West Hall, Kew

West Hall, Kew
Map
General information
TypeResidential
LocationWest Hall Road, Kew, Richmond TW9 4EE, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Coordinates51°28′33″N 0°16′44″W / 51.4758°N 0.2789°W / 51.4758; -0.2789
Completedcirca 1700
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameWest Hall
Designated25 October 1951
Reference no.1253185

West Hall at West Hall Road, Kew, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a Grade II listed building[1] dating from the end of the 17th century.[2] It is Kew's only surviving 17th-century building apart from Kew Palace.[3]

History

The house stands on what was described in 1386 as an estate of 160 acres. This was included in Mortlake Manor, which was owned by the Archbishops of Canterbury.[2]

By the end of the 15th century, West Hall estate had become part of the new manor of East Sheen and West Hall.[2]

The late 17th-century house[4] was probably built by the lord of the manor, Thomas Juxon, who lived in East Sheen, as a house to let.[2] A second substantial house to let, Brick Farm, was built just to the west.[5] This later became the home of Sir William Hooker, the first Director of Kew Gardens, who rented the house and renamed it West Park.[3] The estates of both houses were let out for grazing and market gardening.[5]

In 1813 the painter William Harriott is recorded as living at West Hall.[6] He was the son of the miniaturist Diana Hill, who also lived at the Hall.[7]

Although the house of West Hall remains, and the property includes gardens and cottages,[8] much of its estate, and that of the neighbouring Brick Farm, has now been redeveloped for housing.[9]

The roof and upper floor of the house were damaged by fire in 2005.[8] In 2007 the house was restored by the Bissell Thomas family.[3][8]

Joanna Lumley was filmed at West Hall in the mid-1990s for her television series Class Act.[8]

References

  1. ^ Historic England (25 October 1951). "West Hall (1253185)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Blomfield 1994, p.18
  3. ^ a b c Gascoigne, Bamber; et al. (2001). "Kew – West Hall". HistoryWorld's Places in History. HistoryWorld. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  4. ^ Cherry, Bridget and Pevsner, Nikolaus (1983). The Buildings of England – London 2: South. London: Penguin Books. p. 514. ISBN 0-14-0710-47-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b Blomfield 1994, p.19
  6. ^ Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (1813). Transactions of the Society of Arts, Volume 31. London: R Wilks, Chancery Lane. p. 22.
  7. ^ Blomfield 1994, p.62
  8. ^ a b c d McGhie, Caroline (1 May 2007). "From ashes of a dream, a home rises again". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  9. ^ Blomfield 1994, p.130

Sources