Boston Manor House
Brentford’s Jacobean Jewel
The following information is from the Heritage and Tourism
Guide
(click on the small pictures to see a larger version, press the
'back' button to return to this page. See also the
panorama pages)
Boston Manor House, one of West London’s lesser-known gems, is a fine Jacobean manor house built in 1623. Set back from Boston Manor Road in Brentford, the three-storey building is situated in parkland containing a lake and ancient cedar frees. The house was built for Lady Mary Reade, a young widow who re-married not long after its completion in 1623. Her second husband was Sir Edward Spencer of Althorp, Northamptonshire - an ancestor of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Sir Edward and Lady Mary were still owners of Boston Manor in 1642, when the Battle of Brentford took place nearby, during the Civil War. In 1670 the house was extended, following its purchase for £5,136 by James Clitherow, a City merchant. It remained the home of seven generations of the Clitherow family during the next two-and-a-half centuries, until it became the property of the local Council in 1924.
Today
the magnificent 17th century State Rooms on the first floor, together
with the Dining Room and Library on the ground floor, can be visited and enjoyed
free of charge at the times shown on the back of this leaflet.
Following its recent restoration, the Dining Room is once again ‘Naples yellow’ in colour, as it was in the early 19th century. King William IV and Queen Adelaide, who had long been friends of the Clitherows, came to dine here one evening in 1834-a rare instance of a reigning monarch being received as the guest of a commoner.
Upstairs on the first floor are the State Rooms, two of which contain magnificently decorated plaster ceilings of 1623. That in the Drawing Room incorporates nineteen allegorical figures representing the Five Senses, Four Elements, Three Virtues, Peace and Plenty, War and Peace, and Father Time flanked by two Cupids. The sumptuous Jacobean mantelpiece includes a biblical scene showing the Angel stopping Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Further up the stairway towards the second floor landing some rare 18th century wallpaper, which came to light during restoration work, can be seen.
Around
the walls at Boston Manor House hang more than eighty paintings from the London
Borough of Hounslow’s local collection - mostly historic views of Brentford,
Chiswick and lsleworth. The State Bedroom contains portraits of members of the
Clitherow family by George Romney and Sir Godfrey Kneller.
Amidst the modern surroundings of West London, Boston Manor is
a rare survival from a former age - Brentford’s Jacobean Jewel.
Boston Manor House lies lust north of the Great West Road (A4), near the large
modern headquarters of Glaxo SmithKline and the elevated section of the M4. It
is just under half a mile from both Boston Manor underground station (Piccadilly
Line) and Brentford Station (overground trains to Waterloo/Hounslow). Bus route
E8 passes along Boston Manor Road in front of the house. Parking is available in
Boston Manor Road and adjoining streets.
(click to see location maps and aerial photographs)
OPENING TIMES - ADMISSION
FREE
The House is open to the public from the beginning of April to the end of
October, on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, 2.30 to 5pm. Admission
is free and a 64-page guide book giving a full history of the house and its
residents is available for purchase. For more information ring 020 8583 4535.
Parts of the house may be hired for wedding receptions and other functions.
For further information about hirings ring 020 8583 4463.
Boston Manor House,
Boston Manor Road,
Brentford,
Middlesex
TW8 9JX.
020 8583 4463
+44 20 8583 3363.