Boston Manor is an English
Jacobean manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
built in 1622 with internal alterations, intensively restored in later centuries and Boston Manor Park is the adjoining publicly owned green space including a lake. It was the
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
of one of the early medieval-founded
manors in
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
. Since 1965 its small part of the parish of
Hanwell
Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...
has been part of the
London Borough of Hounslow
The London Borough of Hounslow () is a London borough in West London, England, forming part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 when three smaller borough councils (forming part of the former Middlesex County Council area) amalgamated under ...
in west
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
History of the former Manor of Boston
The earliest reference to Boston (or Bordwadestone as it was then spelled) was around the 1170s. Bordwad has not been identified with a group of people or physical feature and so it is assumed the first part of this word means ''Bord's''. The final part of the word is the common ending ''('' i.e.
farmstead
A homestead is an isolated dwelling, especially a farmhouse, and adjacent outbuildings, typically on a large agricultural holding such as a ranch or station.
In North America the word "homestead" historically referred to land claimed by a set ...
. It was towards the northern end its lands — its manor. The lord of the Manor is recorded as Ralph de Brito. There is no record as to where he built his manor house. He founded a chapel dedicated to St. Lawrence in the south of the manor on a site that is now derelict. The ecclesiastical boundary under this chapel was — or became over time — conterminous with the manor boundary. The approximate four boundaries were the Piccadilly line from the east end of
Boston Manor Underground station's sidings to the
Brent, the Brent down to the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
, the Thames to Half Acre Road, and Boston Manor Road.
The northern extent of the manor was marked by a boundary stone. Later a tree to the west of it came to be the local Gospel Oak. Here the old pagan custom of blessing the field and crops took place whilst
beating the bounds Beating the bounds or perambulating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in parts of England, Wales, and the New England region of the United States, which traditionally involved swatting local landmarks with branches to maintain a shared ...
. Thus, the boundary of chapelry of St. Lawrence coexisted with that of the manor. It was a part of the parish of Hanwell until moved into Brentford.
Then in about 1280
King Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...
granted this area of the township to the prioress of
St Helen's Bishopsgate
St Helen's Bishopsgate is an Anglican church in London. It is located in Great St Helen's, off Bishopsgate.
It is the largest surviving parish church in the City of London. Several notable figures are buried there, and it contains more monumen ...
. It is at this point Boston became a recognised rural settlement. The prioress received what amounted to "constructive possession" and ownership. The King did this to make raising tax easier and it had the benefit of deterring alienation of part, a process then called
subinfeudation
In English law, subinfeudation is the practice by which tenants, holding land under the king or other superior lord, carved out new and distinct tenures in their turn by sub-letting or alienating a part of their lands.
The tenants were termed m ...
, keeping the land together until the
dissolution of the monasteries.
The King may have favoured this particular Convent in Bishopsgate because it was full of the unmarried daughters of members of the
Guild of Goldsmiths, and so by making them self-supporting by giving them the means to charge their new tenants rents and to sell the produce grown on their newly acquired
demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
, he could justify taxing their fathers more heavily and collect the tax in the form of silver coinage, which was more convenient.
In 1539, Henry VIII's national reforms saw the convent dissolved and the manor (including its holdings) returned to the Crown.
The Crown granted the lands in or shortly before 1547 to
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (150022 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VI ...
during the reign of
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
.
When the Duke was beheaded, his
lands were forfeited under the
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
of
Queen Mary to the Crown until
Queen Elizabeth granted it to her favourite
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years.
Dudley's youth was ov ...
who immediately sold it to
Sir Thomas Gresham
Sir Thomas Gresham the Elder (; c. 151921 November 1579), was an English merchant and financier who acted on behalf of King Edward VI (1547–1553) and Edward's half-sisters, queens Mary I (1553–1558) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603). In 1565 G ...
, an internationally wealthy merchant and financier who had also bought
Osterley
Osterley () is an affluent district of the historic parish of Isleworth in west London approximately from Charing Cross and is part of the London Borough of Hounslow. Most of its land use is mixed agricultural and aesthetic parkland at Osterl ...
as his summer residence. He later founded the
Royal Exchange.
As Gresham died without issue, the property went to his stepson Sir William Reade who lived in Osterley so had to obtain a Patent of Possession in 1610 from
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
so that he could inherit. He married Mary Goldsmith, who immediately after his death built Boston Manor House in 1622–1623. She then married
Sir Edward Spencer of
Althorp
Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of c ...
