Gunnersbury Park

The original Gunnersbury House around 1750.

The name Gunnersbury derives from Gunylda, the niece of King Canute who lived there until her banishment from England in 1044. The manor, owned by the Bishop of London, was occupied by the Frowyk family in the 15th century; Sir Thomas Frowyk, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was born there in 1460.

In the mid-17th century, Gunnersbury was acquired by Sir John Maynard, a lawyer and politician during the time of Cromwell.[2] It was he who in around 1663 built Gunnersbury House, a Palladian mansion modelled on the Villa Badoer, and designed by John Webb, the pupil and son-in-law of Inigo Jones. A map of Ealing dated 1777, shows the house in the north-east corner of the park, facing a horseshoe-shaped lake.

The house was bought in 1739 from Maynard's great grandson John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire by wealthy merchant and MP Henry Furnese, after whose death in 1756 it was sold to Princess Amelia, the daughter of George II.[3]

Daniel Defoe visited Gunnersbury in 1742. He wrote: "...(The Mansion) stands on an eminence, the ground falling gradually from it to the Brentford Road; from the Portico…you have an exceeding fine prospect of the County of Surrey, the river Thames…and a good prospect of London in clear weather…"

Princess Amelia landscaped the Park

In 1760, the house and estate were purchased for Princess Amelia, favourite daughter of George II. Plans for her to marry Frederic (who later became Frederic the Great of Prussia) had come to nothing, and when her father died, Amelia had lost her apartments at St James's Palace. She took a house in Hanover Square and used Gunnersbury House and estate as a country summer retreat. Amelia – George III’s aunt, "that odd and hearty lady" – made Gunnersbury famous with her parties and political intrigues. The previous owner, Henry Furnese, had the grounds landscaped by William Kent in the 18th-century landscape style. Princess Amelia continued this, building a bathhouse in the grounds.

After Amelia died in 1786, the estate had a number of owners. In 1788 it was acquired by Colonel Ironside, who sold it again in 1792 to a Walter Stirling. John Morley decided in 1801 to pull down the mansion and sell the land off piecemeal in 13 lots (the old house occupying Lot 2). The lots were eventually acquired by only two people, Alexander Copland (10 lots in 1802 and a further 2 in 1806), and Stephen Cosser (Lot 1 in 1802, sold to Major Alexander Morrison in 1807). Two separate estates were then established, each with its own new house. Copland, who bought 76 acres/30 hectares (most of the original grounds), was a builder and business partner of Henry Holland, and built the "Large Mansion" which was known, with its grounds, as "Gunnersbury Park". The "Small Mansion" was built virtually alongside in around 1806–1809, the builders evidently recognising the suitability of the position – an elevated terrace overlooking the horseshoe-lake near where the original mansion had stood. The small mansion and grounds were known as "Gunnersbury House".

In 1835, the merchant and financier Nathan Mayer Rothschild purchased the Large Mansion and park shortly before he died. The Small Mansion and its grounds were acquired in 1889 by the Rothschilds from the Thomas Farmer family (who had owned it since 1828), finally reuniting the original estate. The Rothschilds extended Gunnersbury further, acquiring most of the Old Brentford Common Field to the west, as well as land to the north. An old clay-pit in the south-west, "Cole’s Hole" was landscaped to become the Potomac lake, and the tile-kiln beside it modified to become a boat-house disguised as a gothic folly.

In 1925, following the death of Nathan's grandson Leopold de Rothschild, Leopold's wife, Maria, and son Lionel, sold the 200 acre/80 hectare Gunnersbury estate, which was entirely contained within the Brentford Urban District,[4] to the adjacent Ealing Borough Council and Acton Borough Council for £130,000. The land lay entirely outside their boundaries and the purchase was driven by snobbery. The "Queen of the Suburbs" did not want Brentford's municipal housing on its doorstep and the Mayor of Acton concurred, persuading her Borough Council to make it a joint purchase.

Following the Great War, there was a demand for house-building land. In addition the construction of the Great West Road, immediately south of the estate, was attracting modern industries along its "Golden Mile". Lionel Nathan de Rothschild had purchased an estate at Exbury, Hampshire in 1919 and was investing in a fine woodland garden there, so selling off the Gunnersbury estate presented an attractive opportunity. Disgruntled Ealing ratepayers wrote to the papers complaining about the burden on their rate bills. The adjacent Brentford and Chiswick Borough Council commented that since Ealing already had The Common and several other parks, not to mention Kew Gardens close by, another park would be unnecessary. They insisted that the greater part of the land should be used for housing, and opposed the loan of the purchase money to Ealing and Acton from the Ministry of Health. However, "civic pride and snobbery prevailed", and the Rothschilds sold Gunnersbury on condition that it was only to be used for leisure and recreation — although of the 200 acres/80 hectares, 13 acres were allowed to be used for building houses along the Popes Lane and Lionel Road boundaries of the estate to raise funds to pay off the loan. The transaction was very much welcomed by The Times, which commented that "...(Gunnersbury)... will be a place of health and happiness for many..." and that "...security against destruction seems to rest only with such places...acquired... with the help of landowners wealthy enough to be able, and public-spirited enough to be ready, to serve the public need".

When he opened the park, Neville Chamberlain "...rejoiced that the people had come into the possession of so magnificent and historical park..." He bemoaned the failure of earlier generations to recognise the need for open spaces in the towns and cities, when outdoor recreation was the privilege of the few. In the previous year, he said that the Ministry of Health had sanctioned loans of over £1.5M for the purchase of open space, but it was still not enough. Brentford and Chiswick relented the following year, joining Ealing and Acton in joint ownership and management of Gunnersbury. The park passed to the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965 and in 1967 the Gunnersbury Park Joint Committee with Ealing was set up.[1]

An adjoining area of Rothschild land just outside the Gunnersbury estate became the Gunnersbury Cemetery.

Despite this park and museum being within Greater London, and placed in the top 30% of registered parks in the country and thereby considered to be of national significance, the very high cost of building maintenance over the years has led to much decay. Not only the large mansion but 8 other structures have suffered neglect to the extent that they have been placed on the at risk sub-list compiled by the statutory body Historic England. The landscaping of the park itself is listed park to make a total of ten listings.[7]

The Long Gallery after restoration

A multimillion-pound, four year restoration was completed in June 2018 with the reopening of the large mansion as a museum for Hounslow and Ealing. The restoration was funded by Ealing and Hounslow Councils, the Heritage Lottery Fund and Heritage England. Work was also carried out on the Orangery, the reinstatement of the Horseshoe Lake, Temple, Princess Amelia's Bath-house, the Gothic ruins and the Round Pond. A new cafe has been opened. Inside the mansion ground floor rooms have been restored with marble columns, the Four Seasons ceiling painting in the Long Gallery, the ornate fireplace in the Drawing Room and panoramic views of the 186 acre park. Upstairs rooms and the kitchens are also open.

The next phase of the Gunnersbury Regeneration Project will see one of the largest outdoor sporting facilities in London open to the public in spring 2019.[8]