Large Number Of Period Homes In Chiswick Lie Within Hounslow's Conservation Areas

| Saturday, January 28, 2012
By Damian Hounslow


Chiswick lies in a bend of the River Thames, about 6 miles to the West of Charing Cross. At first it was a farming and fishing village, but as London grew it became a suburb for some of the more prosperous inhabitants, with many fine 18th and 19th-century homes. A great number of the historic homes in Chiswick are encompassed by the London Borough of Hounslow's designated conservation areas. The city's first garden suburb, at nearby Bedford Park, also has significant conservation areas, although only part of Bedford Park comes under Hounslow's authority (the majority of Bedford Park is in the Borough of Ealing).

Originally Chiswick grew up around St Nicholas Church, on the Middlesex bank of the Thames, about 6 miles to the West of central London. Farming and fishing were both important activities, and for hundreds of years there were cheese fairs held at Dukes Meadow. As the South of England became more heavily populated the river became quite polluted, badly affecting the fishing. There were also many locks introduced upstream, and these prevented some species such as salmon from being able to reach their spawning grounds.

Brewing is one of the oldest activities in the area. Fuller's Brewery (established 1845) still operates on the site of the earlier Griffin Brewery, so that beer has been brewed on the site for more than 300 years. In recent years three beers from this brewery (Chiswick Bitter, ESB, and London Pride) have been named as Champion Beer of Britain.

Many of the houses in Chiswick were built during the Georgian and Victorian periods. Chiswick was becoming a suburb for the well-to-do, who could commute into central London from here every day. The area's suburban housing stock includes many fine properties with original features such as sash windows, and intricate plaster mouldings.

Large parts of the suburb are designated by the local authority (Borough of Hounslow) as conservation areas. Additionally the nearby Bedford Park area, the first ever speculatively built garden suburb, is similarly protected by its local authority, the London Borough of Ealing.

As with all conservation areas in England, the precise restrictions on building are determined by the local authority, rather than being laid down nationally. Typically the rules may differ between boroughs, depending on what each authority feels is important for the character of its own area with special historic and architectural importance.

Generally local authorities are happiest with developments which preserve the original character of buildings. For example refurbished sash windows would be much more likely to gain planning approval than modern replacement windows.




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