MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.
The
manor of ACTON was a division of the bishop of
London's manor of Fulham, which he acquired
between 704 and 709. (fn. 36) Acton was not described
in Domesday and did not have a separate court
until the 16th century, although views of frankpledge were taken separately for it and other
members of Fulham from 1383. (fn. 37) The bishop
held the manor until the 19th century except
during the Interregnum, when Francis Allen
held courts from 1651 to 1653. (fn. 38)
The bishop had no demesne in Acton, or so
little that it was accounted for under Fulham or
Ealing, (fn. 39) but held the wastes and commons, with
liberty of fishing and hunting. In 1735 all the
fishponds on the wastes of Ealing and Acton,
with fishing and hunting, were leased to Thomas
Langthorne of St. James's, Westminster, for 21
years, (fn. 40) and in 1738 he was appointed keeper of
the game. (fn. 41) The premises consisted chiefly of
Acton ponds, near the western boundary of the
parish north of Uxbridge Road. They were
leased to Samuel Wegg in 1777 and again in
1798. (fn. 42) By 1821 the lessee was his daughter
Elizabeth and in 1842 her chief legatee Charles
Gray Round, (fn. 43) in whose family they remained.
In 1884 the homage of Acton confirmed the sale,
made in 1877, of the freehold of the ponds to the
trustees of James Round, receiving payments
from his executors and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in compensation for copyholders'
rights. (fn. 44) In 1903 the Round family sold the site of
the ponds to the council, which laid out Twyford
Crescent and gardens on it. (fn. 45)
Some parcels of waste had been granted to
individual tenants for front gardens in the 18th
and 19th centuries. In 1881 the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners, as successors to the bishop,
conveyed their rights in the wastes of Friars Place
green, the Steyne, East Acton Lane, and Acton
Green common to Acton local board. (fn. 46) Enfranchisement of individual holdings began in
1846 and mostly took place after inclosure in
1859. (fn. 47)
The five-hide tenement held by Fulchered of
the manor of Fulham, by knight service, in 1086
was probably the tenement in Acton later listed
as ½ knight's fee. (fn. 48) It was held in the mid 12th
century by Alulf, whose son William recovered 1
hide between 1154 and 1189 from Simon
Halvedieval, husband of Alulf's daughter
Sabelina. In 1189-90 William pledged his estate
to the king, and later it was described as 4½ hides
and rent, held from Ellis of Chicheworth. By
1211 William's widow and son Peter held the
land. (fn. 49) Peter granted 50 a. in la Pulle to the
bishop of London in fee c. 1222, on condition that
the bishop paid his debts, and in 1230 granted to
Osbert of Northbrook 150 a. held from him by
rent and foreign services. Three houses were held
by tenants, while Peter was left with 2½ hides and
13 a. in demesne. About 1230 Peter granted to
Geoffrey de Lucy, dean of St. Paul's, his mansion
house in Acton and 128 a., and later also granted
land near Bollo bridge meadow and 20 a. of
woodland. In 1239 the dean transferred the estate
to the chapter of ST. PAUL'S, to be used for
successive deans at a rent of £5 to support a
chantry, and the estate was thereupon leased back
to him for life. (fn. 50) It was augmented by the
bishop's 50 a. and three houses on the north side
of Uxbridge Road, given by Geoffrey FitzWalter, who held them from Peter FitzAlulf.
In 1314 the chapter was granted exemption from
purveyance (fn. 51) and in 1316 it was granted free
warren in all its demesne lands of Acton. (fn. 52) The
estate was occasionally called a manor.
Peter still held the rest of the tenement, and
owed ½ knight's service to the bishop in 1242-3. (fn. 53)
In 1256 William son of Peter granted a carucate
in Acton to Thomas Tayland and his wife Edith,
who were to pay William 5 marks a year for life. (fn. 54)
In 1285 they granted a house and 2 carucates in
Acton to William the seneschal of Evesham for
rent. (fn. 55) Thomas Tayland still owed the ½ knight's
service at Acton c. 1307 and presumably held the
bulk of Alulf's tenement, which William the
seneschal inherited with other property of Edith.