, who
therefore gained the equitable ownership and who appears to have bought out the claim of the late William Reade's heirs so that upon her death in 1658 the lands passed to her heir John Goldsmith. In 1670 his executors sold Boston to another very wealthy city merchant: James Clitherow I. The price he paid for the house with its then for his own use, was £5,136, 17s, 4d ().
The manor was gradually reduced by the Clitherow family for the next 250 years. The neighbouring settlement of Brentford expanded onto the property of this manor, which largely became known as the Manor of New Brentford.
The population had grown so much by 1621 that the chapelry council assumed administrative township status known as the New Brentford Township — the letters NBT can be seen on local boundary stones.
During the 18th century the area was referred to overwhelmingly as ''Boston Manor'' in preference to ''New Brentford''.
John Bourchier Stracey-Clitherow was the last private owner of the manor. In 1923 he sold the final part of the estate: the house and purchased by the Brentford Urban District Council and opened as a public park in 1924.
The Green Flag Award scheme, which recognises and rewards the best green spaces in England and Wales, has given this award to Boston Manor Park in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Boston Manor House
History of the manor house
The manor house was built in 1622-3 for the newly widowed, and shortly to be remarried Dame Mary Reade. whose late husband was granted a patent of possession for Boston Manor from James I.
To the north of the house the Clitherrow family added extensions that contained the kitchen services and quarters for the domestic staff.
John Bourchier Stracey-Clitherow was the last private owner of Boston Manor which he sold in 1923. The house and the surrounding was purchased by the
Brentford Urban District Council which was opened as a public park in 1924.
The house was badly damaged during World War II by a
V1 dropping across the road.
For a time it was used as a school. After extensive restoration work, was re-opened in 1963 by
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...
as a visitors centre and Museum.
Due to its unique architecture and decoration it has been often used as a setting for period films.
There came a time when the south west corner was propped up by scaffolding intended to be a temporary measure but which became a feature for several years.
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
judged that urgent work was needed in order to consolidate the foundations to prevent further deterioration and possible collapse. The lower courses of brickwork were visibly bowing out and a vertical crack could be seen running up the wall. This has since been repaired.
An organization called the Friends of Boston Manor now exists with the aim of helping to restore and maintain the historical aspects of Boston Manor Park and House.
Description of the house
The manor house is a Grade I
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
Jacobean manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
on the west-side of Boston Manor Road,
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
, in the
London Borough of Hounslow
The London Borough of Hounslow () is a London borough in West London, England, forming part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 when three smaller borough councils (forming part of the former Middlesex County Council area) amalgamated under ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Set in of parkland, it is Hounslow's only building of the Jacobean period. It is situated in beautiful grounds which gently slope down to the nearby
River Brent
The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tideway stretch of the Thame ...
, from which Brentford gets its name. The house has thick walls of red brick and stands three storeys high. The windows are set into stone
architrave
In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns.
The term can ...
s and a stone
cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
between the second and third storeys of the house. It has three gables on the longer sides and two on the shorter with stone
coping
Coping refers to conscious strategies used to reduce unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviours and can be individual or social.
Theories of coping
Hundreds of coping strategies have been proposed in an attempt to ...
. The rainwater downpipe headers which collect from the roof gutters are each embossed with dates. The three on the original part of the house are dated 1662, this being the date that building began. Another is 1670, which was when the third gable was added, and 1915 for when improvements were made to the drainage system.
It was traditional with grand houses of this time to consider the front side of the house to be that side which looks out over an elegantly landscaped garden. However, during the ownership of James Clitherow (IV), the central ground floor window on the east side was converted into a doorway and a porch was added. It is fashioned from pale grit stone which has weathered to an almost light golden colour, with Elizabethan detail, and topped with a low ornamental balustrade. Considering its design and apparent age, it is thought to have been salvaged from another building.
Going through this porch and the new front doorway one comes into the entrance hall. It extends to the west side of the house and the former front door. Halfway between, however, is a wooden divide or screen which was added around the 19c, and the east half was given a new ceiling.
On the immediate left of the hall is the dining room. It is not very large and is painted in a bright yellow which was both popular and expensive when it was in fashion. It has a number of prints and paintings hanging on the walls of local scenes from times gone by.
