HESTON

HESTON, a parish and suburban village in the hundred of Isleworth, county Middlesex, 1½ mile N. of Hounslow, its post town and railway station. The parish, which is of considerable extent, contains the hamlets of Cranford, Lampton, Sutton, Scrattage, North Hyde, and part of the town of Hounslow.

It has long been famed for its production of wheat, the soil being extremely fertile. The village is irregularly built, but contains many good houses and villas. In the vicinity are several brickfields, and a manufactory for oil of vitriol. The tithes were commuted for land, under an Enclosure Act, in 1813. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of London, value £654, in the patronage of the bishop. In addition to the parish church there are two district churches, viz: at Hounslow, and St. Mary's at Spring Grove, the livings of both which are perpetual curacies The parish church, dedicated to St. Leonard, is a very antique flint-built structure, and has been recently enlarged. It has an octagonal font, and a tomb of Sir J. Banks; also a brass, bearing date 1560. Here is a commodious National school, capable of accommodating 120 boys and 130 girls; also a chapel schoolroom for 200. At North Hyde there is a Roman Catholic chapel and Orphanage. The principal residence is Osterley House, the seat of the Dowager Countess of Jersey. It is a square red brick building, situated in a park, and was built by Sir Thomas Gresham, founder of the Royal Exchange, to whom the manor was given by Queen Elizabeth. A fair is held on the 1st May.

[Description(s) from "The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland" (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]
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