Osterley Park is a mansion set in a large park of the same name. It is in the London Borough of Hounslow, part of the western suburbs of London. When the house was built it was surrounded by rural countryside. It was one of a group of large houses close to London which served as country retreats for wealthy families, but were not true country houses on large agricultural estates. Other surviving country retreats of this type near London include S...
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Osterley Park is a mansion set in a large park of the same name. It is in the London Borough of Hounslow, part of the western suburbs of London. When the house was built it was surrounded by rural countryside. It was one of a group of large houses close to London which served as country retreats for wealthy families, but were not true country houses on large agricultural estates. Other surviving country retreats of this type near London include Syon House and Chiswick House. The park is one of the largest open spaces in West London, though it is marred by the presence of the M4 motorway, which cuts across the middle of it.
The original building on this site was a manor house built for banker Sir Thomas Gresham in the 1570's. It is known that Queen Elizabeth visited twice, on one occasion suggesting that a hedge would be a good idea in a certain location, that was then built overnight! The stable block from this period remains at Osterley Park.
Two hundred years later the manor house...
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