In 1312 William the seneschal granted to
Adam de Herewinton a house, 1½ carucate of
arable, 40 a. of meadow, 15 a. of wood, and a rent
of pepper, held by Robert of Prestbury for life. (fn. 56)
In 1316 Roger, son of William de Brok, heir of
Philip of Cowley, transferred to Adam his rights
in a carucate in Acton and Fulham to Adam, (fn. 57)
which possibly derived from William son of
Peter's grant of 1256. In 1318 Adam was the
bishop's tenant by knight service for Tayland's
tenement. He had also acquired houses and land
in Acton in 1309 from John de Paris and Agnes
his wife, (fn. 58) who had received a house and land
from John, son of Isabel of Chicheworth, in
1304. (fn. 59)
Adam granted to the prior of ST.
BARTHOLOMEW'S, Smithfield, in 1327 a
house, land, and rents in Acton, held of the
bishop of London as ¼ knight's fee, to support a
chantry. (fn. 60) The estate presumably included most
of the lands held by William the seneschal and
Thomas Tayland. From 1353 the prior and
convent owed the ½ knight's service in Acton. (fn. 61)
St. Bartholomew's acquired much more land in
Acton with a grant in 1349 by Edmund of
Grimsby (fn. 62) and another in 1373 by John Chisnall,
clerk, and others. (fn. 63)
The Crown secured St. Bartholomew's lands
at the Dissolution, when the Acton estate was
described as a manor of itself, the bishop's
interest being overlooked. (fn. 64) In 1544 the Crown
also acquired the chapter's estate, as part of a
forced exchange. (fn. 65) The two parts of the five-hide
tenement were then reunited when John, Lord
Russell (d. 1555), later earl of Bedford, was
granted both in fee. (fn. 66) His son Francis, earl of
Bedford (d. 1585), vested Acton manor in
feoffees in 1574, when a description of it as
containing 6,900 a., besides rents in Acton and
Willesden, apparently referred to the whole of
the bishop's manor rather than to the Russells'
estate. (fn. 67) It passed to Anne Russell (d. 1639),
daughter of Francis's second son and wife of
Henry Somerset, later earl of Worcester (d.
1646). The Acton estate in 1645 consisted of
798 a., settled on the earl's second son Sir John
Somerset, (fn. 68) but it was sequestrated and in 1646
was given to Richard Hill and William Pennoyer,
merchants of London. (fn. 69) In 1653 Pennoyer and
his wife Martha sold the 'manor' and 2 houses,
284 a. of arable, 50 a. of meadow, and 78 a. of
pasture in Acton, to his brother Samuel and
others, (fn. 70) who divided it. (fn. 71) By will proved 1654
Samuel Pennoyer left his share to his wife Rose
and then to the Drapers' Company of London for
family uses, (fn. 72) but the whole estate was restored to
Worcester's heirs in 1660. (fn. 73)
The Acton estate formed part of the jointure
for Anne, wife of Henry Somerset, Sir John's
eldest son, in 1663. (fn. 74) Their only son having died
childless, (fn. 75) the 'manor' in 1712 provided a
jointure for Frances, wife of Charles Somerset,
the eldest son of Henry's youngest brother. (fn. 76) By
1724 it had passed to Henry Somerset (d. 1727),
probably the son of Charles and Frances, who
settled it on his brother John (d. c. 1730), (fn. 77) whose
widow Dorothy in 1732 relinquished her dower
in return for an annuity. (fn. 78)
Under a Chancery decree of 1735 the estate
was sold on behalf of John Somerset's sisters in
1736 to Christopher Lethieullier of Belmont
(Hants). Consisting of 802 a. in Acton and
Willesden, (fn. 79) it passed to his widow Sarah and son
Benjamin by 1738. (fn. 80) Benjamin Lethieullier's
Acton estate passed in 1797 to Sir Henry
Fetherstonhaugh, Bt. (d. 1846), the son of his
sister Sarah. (fn. 81) Although various sales had been
made by Letheuillier, the estate c. 1799 still
totalled 750 a. and covered nearly all the parish
north and west of the footpath to Harlesden,
Horn Lane, and Stamford brook's western
branch, as far as Turnham field. (fn. 82) In 1800
Fetherstonhaugh began the piecemeal sale of the
estate. (fn. 83)
The 'manor place' of St. Bartholomew's recorded in 1528 (fn. 84) may, as has been suggested,
have been on the moated site of Friars Place
Farm, discussed below. The mansion granted by
Peter FitzAlulf to the dean is less likely to have
been Berrymead Priory, as local tradition has it,
than either Acton Farm (later Springfield Farm)
in Horn Lane or a house on the moated site west
of Friars Place Farm, abandoned in or after the
15th century. (fn. 85)
Benjamin Lethieullier in 1795 sold 36 a. between Bollo brook and Gunnersbury Lane to
John Winter, (fn. 86) who in 1802 owned the recently
built HEATHFIELD LODGE, near Bollo
bridge, and East Lodge (fn. 87) and West Lodge. (fn. 88)
Heathfield Lodge was sold in 1843 on Winter's
death to Baron Lionel de Rothschild, (fn. 89) and the
land around it, with East Lodge, was also added
to the Rothschilds' Gunnersbury Park estate. (fn. 90)
West Lodge, owned in 1844 by George Aveling,
the occupier in 1851, (fn. 91) survived in 1980, a twostoreyed brick building of c. 1800 with a slate
roof, as the headquarters of the Acton Housing
Association.
