Isleworth Manor (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Hounslow.
In the historic county of London and Middlesex.
Modern Authority of London Borough of Hounslow.
1974 county of Greater London.
Medieval County of Middlesex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ15287553
Latitude 51.46704° Longitude -0.34173°

Isleworth Manor has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House, and also as a probable Palace.

There are no visible remains.

Description

On the death of Margaret de Clare in 1312, the manor of Isleworth passed to the Crown. Manorial accounts refer to several residential buildings arranged around a courtyard, and included the royal chambers, hall, kitchen, and chapel. Without the court was an outer courtyard containing barns and other outbuildings. In 1421 the manor house and manor were granted to the new Bridgettine foundation at Syon. A moated site exists at TQ153754 and may be the remains of this site (HKW). (PastScape 1393703)
Homestead moat, on the N. side of the road 1m W.S.W. of the church, has been almost entirely filled in (RCHME). A square moat with the entrance on the east side (VCH). (PastScape 397857)

For some time the power of the merchant oligarchy had been threatened by the populace, who had installed a democratic mayor, Thomas Fitz-Thomas, in 1263. Led by Hugh Despenser, the baronial justiciar, and with their own constable and marshal elected for the occasion, they made straight for Richard's manor of Isleworth, which he had surrounded with a ditch and stockade. They broke the head of the fishpond which he had constructed, at great cost, and destroyed everything that they could not steal. (Denholm-Young 1947)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1393703397857.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 050509/00/00.

Books
- Creighton, Oliver, 2015, 'Castle, Landscape and Townscape in Thirteenth-Century England: Wallingford, Oxfordshire and the 'Princely Building Strategies' of Richard, Earl of Cornwall' in Jörg Peltzer (ed), Rank and Order: The Formation of Aristocratic Elites in Western and Central Europe, 500–1500 (Ostfildern: Thorbecke Jan Verlag) p. 309-341
  Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol. 2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p. 963-5
  Denholm-Young, N., 1947, Rchard of Cornwall (Blackwell Publishers) p. 126 online copy
  RCHME, 1937, An inventory of the historical monuments in Middlesex p. 86 no. 4 online transcription
  Page, Wm (ed), 1911, 'Ancient earthworks' VCH Middlesex Vol. 2 p. 8
Periodical Articles
- Bennett, Michael J., 2002, 'Richard II, Henry Yevele and a new royal mansion on the Thames' Antiquaries Journal Vol. 82 p. 343-9

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

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Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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