Cranford is a suburban area straddling the London Boroughs of
Hillingdon
Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...
and
Hounslow
Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...
. It is located west of
Charing Cross
Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...
and immediately east of
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...
, from which it is separated by the
River Crane. A village till the mid-20th century, Cranford was developed with the building of major roads in its area.
History
Its name came from
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
''cran-ford'' = "ford of
cranes" as at the time the word
heron
Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...
was not used for that bird and it covered an almost north–south rectangle lengthwise of .
[
Before the ]Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
, the village was a small Saxon
The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
settlement in all senses completely surrounded by its open fields abutting the north of Hounslow Heath
Hounslow Heath is a local nature reserve in the London Borough of Hounslow and at a point borders London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames. The public open space, which covers , is all that remains of the historic Hounslow He ...
and was in Elthorne Hundred for troop-mustering and taxation purposes. The ''Domesday Book
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
'' of 1086 records the manor of Cranford being given to a Norman baron, William Fitz Ansulf. By the 13th century, the main area of Cranford Park and House, the High Street and Bath Road had been given to the Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
(followed by the knights of St John of Jerusalem) as Cranforde St John. The rest, Cranford le Mote, included the manor house and stretched in a narrow taper to the north of the present M4.
The manors were reunited by purchase by Sir Roger Aston
Sir Roger Aston (died 23 May 1612) of Cranford, Middlesex, was an English courtier and favourite of James VI of Scotland.
Biography
Aston was the illegitimate son of Thomas Aston (died 1553), Thomas Aston (died 1553). Scottish sources spell his n ...
, an official to the King, 64 years after the Dissolution of the Monasteries and were bought by Sir Thomas Berkeley's widow Elizabeth in 1618. These stayed in the Berkeley family, who granted smallholdings over this period, until selling the house and Cranford Park to Hayes and Harlington Urban District Council in 1932, before being sold again to Middlesex County Council
Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965.
The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the cou ...
in 1935. The Park was then leased back to Hayes and Harlington Urban District Council who jointly administered it with Heston and Isleworth Borough Council, to whom Cranford had been transferred in 1934. For the history of the south of the present ward this was part of Hounslow Heath
Hounslow Heath is a local nature reserve in the London Borough of Hounslow and at a point borders London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames. The public open space, which covers , is all that remains of the historic Hounslow He ...
within Heston
Heston is a suburban area and part of the Hounslow district in the London Borough of Hounslow. The residential settlement covers a slightly smaller area than its predecessor farming village, 10.8 miles (17.4 km) west south-west of Charing C ...
parish.[
There was a ford to the north of the church on Watersplash Lane, but the main crossing was where the bridge replaced it on the Bath Road. The river was widened, probably in the 18th century, on either side of the Church Road to form two ornamental lakes. By 1820, there were at least four large ponds, three of which lay in the village on the edge of the common on the Southall Road. The fourth lay immediately east of the moat. By 1958, these had all been drained.]
The village still has some distinguished houses, including Stansfield House, a 17th-century listed building.[London Borough of Hounslow - Context and Character Assessments: Cranford and Heston]
Current edition under the London Plan. Retrieved 26 September 2015. Cranford also has one of only two remaining "lock-ups" in the Metropolitan Police area, this one built in 1838 to hold drunks and vagrants overnight, before finding use as a mortuary for the parish council. The wider borough states that Cranford "was described for centuries as one of the smallest and prettiest villages in Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
".[
The Berkeley family also gave their name to Berkeley Parade, where there are now many shops, largely convenience or regular services, which were built on remaining ]common land
Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
A person ...
open fields on the south of the Bath Road in the 1930s – the "château-type" buildings with little slated turrets were branded "ingenious architectural fun" in the journal ''Architectural Review
''The Architectural Review'' is a monthly international architectural magazine. It has been published in London since 1896. Its articles cover the built environment – which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism � ...
'' in 1939. The Parkway was built in 1959 as a bypass and this became a link to the 1960-1964-built M4 motorway
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest 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 ele ...
cutting through the north end of the area. Both had considerable impact on the area. Much of Heston was developed in the early 1930s and this extended westward towards Cranford later, which also became developed to the west and south of the Parkway. The Parkway has cut Cranford in two, severing the high street into two sections, and along many sections there is not even a pavement for pedestrians though instead a green footpath alongside an inter-London trunk route.
Topography and land use
Cranford remains on the eastern side of the River Crane and formerly included an opposing west field and old field, today housing in the Harlington part of Hayes, part of Cranford Park and an area of the hotels and car parks east of Heathrow Airport. The parish is drained by its one large stream that flows gently southwards past it and waters its relatively flat gravel subsoil, the surface being hardy loam.[ The community occupies the highest land in the borough, rising from 20m in the west to its peak of 30m around Heston.][ The remaining main green space other than Cranford Park is Rectory Farm. The London Borough recommends the expansive views across Rectory Farm as part of a walk along Bath Road; to the far side is low-rise housing in Heston.][ The most dominant urban type by area within the Cranford and Heston study area is by far the inter- and early postwar loose grid (type 2). In some parts the housing takes the form of single storey bungalows, some of which have unusual tall Dutch gable ends.][
]
The Cranford Agreement
The middle of the locality's position, directly below the flight path of the northern runway of Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...
led to a ministerial statement-backed undertaking by the airport operator: the Cranford Agreement given on 31 July 1952 at a meeting of the Cranford Residents' and District Amenities Association – as far as possible, the northern runway would not be used for landings or take-offs to the east. This meant that houses under the flight path would not have to suffer the noise from landings, and more especially, louder take-offs.