The Willan family bought Acton or SPRINGFIELD farm, with 145 a. north of Uxbridge
Road, c. 1801. (fn. 92) After Thomas Willan's death the
house and most of the land were sold in 1828 (fn. 93) to
the rector William Antrobus and his sons
William Thomas and Edmund, who in 1842
jointly owned c. 90 a. with the farm and another
house called Springfield, near Steyne mills. (fn. 94)
After W. T. Antrobus's death c. 1877 the estate
was sold for building. The farmhouse, at the
corner of Horn Lane and Creswick Road, was in
1799 a two-storeyed brick house recently added
to an older one. (fn. 95) Springfield faced the new
Rosemont Road in 1908 (fn. 96) but by the late 1930s
had made way for flats called Rosemont Court. (fn. 97)
Richard White in 1809 bought 52 a. of the
Lethieullier estate, in the middle of which he
built MILL HILL or Acton Hill House. His
widow Mary had succeeded by 1851 and in 1859
sold the estate to Walter Elliott Whittingham and
the British Land Co.; (fn. 98) most of the land was sold
for building, the house with its grounds being
sold in 1860. It remained a private residence until
Walter Willett, the London builder and originator of daylight saving, laid out a private housing
estate there in or before 1885. (fn. 99) Most of the house
was pulled down, but the east wing, refronted,
remained in 1980 as no. 11 Avenue Crescent.
FRIARS PLACE farm, with 227 a., was
acquired by the Wood family of Ealing by 1811. (fn. 1)
James Wood owned it between 1818 and 1827 (fn. 2)
and Edward Wood in 1842, when his holdings in
the parish totalled 373½ a. (fn. 3) The land was gradually sold off from the early 20th century: in 1911
the U.D.C. bought 22½ a. from Col. Charles
Boileau Wood, including the moated site west of
Friars Place Farm, for a recreation ground, and
in 1920 it bought 18 a. to the south for housing. (fn. 4)
The moated farmhouse at no. 367 Horn Lane,
thought to have belonged to St. Bartholomew's,
was known as Friars Place Farm from 1664 (fn. 5) and
later also as Hamilton House, Narroway's Farm,
or Snell's Farm. The last house, built or improved in 1818, was of two storeys in yellow
brick, with a fluted door surround and an elaborate cast-iron balcony. At the rear two older
cottages faced a paved courtyard. Joseph
Narroway ran a home of rest there for 200 horses
in 1901 and was succeeded by Francis Cave
Snell. In the 1920s the land was laid out for 100
grass and hard tennis courts. In 1929 Col. Wood
sold the house as a vicarage for St. Gabriel's
church. The moat was filled and the house later
became a private dwelling, but in 1975 it was
badly damaged by fire and by 1980 it had been
demolished. (fn. 6)
What was called FOSTERS manor in the 16th
century may have comprised lands north of East
Acton village known as Fosters in 1683. It was
evidently distinct from the copyhold tenement
called Fosters. (fn. 7) In 1517 Richard Copcot and his
wife Grace sold c. 200 a. in Willesden, Harlesden,
and Acton to Thomas Roberts and William
Wass, (fn. 8) possibly including Fosters manor in
Acton which Michael Roberts (d. 1544) devised
to his brother John. (fn. 9) In 1632 Francis Roberts
died holding Fosters of the bishop's manor of
Fulham by fealty and rent. (fn. 10) His grandson Sir
William Roberts, Bt. (d. 1662), owned 100 a. in
Acton by 1646, (fn. 11) and in 1663 his widow Eleanor
sold a comparable estate to John Attlee. (fn. 12) A Mr.
