Isleworth

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The River Crane flows into the Thames to the south of Isleworth Ait. The Crane's distributary, the Duke of Northumberland's River, also flows into the Thames to the west of Isleworth Ait.



History

A riverside settlement on the Middlesex bank of the River Thames, Isleworth was well established by the time of the Norman Conquest in the 11th century. Excavations around the eastern end of Syon Park Estate unearthed evidence of Romano-British settlement.

The earliest form of the name is Gislhaesuuyrth, meaning Gilhere's settlement. Isleworth's southern part is known as 'Old Isleworth', while its northern part, bordering on Osterley, is known as 'Spring Grove'.

From the Norman Conquest until 1227 the Norman family of St Valeri held the manor of Isleworth. The family gave the manor to the Abbey of St Valeri which stood at the mouth of the Somme, Picardy. Henry III seized the Isleworth and other property of the St Valeri family and gave the manor to his brother, the Earl of Cornwall, who built a new manor house.

In 1431 a monastery was built on the site of the present Syon Park, and Henry V granted the nuns from the Bridgettine order land on the banks of the Thames where they built their first house in 1415.


(quotes, from)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isleworth

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