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The District of Spring Grove The following extract is taken from the book "And So Make A City Here" The Story of a Lost Heathland, written by G.E. Bate, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and published by Thomasons Limited, of Hounslow, in 1948. I have been unable to trace Thomasons Ltd.
The development of the district around Spring Grove House into a residential area began about 1850. In the June of that year we read that thirty-four acres of "Freehold and tithe free estate known as Spring Grove, situated at Smallberry Green on the Great Western Road between Brentford and Hounslow," was offered for sale. It was bought by Mr. Henry Daniel Davis, and he was primarily responsible for its development. Mr. Davis lived at Thornbury House, now known as Campion House, in Thornbury Road. He died an old man of nearly eighty years in 1898.
We can trace three stages in the development of Spring Grove as a residential area. The first, as planned by Mr. Davis, was to make it a place of residence for London merchants and professional men of the more wealthy class, and consequently the houses were on a fairly large scale with large gardens.
During the 17th and 18th centuries Isleworth had been a favourite place of residence for the aristocracy, it being only one stage out of London by by horse carriage, but by 1850 most of the aristocracy had disappeared. At that time a network of railways was beginning to spread over the country, and a loop line with a station at Isleworth having been opened in 1849, the district was accessible from all parts by railway. This made it possible for a new class of people to reside outside the city in what was then pleasant open country.
The plan adopted by Mr. Davis was a much more liberal one than those which we find in the more recent developments of "desirable residential areas." The Grove and the broad open Osterley Road with their avenues of trees were intended to give dignity to the district. The "villa residences" which were erected, were well-spaced and varied in size and style. Instead of brick facings, most of them were faced with a special tile which had been invented and patented by the architect, Mr John Taylor, of Cheapside. These tile facings were also used for boundary walls where some of them have recently become detached and may be readily examined. They have stood the weather well for eighty years. The low pitched roofs, due to Italian influences in the designs, also form a marked feature of the huses built at this time.
At the entrance to The Grove from the nearby railway station two stone pillars still stand. They were placed there to carry lamps, and a livery servant was generally on duty at the spot to assist residents and visitors. At first the road was lit by candles and an old resident told me that he remembered these candles being replaced by oil lamps. Later gas and then electric lamps were introduced.
The Ordnance Map of 1864 marks, in addition to The Grove and Osterley Road, Thornbury Road, Church Road and Eversley Crescent. On a map made a few years before the sale of the land, in 1850, none of these roads is to be seen; the Spring Grove estate is shown, and running north by its west side is a lane marked "to Scratage."
The Osterley Road led on to Thornbury Common, and any intention to continue it has been frustrated, first by the construction of the District Railway, and then by the making of the new Great West Road. If it had been continued what a grand avenue could have been made!
Some of my readers will still remember the copse which was on the opposite side of the road to the church, and the stile and path through it to the Tornbury Road. Some of the large trees which grew in it still stand in the gardens of newer residences. Spring Grove seems to have rapidly become popular. Commenting on this, a newspaper of the time states: "In locality it is singularly fortunate, having many charming walks and drives in its vicinity....... The great altitude (equal to that of the "Star and Garter" at Richmond) and its gravelly soil rank among the causes which have been assigned for its celebrity as an extremely healthy spot in the parliamentary records. The villa residences with which it is already studded, although only three or four years in existence, present many points of beauty and good taste."
Then came a setback. After a few years of prosperity its expansion ceased for lack of money; Mr. Davis left Thornbury House, and a number of other houses also became vacant. Probably one of the reasons which prevented merchants and professional men from maintaining these suburban residences was the acute trade depression of the 1870s.
It was, however, a passing phase, and Spring Grove revived. People began to return and a newspaper reported that "Much satisfaction is being expressed by the inhabitants of Spring Grove, in the fact that many large houses in the vicinity have been let, and it is hoped that this circumstance is an indication of a return to that prosperity which formerly existed in this pretty suburban retreat. Among the houses which have just been let is Thornbury House, formerly occupied by Squire Davis." At this time there were a number of open spaces. Where the Central School and the trolley bus garage now stand was a meadow known as "The Poor's Meadow" the income from which was bequeathed, in 1632, for the use of the poor of the parish of Heston. On it, by the side of the Thornbury Road, was a pond.
The second stage in the development of Spring Grove followed the construction of the District Railway. Then were built many of the houses which we may call the "terraced houses," such as we find in Thornbury Road and College Road. These were much smaller than those built in the first period and were intended for a different class of resident.
The third phase came into full swing after the great war of 1914-18, when many semi-detached houses were built. Many of the old and larger houses were turned into flats, and in two cases large houses were pulled down and blockks of flats erected on the sites. One of these was the old vicarage on the corner of Osterley and Church Roads.
Soon after the war the Great West Road was commenced, and was formally opened by the King, in 1925. It cut across the last remnant of Thornbury Common. For over a hundred years it had been suggested that a new road be constructed to by-pass Brentford, but nothing had been done. Now that the time had come for its construction it was made to by-pass Hounslow as well as Brentford.
Vacant spaces were now rapidly filled with houses, but, fortunately, on the north side of the road, a sand and gravel pit had been made to get material for the construction of the new road. Now that it was of no further use it was partly filled with a clayey soil brought from the tube borings. This left an open site which the local council converted into a very pleasant park and rock gardens. One man who was prominentin the construction of these gardens was Mr. Councillor Heath.
Knowing the interest he took, and the work he did, in developing the parks, and also in the planting of trees in the borough, many would like to see his work commemmorated. We often enjoy the fruits of the voluntary work of others without giving a thought to them or their work.
About the time that these gardens were constructed the Local Council also bought a piece of land nearer to the Thornbury road, on which was erected a branch library, and by the side of it a Bowling Green was made. This was a timely action, for very soon there was no further land available. With the building of the Secondary School in Ridgeway Road, the main building programme in Spring Grove seems to have been completed, and the whole of the area, which was open land a hundred years ago, has been utilised, but, fortunately, without the congestion so often found in some districts.
One wonders what will happen in the future. In some places we see the large houses which have served their purpose and are no longer required, pulled down, and on the sites semi-deatched villas are erected. These are generally one type, monotonous in appearance and giving the impression of mass production. Let us hope that when the day arrives for reconstruction of Spring Grove, better ideas will prevail, and that it will remain a pleasant suburban district and worthy to retain the name "Spring Grove."
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