Silverhall Park (Hounslow)
Brief Description
Silverhall Park is on part of the former Silver Hall estate. The name appears to have been used for the estate from the mid-C18th after its owner Mrs Oliver, nee Silver. The house was demolished in the early C19th and the estate sold piecemeal. A new house was built in 1813 on a site now occupied by the park. From 1880 - 1908 Silver Hall was occupied by Carmelite nuns who had moved here from Fulham Carmel. It was later a school but by the 1940s the house was derelict and it was demolished in the 1950s. Gates on North Street and the remains of the ice house are all that are left. A section of the C16th Duke of Northumberland's River runs through the park
Practical Information
- Site location:
- Twickenham Road/North Road/Mill Plat, Isleworth
- Postcode:
- TW7
- What 3 Words:
- shop.pipe.quarrel
- Type of site:
- Public Park
- Borough:
- Hounslow
- Open to public?
- Yes
- Opening times:
- 8am - dusk
- Special conditions:
- Facilities:
- playground
- Events:
- Public transport:
- Rail: Kew Bridge then bus. Bus: 267, R62
- Research updated:
- 01/11/2005
- Last minor changes:
- 19/07/2023
Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.hounslow.gov.uk
Full Site Description
Moses Glover's C17th map shows Lady Fenner's house marked here. The Hall was built by John Smith, created a baronet in 1694, whose arms are on the gate piers. After his death in 1726 Chancellor Harcourt's widow lived here until 1748 when a Mrs Oliver, nee Silver, purchased the property. Her son was called Silver Oliver and the name Silver Hall appears to have been in use from c.1750. The house was demolished in 1801/2 and the estate was eventually sold piecemeal; in 1839 a 4.5 acre area of the former estate owned by James Bennett is described as being 'of very superior quality surrounded by lofty walling and containing brick earth'. A new Hall had been built in 1813 by William Farnell, owner of Isleworth Brewery, to the north of North Street, where this park is now. Among its C19th residents was the Revd Henry Glossop, Vicar of All Saints' Isleworth (q.v.) , who lived here between 1822-1855; a drinking fountain to his memory is located in Upper Square.
From 1880 to 1908 Silver Hall was occupied by Carmelite nuns who had moved here from Fulham Carmel. Owned by the Misses Saunders, the nuns then purchased Silver Hall for £6,000 in 1899 and adapted it for community use but the house was 'too small and in too ruinous a state for an enclosed community to remain permanently', rain coming through the roof to the extent that the Sisters had to keep umbrellas up indoors, and invaded by rats. A letter from Sister Anne of the Holy Spirits Prioress later described the gardens in their time: 'the gardens were really lovely, with a great variety of trees, so much so that the 'trees of Isleworth' has become community saying'. When they moved out in 1908 they sold a paddock near the house for £2,200 to raise money for their new site. The house was empty until 1914 when it was let for three years and then in 1917 it was rented to Miss Palmer for a boarding school, who purchased it for £3,000 in 1924. By 1929 it was known as Collingwood College and is last mentioned on the electoral list of 1938. The house was derelict by the 1940s and demolished in the 1950s. Its North Street gates and gate piers and the remains of the ice house are all that are left. Near the park are Ingram's Almshouses on Mill Plat, founded in 1664 by Sir Thomas Ingram, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to Charles II, the oldest almshouses in the borough.
Through the park runs a section of the Duke of Northumberland's River, constructed in the late 1530s to bring water from the River Colne in Hillingdon to a flour mill in Church Street Isleworth, which was once owned by the Convent of Syon. The mill closed in 1934 and its site was the area of woodland to the east of Silverhall Park. The northern part of the park is managed as a nature reserve, with the formal park on the south side. Among its fine trees are a sweet chestnut, as well as yew, oak, and pocket handkerchief tree.
Sources consulted:
LB Hounslow Local Studies Centre files; Aungier 'History and Antiquities of Syon'; letter from Sister Anne of the Holy Spirits Prioress 23 July 1963; David Pape, 'Nature Conservation in Hounslow' Ecology Handbook 15, London Ecology Unit, 1990; 'Isleworth: a guide and some of its history', Isleworth Community Council, 1991
Further Information (Planning and Conservation)
- Grid ref:
- TQ165760 (516310,175990)
- Size in hectares:
- 1.09
- Site ownership:
- LB Hounslow
- Site management:
- John Laing Integrated Services
- Date(s):
- C17th on
- Designer(s):
- Listed structures:
- None
- On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:
No- Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:
No- Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:
No
Local Authority Data
The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.
- On Local List:
- No
- In Conservation Area:
- Yes
- Conservation Area name:
- Isleworth Riverside
- Tree Preservation Order:
- Not known
- Nature Conservation Area:
- Yes - Borough Importance I
- Green Belt:
- No
- Metropolitan Open Land:
- No
- Special Policy Area:
- Yes - Isleworth Capital Challenge Area
- Other LA designation:
- Local Park
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.