Visit Boston Manor House
Discover one of Brentford's hidden treasures over the summer weekends
The most important house in any settlement has always been that of the Lord of the Manor.
In Brentford this was always Boston House.
The first part of the present house was built in 1623 for Lady Mary Reade who had a fashionable plaster ceiling in her drawing room with emblems depicting the five senses, the four elements, Faith, Hope and Charity, War and Peace and Peace and Plenty. After finishing building the house she married Sir Edward Spencer from Althorp and they lived there through the English Civil War. As Royalists they were probably quite unpopular in the town as the Royalist army under Prince Rupert did a lot of damage while spending the night in the area in November 1642.
In 1670 the house and estate were bought by a city merchant and banker called James Clitherow. He extended the house and his descendents continued there until they sold it to the Brentford Local Board in the 1920s. Over the years they had entertained Royalty there, laid out the gardens, farmed the land, had their portraits painted, decorated parts of the house, acted as Justices of the Peace and altered their home many times in styles that were currently fashionable.
It is now called Boston Manor House and is open on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays until the end of October from 2.30 to 5pm.
The Hounslow Heritage Guides also have a walk that starts from the High Street at 2.30pm, explores the canal and has a tour of part of the house on the first Sunday of each month and costs £2 per head.
Boston Manor House is one of the hidden treasures of Brentford with Lady Mary Reade’s magnificent plaster ceiling and over mantle above the fireplace depicting the story from the Bible of Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac still on display and it's FREE!
Janet McNamara
Click to see the photos full size
June 14, 2010