History of the Area
The Conservation Area
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St. Stephen's Conservation Area is one of only three in Central Hounslow. It was awarded its conservation area status by Hounslow Council in 1987.
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Why is St. Stephen's Conservation Area so special?
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'St. Stephen's Road and the surrounding streets represents one of the best preserved and complete late Victorian streets within the Borough. The historic buildings within the area illustrate a full range of Victorian building materials used in a variety of ways, sizes and styles to create an attractive and leafy residential area.
There are also several examples of Edwardian, interwar and post war architecture which complement the original domestic dwellings. Original garden spaces to the front and sides of properties also form an integral part of the character and its proportions.
Consequently, these should not be viewed as a space appropriate for building development or as ‘brown field sites’.
Special Architectural and Historic Interest
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St. Stephen’s Road is one of the best preserved and complete late-Victorian streets within the Borough by the architect W Hanley. The original 1880 layout of the road and building plots are still recognizable. The historic buildings in the area illustrate the full range of Victorian building materials used in a variety of ways to create an attractive street around the Church.
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History
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.
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.
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A mission churc had been established in Whitton road in 1872.
