ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY.
Domeday Book lists 48 persons in the three manors: 21 at
Sunbury, 19 at Kempton, and 8 at Charlton. The
most numerous class consisted of those described as
villeins, of whom there were 10 at Sunbury, 14 at
Kempton, and one at Charlton. There were also 5
bordars, 5 cottars, and a slave at Sunbury, 3 bordars
and 2 slaves at Kempton, and 1 bordar and 6 slaves
at Charlton. (fn. 4) About 1335 Sunbury and Charlton
together mustered 24 men for a commission of
array and Kempton and Hanworth mustered 22. (fn. 5)
In 1547 there were 174 'houseling' people in the
parish, (fn. 6) and this figure included Upper Halliford,
which as part of Halliford manor, is excluded from
the earlier, manorial figures. (fn. 7) In 1664 80 householders in the parish were listed as either owing
hearth-tax or exempt from it. (fn. 8) During the 18th
century the population was diversified by the
richer people who lived in the new and larger houses
by the river and elsewhere. Notable among this
group was a colony of Huguenot refugees. The
first of these to be mentioned is Isaac St. Eloy, (fn. 9) who
owned Sunbury manor by 1703, and it has been
suggested that the colony first gathered between
1703 and 1708 around the Dowager Duchess de la
Force. (fn. 10) In 1709 24 names of persons assessed to
poor relief were French. (fn. 11) It is possible that French
Street and the former French Place (fn. 12) were named
from the Huguenot settlers. French names occur
in the parish registers until 1748 (fn. 13) and it is possible
that others found as late as 1820 may be attributed
to the Huguenot settlement. (fn. 14) By 1801 the population was 1,447, and the richer people were
sufficiently numerous in the 19th century for
assembly rooms to be opened in Thames Street. (fn. 15)
Sunbury was a popular angling resort during the
19th century. (fn. 16) The population rose to over 2,300 in
1861, and, after the opening of the railway in 1864,
to over 4,000 in 1881. Between 1931 and 1951 it
increased from about 6,500 to 16,416, though this
last figure includes the areas at Ashford Common
and Feltham Hill which had been added to the old
parish since 1931. (fn. 17)
In 1086 there were altogether 15 ploughlands in
the parish outside Halliford manor. Of these 6 were
at Sunbury, 5 at Kempton, and 4 at Charlton. All
the land was more or less under-worked according
to the survey: each demesne had only 1 plough, and
the villagers had 4 at Sunbury, 3 at Kempton, and
only half a team at Charlton. (fn. 18) In 1318 all the harvest
works owed by the tenants of Sunbury were commuted for money, (fn. 19) and the demesne was farmed out
by 1395. (fn. 20) The only real information about the
medieval economy of the parish, however, concerns
Halliford and Kempton manors. Halliford is discussed elsewhere. (fn. 21) At Kempton there is no mention
of week works in the manorial accounts of the early
14th century, but the tenants owed boon-works at
harvest. (fn. 22) Apart from a ploughman and ploughboy
there is no evidence of regular paid labour on the
demesne. In the early years of the century rye and
oats were the chief crops, with a fair amount of
barley. Later barley became the most important cash
crop, with wheat and maslin replacing rye as the
second crop. There seems to have been no systematic
rotation: the units of arable were furlongs rather
than fields and more than one crop was sometimes
sown in one furlong. There was no livestock on the
demesne except for the plough animals, though
there was a shepherd who in 1329-30 looked after
140 sheep, presumably belonging to tenants, which
were manuring the lord's land. The king kept
horses and deer in the park, but these were regarded
as separate from the manor stock. (fn. 23) From 1363 the
demesne was leased, and the detailed information
about its management ceases, though in the time of
Richard II Kempton manor is known to have had
the right to pasture 300 sheep on Sunbury Common. (fn. 24)
In the 17th and 18th centuries the open arable was
still organized in furlongs rather than in fields.
Although West and Court Fields in Kempton manor
are mentioned in 1604, only three fields in the parish
are frequently mentioned, and the names of these
seem to be used to describe geographical areas
rather than units of cultivation or rotation. (fn. 25) Each
of the three lay across manor boundaries. (fn. 26) When
they were finally inclosed in 1803 they still covered
some 570 acres, and there were then a small amount
of open meadow and over 560 acres of common,
nearly all on Sunbury Common. (fn. 27) All the four
manors (i.e. including Halliford) had common
pasture rights on Sunbury Common and each of the
lords also seems to have had a sheepwalk there.
Pasture-rights on the common and fields were
stinted by the 18th century. (fn. 28) Inclosures were made
from the open fields and the common at various
times. About 36 acres had been newly inclosed at
Charlton in 1620. In 1632 the lord of Kempton
inclosed part of the common by agreement with his
tenants and gave up his common rights on the remainder. (fn. 29) At the inclosure of 1803 there were
already about 1,000 acres of closes. Great difficulty
was experienced in getting the necessary consent to
the inclosure Act from the landowners. (fn. 30)
In 1801 the chief crops were wheat and barley. (fn. 31)
Clover was being grown in the early 19th century. (fn. 32)
Nurserymen and market-gardeners were in the
parish by 1826, (fn. 33) and by 1865 there were a fair
number of orchards east of Green Street in addition
to the nursery farther west which gave its name to
Nursery Road. The orchards increased until the
20th century, when most of them were dug up,
though market-gardens and nurseries continued to
grow. (fn. 34) In 1947 there were 368 acres of horticultural
land in the parish, 11 acres of which were under
glass. This area was divided among 24 holdings. (fn. 35)
Horticulture remained predominant on the land
available in 1957, though mixed farming was still
carried on in the west of the parish, especially
around Charlton, and there were still meadows along
the Thames in the south-west.
Very few people were employed in industry before
the late 19th century. The proximity of the river may
account for the rope-making of the early 19th
century. There was a small brewery just north of the
church in the 1860's and 1870's. (fn. 36) In 1826 there was a
screw manufacturer who is supposed to have made
wooden screws. (fn. 37) Brick-earth was being dug in the
19th and early 20th centuries, and in the 20th
gravel-extraction on a large scale took place at Sunbury Common (now built over), Charlton, and
Halliford. (fn. 38) It was still going on by Charlton Lane in
1959. Modern industry began near the station where
a factory was making wall-paper by 1878. The P.I.M.
Board Co. was formed in 1898 with a factory nearby,
and in 1903 250 persons were employed in these two
works, (fn. 39) which have since expanded greatly. British
Thermostats Ltd. started work in Windmill Road in
1930 and employed 1,350 people in 1958. (fn. 40) Since the
Second World War a number of factories and workshops have opened in Windmill Road, some of them
on two small trading estates. Most of these works are
engaged in various kinds of engineering. In 1957
there were several factories elsewhere in the parish,
most of them small: very few anywhere in Sunbury
employed over 100 persons. Between 1957 and 1959
several new factories were opened to the north of
Charlton in Ashford Road. Some of the people
working in Sunbury come from surrounding areas,
while many inhabitants of the parish are employed in
surrounding areas such as Feltham and Hampton. (fn. 41)
Comparatively few probably work in London: in
1921 only 321 persons went there to work out of 825
who worked outside the parish. (fn. 42)