode
family, who owned the manor. (fn. 80) At the death of
Richard Bulstrode's widow in 1816 (fn. 81) the chapel was
in very bad repair and the curate, Joseph Benson,
decided to try and build a new church and put it
under the bishop's full jurisdiction. (fn. 82) When the
manor estate was broken up soon after, the chapel
was accordingly bought by the vicar of Heston,
conveyed to trustees, and pulled down. (fn. 83)
The old chapel stood on the same site as the
modern church. Surviving pictures show what appear
to be a nave and a lower, separately roofed north
aisle, (fn. 84) both probably of about the 14th century:
Lysons attributed parts of the building to the 13th
century. A tower with a pyramidal roof, barely if at
all higher than the nave, adjoined it on the southwest, and the chapel was entered by a door in the
south wall of the tower opening straight on the road.
A wall with diaper patterning ran along the roadside and inserted in this a little beyond the east end
of the chapel was a stone bearing a shield of arms
surrounded by the inscription 'Monsyr Andrews
Wanedsor': this was removed to the outside of the
south wall of the new church. (fn. 85) William, Lord
Windsor, held the manor and chapel from 1558 and
when his son sold it in 1571 the purchaser covenanted
to maintain the tombs in the church of the grantor's grandfather, Andrew, Lord Windsor, and of
Andrew's son, George. (fn. 86) A 16th-century tomb is
preserved in the new church with kneeling figures of
a man and woman set in a moulded frame under a
broken pediment. This has no inscription but in
1631 there was a tomb with an inscription com
memorating George Windsor and his wife. (fn. 87) In
1635 the chapel was said to have been built by the
Windsors (this seems to be a misunderstanding of
their connexion with it) but to have been burnt down
and partly rebuilt, apparently with money raised by
a brief. (fn. 88) A stone over the door, now in the vestry
of the new church, was inscribed 'Domus Dei Ornata
1710': to judge from the external appearance of the
chapel in prints neither the rebuilding of the early
17th century nor the work of 1710 was very extensive. Other monuments preserved from the old
chapel include that of Whitelock Bulstrode (d. 1724).
The plate includes five pieces from the 18th century.
The earliest are a flagon, cup, and paten cover of
1705, all given by Whitelock Bulstrode. (fn. 89)
The Duke of Northumberland, the Bishop of
London, and the vicars of Isleworth and Heston were
among those who contributed largely to the building of the new church, which was opened in 1829. A
donation was also received from the Church Building Commissioners. The church was of brick, and
consisted only of an aisled nave and either no chancel
or a very short one. It was designed by Henry Mawley
in 'the late style of Gothic architecture'. (fn. 90) The ragstone chancel, in a more correct Perpendicular style,
was added in 1856. (fn. 91) A deliberately started fire
destroyed the nave roof and badly damaged the
rest of the building in 1943, just five days after a
similar fire at Isleworth. (fn. 92) A temporary nave within
the church walls was opened in the same year. (fn. 93)
A separate parish was assigned to Holy Trinity
in 1835, including Hounslow town itself and a good
deal of the heath land to the west. (fn. 94) This area was
later diminished as other churches were built. (fn. 95) The
Bishop of London became the patron of the living
and endowed it in 1836 with £60 a year, to which
Queen Anne's Bounty added £600 capital. (fn. 96) Further
endowments for a parsonage house and a curate were
received between 1863 and 1877. (fn. 97) In 1955-6 the
endowment was worth £237 net, and the income of
the living was £661 net. (fn. 98) In 1959 the main Sunday
services were parish communion at 10 and matins at
11. There were then 316 names on the electoral roll. (fn. 99)
The church of ST. MARY, Spring Grove, is in
Osterley Road. It was opened in 1856 and was
designed by John Taylor the younger in the Decorated style, using a stone facing over brick in what
was then a new way, invented by himself. Large as
the church is, with nave, chancel, and vestries, it was
expressly designed to take galleries when these
should be needed: the two tiers of windows are for
this purpose, but the galleries were never built. (fn. 1) To
the south-west stands a combined porch and tower
surmounted by a tall broach spire. The church was
built at the cost of H. D. Davies, the builder of the
Spring Grove estate, who remained its patron for
many years. In 1855 it was said that when the church
was opened it would be 'placed at the disposal of an
able and evangelical minister'. (fn. 2) A parish, extending
into Isleworth ancient parish, was assigned to it in
1856. (fn. 3) The living was valued at £459 in 1875 and
at £859 net, of which £51 came from endowment,
in 1955-6. (fn. 4) About 1897 the advowson was transferred to the Church Patronage Society, and the
church has remained evangelical in tone. (fn. 5) In 1959 a
new vicar had started a parish communion service at
9.30 on Sundays; matins continued to be held at 11
as well. There were 506 persons on the electoral roll
at about this time. (fn. 6) St. Luke's Mission Church in
Kingsley Road was opened as a Sunday school
before 1895. (fn. 7) In 1958, under a lay missioner, it
provided especially for young people, with services
at 11 and 6.30 each Sunday, and communion
services on Sunday evening once a month.