Attlee owned land and leases in Acton in 1693, (fn. 13)
but by 1713 Fosters had passed from John Marsh
to his son Thomas and comprised 75 a. west of
Old Oak common and Old Oak Lane. (fn. 14) By 1842 it
belonged to the King Church family, (fn. 15) from
which it was compulsorily purchased for council
housing in 1919, having been used as a golf
course. (fn. 16)
The FROWYKS' large holding is traceable to
1303, when John de la Wodetone of Acton settled
on Richard de la Wodetone a house, 74 a. of land,
4 a. of meadow, 40 a. of pasture, and rent in
Acton and Chiswick. (fn. 17) In 1357 Bartholomew of
Wodetone seems to have been in possession (fn. 18) and
between 1374 and 1380 his son William made
several conveyances of land in Acton to John
Holmes. In 1382 William made over his remaining lands in Acton, Ealing, and Harlesden to
John Knolte, fishmonger of London, and
Thomas Wodetone his brother and heir. (fn. 19) By
1462 all or part of Holmes's lands had passed to
the Frowyk family. Henry Frowyk, alderman of
London (d. c. 1460) (fn. 20) and his son Thomas bought
various estates in 1446 and 1458 in Acton, Ealing,
and Willesden. (fn. 21) Land once of John Scorier and
formerly of John Holmes may have formed part
of them. (fn. 22)
Thomas Frowyk, knighted in 1478, (fn. 23) bought
more property in Acton in 1484. (fn. 24) At his death in
1485 he held 6 houses, 70 a. of land, 10 a. of
meadow, 20 a. of pasture, and 6 a. of wood in
Acton and Willesden, all of the bishop of
London. (fn. 25) His elder son Henry, knighted in
1501, (fn. 26) died in 1505 leaving sons Thomas and
Henry (d. 1520), childless, and daughters
Elizabeth wife of Sir John Spelman and
Margaret wife of Sir Michael Fisher. (fn. 27) Sir
Thomas's younger son, Sir Thomas (d. 1506),
Chief Justice of Common Pleas, (fn. 28) held some of
the property (fn. 29) and was succeeded by his daughter
Frideswide, first wife of Sir Thomas Cheyney,
K.G. (d. 1559). (fn. 30) Frideswide's grandson
Thomas Parrott, (fn. 31) the Spelmans' sons Henry and
Erasmus, (fn. 32) and the Fishers' granddaughter
Agnes, wife of Oliver St. John, Lord St. John,
each held portions. (fn. 33) Most of the Frowyks' land
seems to have passed to two families, the
Vincents of Harlesden and the Garraways or
Garways.
Humphrey Vincent of Willesden (d. c. 1555)
bought lands in Acton and left two sons William and Robert. (fn. 34) William was one of the principal free tenants in Acton in 1574 (fn. 35) and left
his free land to his son William by will dated
1579. (fn. 36)
William's son and heir Gervase was one of
three Vincents holding land freely in Acton in
1618, (fn. 37) and he later sold some of it. (fn. 38) Another
William Vincent had land in 1618, and at his
death in 1632 held Kingswood farm, 151 a.