Once back in the hallway and walking through the screen, there is to the left-hand side a door to the library, which is about the same size as the dining room. It has some interesting features. Unfortunately the room now remains locked and cannot be seen by visitors due to the dangerous condition of the wall on that side of the house. Beyond the library door is the west side door to the garden.
The west side of the hall also has a mostly original left hand winding Jacobean staircase.
The angle of ascent (or rake) of the
stairs
Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...
is more gentle than in modern buildings, with both a lower ‘rise’ to the next tread and deeper ‘run’ to the next step. The treads are bullnosed and obediently creak to each and every footfall a visitor may place upon them.
Square carved oak newel posts support the ends of banisters with carved tapered balusters running between. The opposite side of the stairs are mirrored with a
Trompe d'œil balustrade. For this period in England, this is an extremely rare example of this technique and so is now been preserved behind transparent sheets. The design has striking similarities to those at
Hatfield House
Hatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean house, a leading example of the prodigy house, was built in 1611 by Robert Ceci ...
.
A 19c addition to the top of the newel posts are small plaster or composition castings of lions which are sitting on their haunches, with their bodies erect and both forepaws raised from the ground (i.e., holding ‘sejant erect attitude’), Each animal hold a shield bearing the arms of a different Clitherow member. These may have been added for the visit of
King William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
and
Queen Adelaide
, house = Saxe-Meiningen
, father = Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
, mother = Princess Louise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Meiningen, Saxe-Meiningen, Holy Rom ...
; for although the Clitherow's were commoners they could nevertheless trace their family tree back to the reign of Henry V.
The two landings give a fine view over the garden with its cedar trees planted in 1754.
With the commanding view that the house provides to the south and south west, one can almost imagine a little over a hundred years before that, when the then
King Charles I could have been pacing from window to window with his loyal supporter Sir Edward Spencer, watching
Prince Rupert's troops engaging with the
Parliamentarians during the
Battle of Brentford. Apart from local folklore though, there is nothing to support this as having happened. It is almost equally disappointing to discover, that despite the historically rich ambience that follows one about from room to room, only one ghost has chosen to remain in residence. It is said to be that of the unquiet spirit of young master John Clitherow, who drowned at an untimely and early age.
After the second flight of stairs one arrives at the second floor. To the right
it the door to a small anteroom on the west side of the house. Next to this is the state bedroom with a splendid Jacobean decorated plaster ceiling in high relief. The central panel depicts a female figure representing ‘Hope’ with her cross-anchor, below is the word in Latin. This symbol pre-dates Christianity: ''Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;'' Hebrews 6:19 (KJV). Despite this, Dame Mary Reade died childless.
From here and though the doorway to the east side is the
state drawing room; so called because this is where the ladies would withdraw after dinner, leaving the menfolk to smoke and sample the cellar. This is the room that Boston Manor House is so famous for. It is large, with a high and magnificent Jacobean ceiling, some with elements designed by the 17th-century Dutch artist
Marcus Gheeraerts, and engraved by Galle. In one corner is recorded the date of building, and Mary Reade's initials in another. An equally ornate chimney- piece over the mantel is based on a print by the Flemish-born engraver
which depicts Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac on the
Mount of Moriah. All of these high relief mouldings are all acknowledged to be excellent examples of the Jacobean period.
On the wall along the final top flight of stairs can be seen some 18th-century wallpaper, which was discovered during restoration work. While it has become distressed with time, it is considered to be among the best examples which have survived into present times.
Like most houses that have served as homes, it has when needs prevail, been improved and modernised, by the Clitherow family. The original windows were replaced by
box-sash and unfolding wooden panels or screens. These would be unfurled across the windows at dusk to keep in the heat, as well as keeping the house more secure. Central heating was also installed, as was gas for the kitchens.
The wall have been hung with hand-printed
flock wallpaper. Much of the furniture in the house has been lent by the
Gunnersbury Park Museum.
The art collection includes an oil on canvas of
Christopher Clitherow
Sir Christopher Clitherow (10 January 1578 – 11 November 1641) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1628 to 1629. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1635.
Clitherow was the son of Henry Clitherow and his wife ...
by
Godfrey Kneller
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to Kingdom of England, English and Br ...