The church of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, St.
John's Road, Isleworth, was opened in 1856, after
about ten years of effort, on a site given by the Duke
of Northumberland along with £2,000 towards the
building. It was designed in the style of the 15th
century (fn. 8) by J. Deason and is built of ragstone with
an aisled nave, chancel, north porch, vestries, and
a battlemented north-west tower. The adjoining
vicarage and almshouses were built by John Farnell, (fn. 9)
and W. T. Farnell, by will proved 1870, left £2,000 to
augment the benefice. (fn. 10) The original endowment had
consisted of £100 a year from the living of the vicar
of Isleworth, who was, and remains, the patron. (fn. 11) In
1955-6 the endowment provided £164 of a net
income of £652. (fn. 12) In 1959 the electoral roll contained 293 names. (fn. 13) The principal Sunday service
was then 11 o'clock matins, replaced once a month
by choral communion.
The church of ST. PAUL, Hounslow Heath, in
the Bath Road, was built in 1873-4 by W. G. Habershon and Pite, in the Decorated style. (fn. 14) It is of ragstone and comprises nave, aisles, short transepts,
chancel, and a south-west tower and spire. There are
a number of memorials to members of the Royal
Fusiliers and other regiments once stationed at
Hounslow. The sites of the church and the vicarage
were given, with £1,600, by W. H. Taylor of
Hounslow. (fn. 15) A parish, formerly part of Heston, was
formed in 1871, (fn. 16) and an incumbent, who seems to
have been already working here for two years, was
appointed. (fn. 17) The living was in the gift of the Bishop
of London and was valued at £300 in 1874, a third
of this coming from the mother parish and twothirds from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who
owned a considerable property (Rectory farm) in the
new parish. (fn. 18) In 1955-6 the endowment was valued
at £279 net, out of the benefice's income of
£604 net. (fn. 19) Eleven o'clock matins was the principal
Sunday service in 1959, when there were 210 names
on the church electoral roll. (fn. 20)
The church of ST. STEPHEN, Hounslow Heath,
on the corner of Parkside Road and St. Stephen's
Road, was built in 1875-6. It was designed by E.
Christian in the Early English style and comprises
nave, aisles, transepts, apsidal chancel, and west
baptistery, all built of red brick with white brick
dressings and with pointed and rose windows. The
massive square tower of red brick was added to the
south-west of the building in 1935. (fn. 21) An iron
mission church had been opened in Whitton Road
by the London Diocesan Home Mission in 1872.
