Ashford Common Methodist Church - About Ashford Common

Ashford Common

Ashford Common was once part of the vast Hounslow Heath, and covered an area which in Saxon times was the open-air meeting place of the Spelthorne Hundred (a Hundred meant 100 hides of land, a hide being 124 acres). There were 6 "Hundreds" in the county of Middle Saxons (Middlesex) and "Spiel-thorne" (Spelthorne) was in the south-west corner of the county. Ashford Common covered an area north and south of what is now Staines Road West, from Junction Road and the 125 acres immediately to the east of Queen Mary Reservoir. From there it extended south-east almost as far as Sunbury Common.

The centre of Ashford Common is at the junction of Staines Road West and Littleton Road and Chertsey Road. This place is where Saxon Elder Men (Aldermen) met at the "Spiel-thorne" over 1,000 years ago to discuss local affairs, dispense justice, and plan future events. This site is in the Sunbury Charter dated AD 962 as the "Elder Stump".

In the Middles Ages it was part of the recognised route from Westminster to Windsor, with Kempton Park the overnight halting place for kings and courtiers. King George III held frequent reviews of cavalry on Ashford Common until the Common was enclosed under the Enclosure Acts of 1809. "Enclosure" allowed wealthy landowners to take over large tracts of common and heath land, and the fertile lands of Spelthorne were particularly susceptible to seizure.

Alexandra Road commemorates Queen Alexandra who came as a Danish princess to marry the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Tennyson wrote an ode of welcome to her "Saxon and Norman and Danes are we - but all of us Dane in our welcome of thee - Alexandra". Hence, Saxon, Norman, and Dane Roads in Ashford Common built after World War II.

Apart from several large houses in the area, most of the property consisted of small cottages whose occupants worked as market garden labourers and agricultural workers. The land around the Common was extremely fertile and the crops produced were of a high quality and fetched high prices at Brentford and Covent Garden Markets.

In 1916 Dr Dunstan purchased a large house called "Meadhurst" and conducted experiments with lubricating oils in the basement for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. From these humble beginnings the company grew rapidly, changed its name to the British Petroleum Company, and took over more of the land adjacent to "Meadhurst". It now covers more than 30 acres on 4 separate sites, with "Meadhurst" remaining an integral part of the huge complex and is now called BP Amoco.