formerly Sir Thomas Frowyk's. (fn. 39) A third William
Vincent had 150 a. in Acton in 1649. (fn. 40) In 1666
John Vincent of Harlesden green and others sold
139 a. in Acton and land in Willesden to William
Rolleston (d. 1672). Notwithstanding an intention to use the lands to endow a charity at
Rolleston (Staffs.), William's nieces Mary
Mower and Elizabeth Jacob were in possession in
1708, (fn. 41) and in 1757 their heirs sold 128 a. to
Robert Tubbs of St. James's, Westminster, horse
dealer. (fn. 42) Tubbs bought Friars Place in 1765 (fn. 43)
and died in 1782, having conveyed the estate to
his son Robert, who lived at Friars Place until his
death in 1810. (fn. 44) A third Robert Tubbs owned
141 a. in 1842, but Friars Place then belonged to
Thomas Street. (fn. 45) In 1850 the house was described as a beautiful villa with a balustraded
terrace looking south over pleasure grounds. (fn. 46)
Building began around it in 1886, and it had
decayed before its demolition in 1902. (fn. 47) A
sausage factory was built on the site in 1919. (fn. 48)
John Garraway or Garway, gentleman, who
bought 176 a. in Acton in 1569, (fn. 49) was probably
John Garraway of Buckhurst (Suss.), lessee of
the parsonage and tithes. (fn. 50) He already held land
in Acton through his wife Sibyl, widow of John
Lane (d. c. 1550), (fn. 51) and carried out ditching in
1552 and 1554. (fn. 52) In 1616 his son Paul leased to
John Collins of Acton his freehold farm called
Scoriers, formerly Frowyk's, which included at
least 60 a., and a cottage in the Steyne, and
another 9 a. (fn. 53) Paul's eldest son Philip, who had
freeholds in Acton and Ealing in 1624, (fn. 54) died
seised of Scoriers c. 1625. (fn. 55) It passed to his
brother John, who was apparently in possession
in 1631. (fn. 56) A Capt. Garraway held 90 a. in 1646
and land valued at £95 in 1653. (fn. 57) In 1655 John
Garraway sold a house, later called Bank House,
and land near the Steyne to the Speaker Francis
Rous (1579-1659). (fn. 58)
Most of the Garraways' estate was alienated in
fragments, (fn. 59) Scoriers passing before 1800 to
Nathan Carrington or his heir, (fn. 60) and the
Garraways recorded as holding land in 1693 and
1780 (fn. 61) may have inherited it from another branch
of the family. (fn. 62)
BANK HOUSE was apparently acquired in
1663 by Richard Ogden from Francis Rous, son
and heir of the Speaker's son and heir John, (fn. 63) and
conveyed by Ogden in 1708 to Jane Thynne. (fn. 64)
The property passed to Richard Allington Pye,
son of Jane's daughter, Barbara Pershouse; in
1769 Pye sold the house to Sarah Ladds of
Acton, (fn. 65) who rebuilt it further back from the road
and was succeeded in 1771 by her niece Elizabeth
Lehook (d. 1799), wife of Samuel Wegg. The
house passed to Elizabeth's daughters, who
ultimately inherited the estates bought by their
father, but was sold in 1837; (fn. 66) it was later used as
a school.
Thomas Thorney, barber-surgeon of London,
bought the Bell on the north side of the highway
and other property which in 1612 he left to his
nephew Peter, also a barber-surgeon. (fn. 67) Peter
bought land, including the tenement called
Butlers, from Gervase Vincent (fn. 68) and died in
1628, (fn. 69) leaving a son Thomas, a minor, who had
died by 1633, and a daughter Elizabeth, wife of
John Glassington. (fn. 70) By 1646 only a house and 15
a. remained with Glassington, (fn. 71) and the property
descended in separate parcels.
The farm called BUTLERS was owned by
Henry Frowyk (d. 1520), (fn. 72) William Vincent in
1610, (fn. 73) and Peter Thorney in 1628. (fn. 74) It passed
apparently to the Stevenson family, and may
have been disposed of by the will of Henry
Stevenson, proved in 1776. In 1775 the property
was described as a new brick house and a wash
house with 1½ a. In 1797 it belonged to Mrs.
Elizabeth Hervey, passing between 1811 and
1821 to William Hervey, and in 1842 it consisted
of the house, then called the Lodge or Acton
Lodge, standing where Highlands Avenue later
met Horn Lane, and 10 a. Hervey sold it in
1853-4 to Henry Scott Turner, whose son, Maj.
Henry Scott Turner, lived at the Lodge from c.