This seems to have continued to be used for occasional services some time after the permanent church
was opened and to have been replaced before 1906
by the brick parish rooms which were there in 1958. (fn. 22)
A parish was assigned to St. Stephen's in 1877 out
of St. John's, Isleworth, and Holy Trinity, Hounslow. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners endowed the
living with £200 a year in 1877 and another £100
in 1882, and also gave £1,500 for a parsonage. (fn. 23)
In 1955-6 the net endowment was £107 and the
benefice was worth £598. The patronage belongs to
the Bishop of London. (fn. 24) There were 229 names on
the electoral roll in 1959. (fn. 25) The principal Sunday
service was then 11 o'clock matins except on the
first Sunday in the month, when it was replaced by
sung eucharist at 9.45.
The church of ALL SOULS in Northcote Road,
St. Margaret's, was built in 1896-7. (fn. 26) Services had
been held in a cottage at the Railshead before an
iron church was opened in Northcote Road in 1886.
It continued to be served from All Saints until 1889
when, the living of the mother church being vacant,
it was taken over by the London Diocesan Home
Mission. (fn. 27) The permanent church was designed by
G. Monson. It is a Gothic building of red and blue
brick, with grouped lancet windows, and has an
aisled nave and apsidal chancel. The vestry was
added in 1925. A parish, formerly part of All Saints,
Isleworth, was assigned to it in 1898. (fn. 28) The patronage was vested in the Bishop of London and the
living was valued at £255 net in 1899 and at £706
net, of which the endowment provided £270, in
1955-6. (fn. 29) In 1959 the principal Sunday service was
sung eucharist at 11 o'clock, preceded by said
matins. There were then 315 persons on the electoral
roll. (fn. 30)
The church of ST. FRANCIS in the Great West
Road was built, together with its vicarage house and
hall, in 1933-5. It is not orientated and the altar is
at the north end. Designed by E. C. Shearman, it
is built of brick with stone dressings and consists
of a wide nave with a tall clerestory, very narrow
aisles, transepts, and an apsidal chancel flanked by
chapels. An incumbent was appointed and a parish
assigned to the church in 1935. The parish was taken
out of All Saints, Isleworth, and the living, of which
the Bishop of London is patron, was endowed with
£256 net in 1955-6: the whole net value was £640. (fn. 31)
The principal Sunday service in 1959 was sung
mass at 10.30. There were then 126 persons on the
electoral roll. (fn. 32)
The church of ST. MARY THE VIRGIN,
Worton Road, was designed by H. S. GoodhartRendel and built in 1952-4. (fn. 33) It is low-built of
brick, colour-washed grey internally. At the west end
of the wide nave is a shallow chancel with a chapel to
the south. The altar has a reredos of painted tiles
depicting the Virgin and Child surrounded by
scenes from the Bible. At the crossing, which is
formed by wide interlacing arches, the side aisles
have cross-gabled roofs giving the effect of transepts.
An adjoining hall had been used for services since
the London Diocesan Home Mission first provided
a priest-in-charge about 1931. In 1951 parts of the
parishes of St. John, Isleworth, and St. Stephen,
Hounslow, were assigned to the church, and a
benefice was created which in 1955-6 had an endowment of £448 (net income £621). (fn. 34) In 1959 there were
213 persons on the electoral roll. (fn. 35) The principal
Sunday service was then parish eucharist at 9 a.m.
The church of the GOOD SHEPHERD on the
corner of Beavers Lane and the Great South West
Road was built in 1956-7 out of the compensation for
war-damage paid to St. John's Church, Wapping. (fn. 36)
It was designed by Michael Farey to serve partly as
a church-hall (see plate facing p. 128): the hall is
formed across the west end of the building and the
consecrated part of the church can be completely cut
off by a sliding screen. When the whole building is
in use as a church the screen covers the front of the
stage at the south end of the hall. The priest's house
forms an extension of the hall beyond the stage,
while at the north end there are service rooms under
a gallery. Externally there is a small bell-turret on
the south of the chancel, containing one bell and
surmounted by a cross. In 1958 the church was still
a chapel of ease of St. Paul's, Hounslow Heath, and
was included in its electoral roll, though it had its
own priest-in-charge. Holy communion at 9 a.m.
was then the principal Sunday service.
A chapel was opened in Hounslow Barracks
during the 19th century.