CRANFORD
The village of Cranford lies to the north of the Bath
Road, and the lands of the former parish of Cranford
surround it on both sides of the River Crane. (fn. 1) The
parish covered a rough rectangle of 737 acres, (fn. 2) but
on the eastern side it extended slightly farther north
and a small leg stretched southwards over the Bath
Road. East of the Crane the boundary ran along
Hayes Road, down Southall Lane, and across part of
Hounslow Heath back to the river south of the Bath
Road. West of the Crane it ran along the Bath Road
and then turned north through Harlington open
fields, and east through those of Southall to the
river. When drawing his map in 1754 Rocque extended the boundaries to the Staines Road west of the
Crane, and thus included within the parish Hatton,
the Bedfont Powder Mills, and part of the Duke of
Northumberland's River. (fn. 3) He seems to have been in
error, and there is no evidence to suggest that the
parish of Cranford ever extended over this area. No
changes in the boundaries of the parish are recorded
at any time. In 1930 it became part of the urban
district of Hayes and Harlington, (fn. 4) but in 1934 all the
part lying east of the Crane (361 a.) was transferred
to the borough of Heston and Isleworth, and 16
acres in the south-west were transferred to Feltham
urban district, leaving 368 acres in Hayes and Harlington. At the same time Cranford ceased to exist
altogether as a separate civil parish, being divided
between the civil parishes of Heston and Isleworth,
East Bedfont, and Harlington. (fn. 5) In 1938 the old
parish boundary on the east was still used as the
boundary of a parliamentary division.
The parish of Cranford is on the whole flat, and
only rises above 100 feet in the north-east and northwest corners. (fn. 6) These raised areas correspond with
areas of brick-earth. Most of the soil is Taplow
gravel, but brick-earth stretches along the eastern
edge of the parish, across sections of the western and
north-western boundary, and there is a circular
patch of brick-earth in the middle of Cranford Park.
A band of alluvium lies along the river until just
north of the Bath Road, and above the lakes again
follows the river northwards. Here, however, it is
surrounded by a belt of London Clay that meets the
alluvium just north of the Bath Road. (fn. 7) The soil was
generally described as a strong loam on a gravel
bed. (fn. 8)
The parish is watered by one river, the Crane,
that flows southwards through the centre of it. There
was a ford to the north of the church on Watersplash
Lane, but the principal crossing was where the
bridge later stood on the Bath Road. (fn. 9) The river was
widened, probably in the 18th century, on either side
of the Church Road to form two ornamental lakes. (fn. 10)
By 1820 there were at least four ponds, three of which
lay in the village on the edge of the common on the
Southall Road. The fourth lay immediately east of
the moat. (fn. 11) By 1958 these had all been drained.
There was a weir in Cranford in 1239, (fn. 12) but there is
no later reference to it. In 1894 there was a weir just
north of Cranford Lane, (fn. 13) which was still there in
1958.
The crossing on the Bath Road early necessitated
a bridge, and there was one there before 1274, when
the vill and the Master of the Temple were held
responsible for repairs. (fn. 14) The road was a 'principal
highway' in 1593, (fn. 15) and a brick three-arched bridge
was built in 1776 (fn. 16) which was rebuilt in 1915. (fn. 17) The
lord of the manor was responsible for the upkeep of
the bridge (fn. 18) until 1820, when the responsibility
passed to the parish under the inclosure award. (fn. 19) In
1699 repairs to the road were undertaken by Cranford and Bedfont (fn. 20) but by the early 18th century the
bridge divided two turnpike trusts, the Brentford
and the Colnbrook. In 1717 the Bath Road east of
the bridge was turnpiked, (fn. 21) and in 1727 the road
west of the bridge. (fn. 22) Although the latter stretch was
outside the parish, Cranford was later made responsible for repairing half of it on the Harlington
side. (fn. 23) Posting-horses were kept at the White Hart
Inn, (fn. 24) which remained the post-house at least
until 1839, (fn. 25) although it had been burned down
and immediately rebuilt in 1837. (fn. 26) Thereafter the
'Berkeley Arms', then standing opposite the 'White
Hart', was used as the post-house. (fn. 27)
By 1754 Tently Lane (now Southall Lane and the
High Street) ran down its present course, but
joined the Bath Road by the Avenue. (fn. 28) Cranford
Lane, which had been a greenway to Harlington in
1664, (fn. 29) left the Bath Road immediately west of Cranford Bridge but otherwise ran along the same course
as in 1958. Watersplash Lane followed its present
line but crossed the river at a less oblique angle. The
heath south of the Bath Road was crossed by two
lanes, one running near Hatton and the other to the
Staines Road. (fn. 30) There were a few small alterations
at the inclosure of 1820: Cranford Lane became a
private carriage road, (fn. 31) and was taken across the river
to meet the High Street which was extended to the
Bath Road. The two lanes crossing the common
disappeared and Watersplash Lane was slightly
altered. (fn. 32)
The church is situated approximately in the centre
of the parish, on the west side of the river, and very
close to the site of the manor-house. It seems probable
that the church was always connected more closely
with the manor than with the village. Village settlements grew up in two places: mostly along the
Southall Road on the eastern edge of the parish, and
also by the main road ford and bridge. This was the
pattern in 1754, (fn. 33) and probably long before. Residential development was extremely slow, and until the
20th century building was almost entirely in the
Southall Road, or High Street; area. In 1801 there
were only 27 houses, (fn. 34) and of these only one or
two were still in existence in 1958. The Rectory,
now the Old Rectory, was still occupied in 1958, as
were the Cedars and Sheepcote House, both late
Georgian houses on the High Street.