1855 to 1871. in 1902 the house stood empty (fn. 75)
before making way for the Highlands estate. (fn. 76)
The BELL, also held by Peter Thorney in
1628, (fn. 77) was known in 1637 (fn. 78) but not listed as an
inn in the early 18th century. (fn. 79) In 1729 Francis
Ware sold it to Thomas Mandevil of Acton,
apothecary, (fn. 80) who had replaced it with two
adjoining brick houses by 1752, when he sold
them to Nathan Carrington. Carrington's
grandson Nathan Garrick, nephew of David
Garrick the actor, had succeeded by 1780. The
two houses were called Lichfield House and
Suffolk House. (fn. 81)
A copyhold house with 4 a. acquired in 1611 by
Thomas Thorney (fn. 82) was known as ORGER
HOUSE in the 19th century and said to have
been a fine Jacobean house. (fn. 83) In 1659 it was
acquired by Sir John Trevor (1596-1673),
gentleman of the Privy Chamber, (fn. 84) probably
through his wife Anne, and after her death in
1663 it was conveyed to their son Richard
(d. 1676). (fn. 85) Richard surrendered it in 1671 and
1674 to Thomas Coppin, (fn. 86) who left it in 1689 to
his daughter Mary (d. c. 1699), wife of William
Dickens, (fn. 87) and by 1702 it was held by Francis
Dickens of Gray's Inn. (fn. 88) Thomas Eames was
admitted in 1705 and succeeded by his youngest
son William in 1711. (fn. 89) By 1797 the owners were
the Revd. William Hall of Acton and his wife
Frances Estcourt, (fn. 90) who in 1804 conveyed the
house and adjoining land to the Clergy Orphans'
school. The school occupied the house until
1812. (fn. 91) In 1834 John Bird was the owner, as in
1858 when the house had 'recently' been burned
down. (fn. 92)
FIGHTERS perhaps had been the tenement
which William Woodstone granted to Thomas
Vighter, who had been succeeded by John
Vighter by 1382. (fn. 93) Shortly before 1640 Anthony
Bouchier sold it to Sir John Trevor, who lived
there then. (fn. 94) In 1728 Dr. Thomas Pearson sold it
to John Somerset, (fn. 95) whose widow Dorothy retained it when she surrendered other property in
1732. (fn. 96)
Sir John Trevor also acquired by 1661 the
house later known as BERRYMEAD
PRIORY. (fn. 97) In 1666 he had a great house with 16
hearths, another with 15, and an empty one with
four. (fn. 98) His son John died before him and
Berrymead apparently passed to a grandson
Edward Trevor. By 1688 George Savile,
marquess of Halifax (d. 1695), who settled at
Acton after the Revolution, (fn. 99) was in possession. (fn. 1)
His son William, marquess of Halifax, died there
in 1700 (fn. 2) and was succeeded by four daughters. (fn. 3)
Evelyn Pierrepont, earl and later duke of
Kingston-upon-Hull (d. 1726) bought the
property in 1708. (fn. 4) He used the house as a spring
and summer residence, together with his
daughters Mary, before her marriage to Edward
Wortley Montagu in 1712, and Frances, who
married the Jacobite John Erskine, earl of Mar
(d. 1732), at Acton in 1714. It was left to his
second wife Isabel (d. 1728) and then to her
daughter Caroline Pierrepont. (fn. 5) In 1740 the house
and 9 a. were sold to Miss Dorothy Fellowes, (fn. 6)
whose brother William succeeded her in 1749
and immediately conveyed the estate to Henry
Ord. (fn. 7) Ord's widow Anne in 1758 sold it to
Thomas Fisher (d. 1769), (fn. 8) whose trustees sold it
in 1787 to Thomas Whitmore. (fn. 9) Whitmore conveyed it in 1790 to Gen. Staats Long Morris
(d. 1800), (fn. 10) whose wife Jane was succeeded by
her brother James Edward Urquhart in 1802. (fn. 11)
Urquhart surrendered it in 1803 to Thomas
Clutton, (fn. 12) whose trustees sold it in 1807 to
Edmund Fleming Akers (d. 1821). (fn. 13) By 1822 a
Col. Peacocke (d. 1830) owned it, being succeeded by his widow (d. 1834). (fn. 14) Stephen
Peacocke, owner 1834-7, was followed by
Messrs. Nicholson and Westcar in 1838 and Mr.
