A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



of Wallingford, and was attached to the view of frankpledge held for 

 that honour at Uxbridge. 7 " Stanwell and East Bedfont were included 

 in the honour of Windsor. The Prior of Holy Trinity, Hounslow, 

 had view of frankpledge in Littleton until the Dissolution. 8 * In 1540, 

 Ashford, Feltham, Laleham, Hanworth, Teddington, and Sunbury, were 

 annexed to the honour of Hampton Court.* 



a 



ASHFORD 



Ecclesforde, Exeforde (xi cent.) ; Echelesforde, 

 Echeleforde (xiii-xiv cent.) ; EcheLbrd, Assheford, 

 Asheford (xvi-xviii cent.). 



Ashford derives its name from the River Ash, 

 which runs through the western corner of the 

 parish, and from a ford over the river on the road 

 which enters the parish from Staines and Lale- 

 ham. A stone bridge was built over the ford in 

 1789 by the Hampton and Staines Turnpike 

 Trust, and is still known as Ford Bridge. 1 The 

 parish lies to the east of Staines, between the main 

 road from London and the Staines and Kingston 

 road, which form respectively the northern and 

 southern boundaries. The country is low, lying 

 only from 45 ft. to 50 ft. above Ordnance datum, 

 and is nearly level throughout.' 



The aspect of the whole parish is rapidly 

 changing. Until a few years ago it was almost 

 completely rural. Now, what was formerly the 

 village street is being transformed by the erection 

 of modern shops, and an entirely new town has 

 arisen about the station to accommodate a popula- 

 tion of the artisan class. To the east of the older 

 part of the town is a group of private houses, 

 standing in their own gardens. To the south, 

 fields still alternate with woodland, stretching over 

 what used to be Ashford Common. Before the 

 inclosure of the parish in 1809 this was a favourite 

 ground with George III for military displays. 3 



The hamlet of Ashford Common is composed of 

 an inn, a smithy, and a few cottages, which cluster 

 about the cross-roads from Staines, Kingston, 

 Littleton, and Feltham. Here, again, building 

 operations are in progress, and a few hundred yards 

 to the west there are already several streets laid 

 out on which workmen's houses are being built. 



The parish church of St. Matthew stands by the 

 side of the main street of the old village, and there 

 is a mission room belonging to the Church of 

 England at Ashford Common. A Congregational 

 chapel was built in 1891, and there is also a 

 Wesleyan Methodist mission hall in the parish. 

 The West London District School, opened in 

 1872, lies near the western boundary towards 

 Staines. 



The land is the property of many small owners. 

 There are 1 ,40 1 J acres in the parish, and of these 

 49 5i acres are arable, and 398 J acres are grass. 4 

 The principal crops are oats, wheat, barley, 

 turnips, and peas. The soil is gravelly, and the 

 subsoil gravel. 



The following place-names occur in mediaeval 

 documents : Chikethorn, Hedenerworth, Longe- 

 hedes, Shorechecleosworth, Rapelties, Scharpeland, 

 Littlemede in Jordansheigh, Hightacres or Eytacres, 

 Haymondsham, Gretechene, Sturfurlong, Mark- 

 ynger, and Warecroft, which was named after 

 William de Ware, who held a croft in Ashford 

 until about 1308.* 



ASHFORD belonged from early 

 MANOR times to Westminster Abbey, and has 

 always been held in chief. It is said 

 to have been given to the monastery by Offa, King 

 of Mercia, 6 but the gift is mentioned only in a 

 confirmatory charter of King Edgar, which is itself 

 of doubtful origin. 7 It is at any rate certain that 

 it belonged to Westminster in the time of Edward 

 the Confessor, 8 and it may possibly have been held 

 by the abbey at an earlier date. In the reign of 

 Edward it was one of four appurtenances of Staines,' 

 the most important manor held by Westminster in 

 Spelthorne Hundred. Ashford is not mentioned 

 as a manor in the Domesday Survey, but four 

 berewicks are ascribed to Staines, 10 and as both 

 before and after the Conquest Ashford was linked 

 with that manor, it is more than probable that it 

 was included as one of the berewicks. 



In 1225 part of the monastery's estates were 

 allotted by Abbot Richard de Berking to the 

 support of the convent. 11 At first Ashford re- 

 mained with the abbot, but in 1227 the monks 

 complained that their share was insufficient, and by 

 a composition made in that year, the manor of 

 Ashford was ceded to the convent, with all the 

 lands that had been brought into cultivation and 

 other appurtenances. 1 ' The only exception made 

 was in the case of a wood, which the abbot re- 

 tained for himself and his successors in order that 

 it might supply timber for the construction and 

 repair of the ploughs on the manor. 1 * 



l*Cal. Pat. 1340-3, pp. 47-8; 

 P.R.O. Ct. R. portf. 191, no. 42. 



te Pat. 7 Jas. I, pt. i. 



ta L. and P. Hen. fill, xv, 498 

 < 3 6). 



1 Rtf. on Public Bridget in Midd. 

 {1826), 261. 



a Ord. Surv. 



Beautiet of Engl. and Wales, x (4), 

 514. 



4 Inf. supplied by the Bd. of Agric. 

 (1905). 



6 Doc. in custody of the D. and C. 

 of Westm. Chest D. no. 26783-26791. 



6 Cott. MS. Faust. A. iii, fol. 20 ; 

 Titus, A. viii, fol. 4. 



306 



^ Y.C.H. Land, i, 434. 

 8 Cott. MS. Faust. A. iii, fol. 120 ; 

 Titus, A. viii. 

 Ibid. 



10 Dam. Bk. (Rec. Com.), i, 128. 



11 V.C.H. Land. 1,448. 



la Ibid, and Cott. MS. Titus, A. viii, 

 fol. 356. "Ibid. 