This was gradually watered down to a limited number of flights with government agreement. A study in an air transport white paper
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...
of December 2003 proposed that, since an additional runway at Heathrow could not come into operation before at least 2015–2020, further consideration ought to be given to the scope for using the two existing runways more; for example, through mixed-mode operations. Various runway operations in the 2010s decade have permitted this, with most operational hours compliant with the agreement as it stands which prohibits night flights and specifies the maximum number of flights per day over Cranford which is a restricted minority of flights.
Amenities
Churches
The Anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
parish of ''Cranford St Dunstan with Holy Angels'', has two churches in the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
. For the parish church of St Dunstan's in Cranford Park, see below. The second church, Holy Angels, is an Anglican church consistently providing a High Church (Anglo-Catholic) tradition of services. The current building, opened in 1970, is the third one to have been built in Cranford. The first, an iron mission hut, was built by Fr Maurice Child in 1935. It was on the site now occupied by Tesco Express on Bath Road. It burnt down in 1941 and was replaced a year later by a converted Romney hut
The Romney hut is a prefabricated steel structure used by the British military, developed during World War II to supersede the Iris hut.
History
At the outbreak of World War II, the British military developed a series of Prefabrication, prefabr ...
. This second building burnt down in 1965. The current building, in Cranford High Street, was opened by Mary Lalle Foley-Berkeley, 17th Baroness Berkeley and Ronald, Bishop of Kensington
The Bishop of Kensington is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The Bishop of Kensington is responsible for a part of Greater London, including Kensington, ...
, on 26 September 1970.
The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Christopher is at 32 High Street, Cranford.
St Dunstan's Church
St Dunstan's Church stands in Cranford Park, adjacent to the stable block of Cranford House. The oldest surviving part is its 15th-century tower. There was a priest at Cranford in 1086, when he held 1 virgate
The virgate, yardland, or yard of land ( was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually (but not always) reckoned as hide and notionally (but seldom exactly) equal to 30 acr ...
of land, so the Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History (VCH), is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of Englan ...
states there was presumably a church. The benefice
A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
is a rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...
– no secular church tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...
appropriation ever took place in return for chancel upkeep, by an impropriator, which gives rise to the need to have a vicar. The advowson
Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...
(right to appoint the priest) was medievally for over a century held by two religious orders, the Knights Templars and the Hospitallers. The tower and the nave survived a fire in 1710, and the repairs were paid for by Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Berkeley in 1716.
Notable monuments in the church include a large wall monument to Sir Roger Aston
Sir Roger Aston (died 23 May 1612) of Cranford, Middlesex, was an English courtier and favourite of James VI of Scotland.
Biography
Aston was the illegitimate son of Thomas Aston (died 1553), Thomas Aston (died 1553). Scottish sources spell his n ...
(d. 1612) and his wife Mary (d. 1606), sculpted by William Cure I; another to Elizabeth, Lady Berkeley (d. 1635), with a marble effigy by Nicholas Stone
Nicholas Stone (1586/87 – 24 August 1647) was an England, English sculpture, sculptor and architect. In 1619 he was appointed master-mason to James I of England, James I, and in 1626 to Charles I of England, Charles I.
During his ca ...
(both these monuments are listed by Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
); and a mural tablet to Thomas Fuller (d. 1661), author of the ''Worthies of England'', who was rector of Cranford.
The oldest bell in the church was cast in 1338 and is said to have chimed on every occasion of national importance since.[ One of Cranford's residents was the MP and writer (George Charles) Grantley (Fitzhardinge) Berkeley (d.1881), known for his violent behaviour. His brother, Earl Fitzhardinge, was the patron of the church, although convicted for ]criminal conversation
At common law, criminal conversation, often abbreviated as ''crim. con.'', is a tort arising from adultery. "Conversation" is an old euphemism for sexual intercourse that is obsolete except as part of this term.
It is similar to breach of pr ...
(adultery): he died unmarried and without legitimate children.['Coxlodge - Cranham']
- A Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis (publisher), London, 1848, pp. 713-717. Accessed 25 September 2015.
Transport
Nearby stations include:
* Hatton Cross
* Hounslow West
* Hayes and Harlington
The A312 road ('The Parkway') runs through Cranford.
Notable people
* Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley
Lady Elizabeth Berkeley (''née'' Carey; later Chamberlain; 24 May 1576 – 23 April 1635), was an English courtier and patron of the arts.
Life
Elizabeth Carey was the only child of George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon, and Elizabeth Spencer. Que ...
, patron of the arts, bought the estate of Cranford in 1618, and died there in 1635.
* Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is an English singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice.
Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...
, musician, grew up in Cranford.
* Tony Hancock, comedian, ashes are scattered at St Dunstan's Church, a memorial plaque marks the location.
* Charles Scarborough
Sir Charles Scarborough or Scarburgh Member of Parliament, MP Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, FRCP (29 December 1615 – 26 February 1694) was an English physician and mathematician.Robert L. Martensen ...
(1615–1694), royal physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
and mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
, is buried at Cranford; there is a monument to him in the parish church erected by his widow.
* Anthony Gueterbock, 18th Baron Berkeley ( Lab), civil engineer and parliamentarian, sold the last family land in the ward and nominated "of Cranford, London" to be his territorial designation
In the United Kingdom, a territorial designation follows modern Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage titles, linking them to a specific place or places. It is also an integral part of all baronetcies. Within Scotland, a territorial designation ...
of his life peerage.
Demography and housing
Nearby places
See also
References
{{LB Hounslow
Areas of London
Districts of the London Borough of Hounslow
Places formerly in Middlesex