Croft by 1844. (fn. 15) Tenants included the novelist
Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton (1803-73), who
took the house for his wife in the 1830s and lived
there himself in 1835-6, (fn. 16) and nuns of the Sacred
Heart from 1842 to 1850. (fn. 17) In 1842 the grounds
totalled 11½a. (fn. 18) Between 1849 and 1851 the house
was owned by Lt. George Trafford Heald, who
married Lola Montez but left England to escape
bigamy charges, and c. 1856 it was bought by
John Dawson. (fn. 19) In 1882 it was sold to the
Berkshire Estates Co. but the house itself, with a
small part of the garden, was bought by the
Conservative party in 1885 and opened in 1886 as
the Priory Constitutional Club. The club left
after the Second World War, whereupon the
house was used by the neighbouring Nevill's
Bakery before passing c. 1977 to Ealing L.B. (fn. 20)
The house was described in 1705 as handsome,
low, and regular, with fine gardens. (fn. 21) In 1802 it
was known as Berrymead Lodge, and during the
next five years Thomas Clutton, who probably
gave it the name Berrymead Priory, remodelled it
in a Gothic style. (fn. 22) Between 1882, when it had a
galleried hall, 6 reception rooms, and 14 bedrooms on 3 floors, (fn. 23) and 1919 there was extensive
rebuilding, but some Gothic detail survived
inside. (fn. 24) Restoration was planned in 1980.
Sir Matthew Hale (1609-76), chief justice of
King's Bench, (fn. 25) lived at Acton from c. 1666 until
just before his death. His estate included
BAXTER'S great house near the church where
Richard Baxter had lived, describing it as small (fn. 26)
although it had at least 10 hearths, (fn. 27) and
DAYCROFT near East Acton Lane. (fn. 28) Daycroft
may have belonged in 1461 to William Eston,
fishmonger of London, (fn. 29) by purchase in 1458, (fn. 30)
and was devised in 1658 by Thomas Child to his
children. (fn. 31) Hale left all his property in Acton to
his wife Anne (d. 1694) and then to his son
Robert's son Gabriel. (fn. 32) In 1712 Gabriel settled it
on his sister Frances and her husband Archibald
Grosvenor; (fn. 33) they conveyed it to James Green,
clothworker of London, (fn. 34) who in 1719 conveyed
parts of it, including a house near the western
boundary and Daycroft, to the chapter and to the
almoner of St. Paul's. (fn. 35) The chapter c. 1758
exchanged its land with Samuel Wegg. (fn. 36) The
almoner's land was later transferred to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners, including 8 a.
south of Uxbridge Road awarded at inclosure in
1859 (fn. 37) and built over c. 1900. (fn. 38) Daycroft was sold
to the local board in 1889 and formed part of
Acton park. (fn. 39)
The rest of Hale's estate, including Baxter's
great house, was sold to Edward Gilbert in
1723. (fn. 40) The house may in fact already have been
demolished, for it was not mentioned in subsequent conveyances and in 1705 Hale's house
near the Rectory had been pulled down. (fn. 41) Gilbert
at once conveyed the estate to James Joye, who
had acquired ACTON HOUSE. That house had
probably belonged in 1624 to Sir William
Garraway, brother of John (fl. 1569). (fn. 42) Sir
William's widow Elizabeth died in 1636 seised of
a freehold house, occupied by Sir Henry
Jernegan, which passed to her son Sir Henry
(d. 1646), lord mayor of London. (fn. 43) The house
and 40 a. had passed by 1649 to Matthew
Herbert, by 1653 to Maj.-Gen. Philip Skippon
(d. 1660), (fn. 44) who left all his property in Acton to
his wife Catherine, (fn. 45) and by 1686 to Skippon's
son Sir Philip, traveller and writer, (fn. 46) who sold
them to Sir Hele Hooke, Bt. (fn. 47) Sir Hele sold the
house in 1696 to Daniel Sheldon, (fn. 48) whose
trustees sold it in 1700 to Sir John Baber
(d. 1704). (fn. 49) Francis Baber, brother and heir of Sir
John's son John, sold it in 1721 to James Joye. (fn. 50)
On Joye's death c. 1742 his estate was sold to
John Burton, (fn. 51) and in 1770 Capt. Charles Burton
sold it to James Templar. (fn. 52) In 1786 Templar sold
all his property in Acton to James Stratton,
whose executors sold it in 1803 to Nicholas
Selby. (fn. 53) The Selby family retained Acton House
in 1845, but it was sold to Mary Robertson in
1860. (fn. 54) Probably rebuilt by Sir Henry Garraway
in 1638, (fn. 55) it had 16 hearths in 1664 (fn. 56) and was
demolished c. 1904. (fn. 57)
There has been confusion between Acton
House and another residence, called after the last
countess of Derwentwater. The countess stayed
during her husband's trial at Acton House, in
