In the 18th century the area now occupied by St. Stephen’s Road was part of the open Hounslow Heath, which extended across 14 parishes from Hampton and Teddington, through Hounslow to Harmondsworth and Stanwell. In Hounslow the Whitton Rd formed the eastern boundary of the Heath: beyond were enclosed fields.
By 1635 a small enclosed area projected into the Heath, just to the north of the present day Whitton shopping centre. This area was extended in 1726 and became the Whitton Park estate of the Duke of Argyll; later in the 18th century the park was taken over by the Gostling family.
History of the Area
In 1813 an Act was passed to enclose the Heath in the parishes of Hounslow and Heston (Hounslow High Street formed part of the boundary between the two parishes.) George Gostling, as owner of land within Isleworth parish was allotted land in the “enclosure award” of 1818, but was also sold an area of 52 acres to the north and west of Whitton Park, and east of the road to Hanworth. The sale was to defray the expenses of the commissioners who examined many claims to land from the heath to compensate for the loss of rights conferred by existing ownerships in the parishes; they then made appropriate allocations.
Most of the land on either side of Wellington Rd south was similarly sold, and the larger allocations were also made in this area. The great majority of allotments were small: ½ acre or less, and located in the areas of former waste close to the town centre. The existing open area of Hounslow Heath was saved because if passed to the quartermaster general of his majesty’s forces as a parade ground.
When the Hounslow loop railway line was constructed in 1850 the north-western half of Gostling’s land, near to Hanworth Rd., became cut off from the main estate. No development took place until, by 1875, building expansion and population growth in the area to the south of Hounslow High Street meant that there was a need for a new church.
A mission church had been established in Whitton road in 1872.
A mission church had been established in the Whitton Road in 1872. Under the energetic leadership of Rev Henry Layton the mission church flourished, and it became clear that the expansion warranted the construction of a permanent church. Col. Gostling-Murray, the then owner of Whitton Park had lived with his wife’s aunt on the estate since 1854, and inherited ownership in 1874 of detached land close to Hounslow and the railway station. A London merchant apparently providing the finance for laying out the Parkside and St Stephen’s Road, the colonel then donated the site of St Stephen’s Church, which was completed but without the tower in 1867, by local builder Thomas Hiscock, providing added value to the status of the new development. The area was laid out in the late 19 th century as a suburb centred around the focal point, the church of St. Stephen’s. The majority of the buildings in the area were started around 1881 and were completed by about 1886.