During the Middle Ages the open fields covered
the part of the parish lying to the north and west of
the village. North Field lay west of Southall Lane
as far as Watersplash Lane; east of the river and
south of Church Road lay Twinton, later Quinten,
Field; west of the river and north of the Bath Road
lay West Field, which merged into Harlington East
Field; (fn. 35) Old Field, mentioned frequently in the
17th century, (fn. 36) had vanished by 1820, but probably
lay north of West Field, also running into Harlington
fields. All that area of the parish lying east of the
Crane and south of Cranford Lane formed part of
Hounslow Heath, which also stretched up on the
east side of the parish as far as the present High
Street. There was another small piece of common on
the west bank of the river by Cranford Lane. During
the 17th century inclosure gradually took place in the
north-west corner of the parish and by 1754 all the
land there and some in the east of West Field had
been inclosed. (fn. 37) Cranford Park had been laid out by
1699. (fn. 38) Elsewhere most of the open fields and common remained until they were inclosed in 1820 under
a parliamentary Act. (fn. 39)
During the 19th century after inclosure the
village began to grow slowly, increasing from 27
houses in 1801 to 117 in 1901. (fn. 40) This growth began
to cover the common round the Avenue and High
Street, and on both sides of the Bath Road. Residential building on a large scale began in the 1930's.
By 1935 the common south of the Bath Road (fn. 41) had
been built over, Berkeley Parade, with its 'châteautype' buildings and little slated turrets described as
'ingenious architectural fun', (fn. 42) and the new 'Berkeley Arms' in similar style, being built in 1932. (fn. 43)
Other areas under development were Avenue
Crescent and Close, and Firs Drive, although the
latter was, strictly speaking, outside the parish.
Another area being developed was in the north-west
corner. By 1938 the common was completely built
up, an estate had grown off the Bath Road in the
former West Field area, and the north-west corner
was further developed. (fn. 44) By 1958 the Roseville
Road area had been completely built up, and the
Parkway Road had been built cutting through the
former Quinten Field from the Bath Road to join
Hayes Road. Parts of the old North and West Fields
were still cultivated, Quinten Field was a public
park, and Cranford Park also remained open.
Few well-known people have lived in Cranford.
Thomas Fuller and John Wilkins, F.R.S., both of
whom were rectors, are mentioned below. (fn. 45) The
Berkeley family, lords of the manor from 1618 to
1932, was a distinguished one, and included another
Fellow of the Royal Society, (fn. 46) and a lord high
admiral. (fn. 47) A distinguished royal physician, Sir
Charles Scarburgh (d. 1694), F.R.S., retired to
Cranford where he is buried. (fn. 48) A fourth fellow,
Warren de la Rue, of the Guernsey family, built
an observatory by Springfield, on the High Street,
in 1857 for his 13-inch reflecting telescope. He
experimented in solar and lunar photography, but in
1874 gave his telescope to Oxford University and
left Cranford. (fn. 49) There is also a tradition that I. K.
Brunel lived at the Cedars while the Great Western
Railway was under construction. (fn. 50) The story that
Mr. Cox of the Cox's Orange Pippin lived at The
Firs and grew his famous apple there (fn. 51) appears to
be untrue, his orchard in fact being at Colnbrook
End in Stanwell. (fn. 52)