whose grounds Selby built DERWENTWATER HOUSE, possibly in 1804. (fn. 58) Selby
sold it c. 1820 to George Kelly, (fn. 59) who owned it in
1842, but in 1859 it was sold to J. B. Nichols. (fn. 60) It
remained a private house until it became Acton
Liberal and Radical Club after 1890. The
frontage was reduced for road widening, and the
house itself was demolished in 1909. (fn. 61)
The GOLDSMITHS' estate grew from lands
in East Acton left to the company by John
Perryn, alderman of London, in 1656. The estate
was first formed by Sir Richard Sutton (d. 1634),
its nucleus being the copyhold capital messuage
called Fosters or Hill House and later Manor
House, which is recorded from 1532. (fn. 62) At his
death Sutton held the capital messuage, 4 other
houses, and c. 160 a. of copyhold and 50 a. of
freehold. (fn. 63) His only child Elizabeth, wife of Sir
John Ashfield, Bt., added to the estate, which by
1653 she had handed over to her son Sir
Richard. (fn. 64) In 1654 the Ashfields sold it to John
Perryn (d. 1657), (fn. 65) whose widow Alice married
Sir Thomas Vyner, lord mayor of London
(d. 1665), and after his death lived at the seat in
Acton. On her death in 1682 the estate passed to
the Goldsmiths' Company of London under
Perryn's will. (fn. 66) It consisted of a large house, 2
farmhouses, and 3 cottages, with c. 166 a. of
inclosed land and c. 60 a. in the fields in 1739, and
was much enlarged in the 19th century and the
early 20th. By the 1930s the company owned or
had owned the whole area between the eastern
parish boundary, Uxbridge Road, the green, and
East Acton Lane, together with a wide band of
land west of East Acton Lane, north of the green,
and on both sides of Friars Place Lane as far as
the G.W.R. line, with the Friars beyond it. Until
1920 the only sales were to railway companies,
besides those of 13 a. to the local board in 1886 for
Acton park and of two leasehold houses and the
Friars to the U.D.C. in 1902 for an isolation
hospital. Building leases were granted over the
western part of the estate and brickmaking leases
for land south of the manor house, and sites were
given for St. Dunstan's and other churches. After
1920 sales increased, including those of a large
stretch of land to the U.D.C. for Western Avenue
in 1921, the sites of several big houses for
building, and parts of the charity estate for
council housing and schools in the 1930s. Only
the site of Manor House and some land around it
had not been built on by 1945 and was still leased
to private sports clubs in 1980.
Manor House became hard to let in the late
19th century and was demolished in 1911. The
house was probably rebuilt by Henry Lambe,
goldsmith, lessee from 1686. (fn. 67) In 1980 some
wainscotting and a carved wooden overmantel
were at Goldsmiths' Hall, London. (fn. 68) Of the
Goldsmiths' other older houses only the Friars
survives, as the administration block of
Leamington Park hospital. It is an 18th-century
house of three storeys and attics, with five bays, a
central pediment, and cornices, which probably
once had pilasters. A stuccoed porch was added
in the 19th century.
The ELMS estate centred on a house called the
Paddocks in 1817, Acton House in 1827, and the
Elms by 1845. The precursor of the house was
sold as a freehold cottage with a windmill and 2 a.
in 1641. From 1722 the estate belonged to
Charles Morren and his wife Elizabeth, and
Elizabeth's son Henry Lloyd sold it in 1737 to Sir
Joseph Ayloffe, Bt., and his wife Margaret. They
sold it in 1750 to Samuel Wegg (d. 1802), who
acquired much other property in Acton, including the lease of Acton ponds. His son George
Samuel died in 1817, his heirs being his sisters
Sarah, wife of the Revd. Richard Prosser, and
Elizabeth. Elizabeth held most of the property
and made additions to it, including Hill House;
when she died in 1842, her sister having predeceased her without issue, she owned 169 a.,
which passed to Charles Gray Round, of Birch
Hall (Essex), a distant relative. Parts were sold in
1895 and, to the Kensington Freehold Land
Trust, in 1897, and the remainder was built on
early in the 20th century. (fn. 69) The Elms was built
probably in the 1720s in yellow brick with redbrick dressings, having three storeys with attics
and a front of five bays with pilasters and a
cornice. Single-storey wings with basements
were added in the late 18th century. The house,
let to private tenants in the 19th century, housed
secondary schools from 1954, including Twyford
high school in 1980. (fn. 70)