CRANFORD & HESTON Cranford Park and its mansion was one of the area’s largest One of only two surviving properties. ‘lock ups’ in London The house was demolished in 1945 but historical features such as the 18th century stables, cellars and river bridge remain within this beautiful green space. It’s now a public park jointly owned by the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon. The parish is notable for the beautiful St Dunstan’s Church, which dates from the 15th century. Its tower and the nave survived a fire in 1710. The oldest bell in the church, cast in 1338, is believed to have been rung on every occasion of national importance since being first chimed. The village which clustered around St Dunstan’s still has some distinguished houses, including the listed 17th century Stansfield House.
housing developments. Today it is a large residential suburb. The village church of St Leonard’s, dates from the 14th century though there are records of a priest in Heston from the 7th century. Today, the church’s white stone tower and the lych gate survive. Private John White, who died in 1846 at Hounslow Barracks after being lashed 150 times, is buried in the churchyard. The national outcry that followed his death caused a reduction in the maximum number of lashes allowed, before the practise was eventually outlawed altogether. On the borders of Heston and Cranford, remnants of Heston Airport can still be found (see p5-p8) and one of the area’s most well-known landmarks is the Heston War Memorial that commemorates local residents killed during the two world wars.
The area also has one of only two surviving ‘cages’ or ‘lock ups’ in Greater London, built in 1838 to hold drunks and vagrants overnight. For centuries Heston, once a Saxon settlement, was a small agricultural village. When the Great West Road was completed, the farming and market garden lands around the village were snapped up for industry and
St Leonards Church, Heston
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