Isleworth - Grand Houses of The Past

Grand Houses of The Past

A period of intense mansion-building occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries. There was a triple attraction to the area in those times. Its rural, waterside beauty had become well recognised over two hundred years or so, and a few palaces, monasteries and mansions already existed. Then the royal court began to appear at Kew, so the adjacent districts on both sides of the Thames became very fashionable places for the rich and famous to build their grand homes. Some of the cachet dropped away when the court eventually left Kew, but the inherent residential desirability of the area remained for many more years.

• Syon House Duke of Somerset Duke of Northumberland. (standing, listed Grade 1)

Although this grand house has had a close connection with Isleworth for 450 years, its renown as the only ducal seat within London is so great and its attributes so well chronicled elsewhere that this article is not the place to add anything further.

• Silver Hall No. 1 (South of North Street, with four acres) Sir John Smith Bt, Privy to William & Mary Lady Harcourt, widow of Sir W Harcourt, Chancellor (Demolished 1801 →
• Silver Hall No. 2 (North of North Street) Joseph Dixon. (Demolished 1950)

• Kendal House (Twickenham Road, near Mill Plat) Duchess of Kendal (mistress to George I).

• Somerset House

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• Gunnersbury House (At the junction of Bridge Road and London Road) (Demolished c.1972).
• Isleworth House Sir William Cooper, chaplain to George III. Renamed Nazareth House in 1892. (standing)
• Countess of Charleville's Villa Harriet Charlotte Beaujolais (Campbell), Countess of Charleville.
• Wyke House

• Little Syon (formerly Cromwell House) Sir Richard Wynn Bt. (Demolished 1818).

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• Gumley House John Gumley (Commissary-General to the Army) The Earl of Bath (Gumley's son-in-law) General Lord Lake.

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• Shrewsbury House George Talbot, 14th Earl of Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury House lay to the east of Upper Square, in the area known as Lion Wharf, once Beck's Wharf, also Shrewsbury Wharf. The 14th Earl inherited the lease in 1719 and later by Act of Parliament gained full rights to the property (in exchange for certain fee-farm rents) from an almshouse charity established by a former landlord, Sir Thomas Ingram, from whom the 1st Duke of Shrewsbury had originally leased the site. Around 1778 the 14th Earl started the process by which the house converted to a school for boys of Roman Catholic parents.

• Gordon House, by the River Thames at Railshead Rd. (standing, listed Grade II*) →

General Humphrey Bland Lord James Hay Lord John Kennedy-Erskine
Lord and Lady Frederick Gordon Earl of Kilmorey Judge T C Haliburton MP.

In Lord Hay's time this was named 'Seaton House', after his ancestral home in Aberdeenshire. It was next bought by King William IV at 8,000 guineas for his (illegitimate) daughter Lady Augusta, who married Lord John Kennedy-Erskine of Dun, the son of the First Marquis of Ailsa who lived next door in St Margaret's House. Gordon House is being renovated.

• Spring Grove House Sir Joseph Banks Andrew Pears. (standing, Grade II)

In 1862 Francis Pears decided to expand his soap making business and bought land alongside the London Road for a factory. Another, larger, factory was opened along the opposite side of the road in the 1880s and soap was made on the site until 1962. His son Andrew bought the Spring Grove House estate in 1886 and greatly extended the house in 1894. Pictures are shown under 'Notable residents'.

• Keppel House First Lord of the Admiralty Augustus Keppel .

• Lacy House A 17th Century house rebuilt in 1750 for James Lacy, of Drury Lane Theatre.
  Lacy's son inherited the property but his extravagance compelled him to sell the house, to the Hon. Sir Edward Walpole K.B. He bequeathed it to his daughter, widow of Bishop of Exeter, and after that it was acquired by the Earl of Warwick. After him came the famous playwright Richard Sheridan, who by then had already produced his two masterpieces School for Scandal and The Rivals. Lacy House was demolished in the 1830s.
• St Margaret's House (Lacy House rebuilt and renamed) First Marquis of Ailsa.

• Kilmorey House (replaced St Margarets House in 1853). Built for 2nd Earl of Kilmorey but never lived in. Became the Royal Naval School for Girls (1856–1940). (Demolished 1950).