; oils of Syon House and Isleworth by
James Isaiah Lewis; an oil of James Clitherow (1766–1841) by
Henry William Pickersgill
Henry William Pickersgill RA (3 December 1782 – 21 April 1875) was an English painter specialising in portraits. He was a Royal Academician for almost fifty years, and painted many of the most notable figures of his time.
Biography
Born in L ...
; and an oil of James Clitherow (1731–1805) by
George Romney.
Park opening hours and events
The park is free and open to the public every day: 8am-dusk It has a modern and fully equipped children's playground, plus 3 tennis courts, and a basketball court. Friends of Boston Manor volunteers run a cafeteria at weekends. Recently a Nature Trail has been laid out. There are formal lawns and an ornamental lake with wild fowl. Car Boot sales are held first Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The manor itself is open on Saturdays and Sundays and Bank Holidays from April to October.
[London Borough of Hounslow]
Boston Manor House
Accessed 2010-09-23
Other historic neighbours
Boston Manor is surrounded by other historic neighbours. To the northwest lies
Southall Manor House, which is 3.7 mi (10 mins driving time) away. To the north is
Pitzhanger Manor House & Gallery, which is 2.3 miles, (6 min driving time) away. To the northeast is
Gunnersbury Park
Museum, which is 2.6miles (6 min driving time) away. To the west is
Osterley Park House which is 2.8 miles (9 mins driving time) away. To the east is
Chiswick House
Chiswick House is a Neo-Palladian style villa in the Chiswick district of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in west London, the house was designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694–1753 ...
, which is 3.4 miles (7 mins driving time) away. To the south are,
Syon House
Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park, in the London Borough of Hounslow.
The family's traditional central London residence had be ...
, which is 2.3 miles (8 mins driving time) away,
Kew Palace
Kew Palace is a British royal palace within the grounds of Kew Gardens on the banks of the River Thames. Originally a large complex, few elements of it survive. Dating to 1631 but built atop the undercroft of an earlier building, the main surv ...
which is 3 miles (9 mins driving time) away, and
Ham House
Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan cou ...
6.8 miles (20 mins driving time) away.
Transport and locale
Two
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...
serve the area; the
195 and the
E8. The area's local
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
station is
Boston Manor
Boston Manor is an English Jacobean manor house built in 1622 with internal alterations, intensively restored in later centuries and Boston Manor Park is the adjoining publicly owned green space including a lake. It was the manor house o ...
, served by
Piccadilly line
The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...
trains.
Its post town is TW8 BRENTFORD, in the
TW postcode area
The TW postcode area, also known as the Twickenham postcode area,Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) is a group of twenty postcode districts in south-east England, within thirteen post towns. These cover parts of south-west London a ...
.
The
M4 motorway
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...
overpass runs through Boston Manor Park.
Popular culture
Boston Manor is featured in the song Girl VII on the album
Foxbase Alpha
''Foxbase Alpha'' is the debut studio album by English band Saint Etienne, released on 16 September 1991 by Heavenly Recordings.
The album was recorded in a style which drew on the club culture and house music of the time, but also incorpora ...
by UK pop band
Saint Etienne.
Bibliography
*Daniel Lysons, The Environs of London (1795–1800)
*Montague Sharpe, Bregantforda and the Hanweal (1904) ; Some Accounts of Bygone Hanwell and its Chapelry of New Brentford. Brentford Printing and Publishing Coy., Ltd. London. UK.
* Arthur Oswald, 1965, "Boston Manor House" ''Country Life'' 18 March 1965, 63–7
* Janet McNamara, ''Boston Manor Brentford – A History and Guide''
*Cyrill Neaves, A history of Greater Ealing. S. R. Publishers 1971.
Notes
References
External links
Official websiteImages of England on Boston Manor House: detailed architectural informationLondon Metropolitan Archives holdings on Boston Manor House and the Clitherow family
{{London museums and galleries
Country houses in London
Historic house museums in London
Houses in the London Borough of Hounslow
Museums in the London Borough of Hounslow
Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hounslow
History of Middlesex
Houses completed in 1622
Grade I listed houses in London
Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Hounslow
Grade I listed museum buildings
Districts of the London Borough of Hounslow
History of the London Borough of Hounslow
Manor houses in England
Jacobean architecture in the United Kingdom
1622 establishments in England
Middlesex