Carville Hall is a large house and estate in Brentford, West London. Today the grounds, now a public park, are divided into two by the elevated section of the M4 motorway.
There are records of the house from 1777, when it was owned by the wealthy distiller and brewer David Roberts (c1733-97). [1] [2] It was extended and re-fronted in the Victorian era, when it was known as Clayponds. From the late 1800s Carville Hall was the home of coal and horse racing magnate William Lancalot Redhead (c1853-1909) [3] and his daughter the philanthropist Margaret Hunnam Redhead (1897-1991), [4] who later married Esmond Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere. [5] Before the war ownership of the house had passed to Thomas William Crowther. [6]
In 1918 the property and grounds were acquired by Middlesex County Council to make room for the building of the Great West Road. [7] Brentford Urban District Council acquired the park as a War Memorial and open public space in an otherwise dense area of industrial buildings and housing. [2] [8] In 1959 the grounds were further divided by the building of the Chiswick Flyover above the Great West Road, now the start of the M4 Motorway. [9]
By the 1950s the house had been converted into flats, but later fell into disrepair. Carville Hall Park South retains a flavour of the original gardens. Carville Hall Park North has open grasslands used for playing fields, a pavilion and a children's playground.
Hounslow is a large suburban district of West London, England, 10+3⁄4 miles 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 centres in Greater London.
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, 8 miles (13 km) west of Charing Cross.
Chiswick is a district in the London Borough of Hounslow, West London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Fuller's Brewery, London's largest and oldest brewery. In a meander of the River Thames used for competitive and recreational rowing, with several rowing clubs on the river bank, the finishing post for the Boat Race is just downstream of Chiswick Bridge.
Cowley is a village contiguous with the town of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon. A largely suburban village with 16 listed buildings, Cowley is 15.4 miles (24.8 km) west of Charing Cross, bordered to the west by Uxbridge Moor in the Green Belt and the River Colne, forming the border with Buckinghamshire. Cowley was an ancient parish in the historic county of Middlesex.
The London Borough of Hounslow is a London borough in west London, England, forming part of Outer London. It is governed by Hounslow London Borough Council.
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 Cross and adjoins the M4 motorway but has no junction with it; Heston also adjoins the Great West Road, a dual carriageway, mostly west of the "Golden Mile" headquarters section of it. Heston was, historically, in Middlesex.
Isleworth is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hounslow, West London, England.
Osterley is an affluent district of Isleworth in west London, England, 8.7 miles (14.0 km) from Charing Cross in the London Borough of Hounslow. Most of its land use is mixed agricultural and aesthetic parkland at Osterley House, charity-run, much of which is open to paying visitors.
Ealing is a district in west London, England, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
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 complete by 1980, though a non-motorway section around Briton Ferry bridge remained until 1993. On the opening of the Second Severn Crossing in 1996, the M4 was rerouted over it.
Iver is a civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park and the hamlets of Shreding Green and Thorney.
A redhead is a person with red hair.
St Margarets is an affluent suburb and neighbourhood in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, about 9 miles (14 km) west-southwest of central London. It is bounded by the Thames Tideway to the north-east, and the River Crane to the north-west and north where the land tapers between those rivers. Land and buildings closer to Richmond Bridge than the eponymous railway station are, traditionally distinctly, known as East Twickenham. Both places go by their post town and traditional parish, Twickenham quite often; in the 19th century the south of St Margarets was marked on maps as Twickenham Park.
The Golden Mile is a stretch of the Great West Road north of Brentford running west from the western boundary of Chiswick in London, United Kingdom.
West Ealing is a district in the London Borough of Ealing, in West London. The district is about three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) west of Ealing Broadway. Although there is a long history of settlement in the area, West Ealing in its present form is less than one hundred years old. West Ealing falls under the postcode district W13 and neighbours Hanwell, Ealing, Perivale and Northfields
Esmond Cecil Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere, was a British Conservative politician and press magnate.
Gunnersbury Park is a park between Acton, Brentford, Chiswick and Ealing, West London, England. Purchased for the nation from the Rothschild family, it was opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, then Minister of Health, on 21 May 1926. The park is currently jointly managed by Hounslow and Ealing borough councils. A major restoration project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund was completed in 2018. The park and garden is Grade II listed.
Heston services is a motorway service station on the M4 motorway in the London Borough of Hounslow, built on land that once formed part of the now defunct Heston Aerodrome.
The Chiswick flyover is a short elevated section of the M4 motorway in the western approaches to London, United Kingdom. The flyover in the west London suburb of Chiswick, was opened in 1959 with the intention of reducing congestion and the impact on local traffic of vehicles travelling around London on the North and South Circular Roads and between London and the west on the Great West Road. Although it was not originally built as a motorway, it was later incorporated into the M4 motorway.
Cranford Countryside Park is a 144-acre public park in Cranford, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. Situated in close proximity to Heathrow Airport, it is bordered by the M4 Motorway to the north, the A312 trunk road to the east, and by the towns of Harlington and Cranford to the southwest and southeast respectively. Although Cranford is mostly within the London Borough of Hounslow, the park itself is in the London Borough of Hillingdon, as it straddles the southernmost point of this borough. Although the park is in an urban location, it is vehicle-accessible only by a small road before a motorway entrance slip, and as such it has been described as a 'hidden gem'.