Bedfont Cemetery

Excavations before the building of Heathrow's Terminal 5 site (2 mi north-west) found evidence of settlement during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods, suggesting there may have been people living in and around the Bedfont area during these periods. However much of the parish soil was unworkable by the till, a large stony heath after which Hatton is named, Hounslow Heath, some turned into Bedfont Powder Mills by the 19th century in North Feltham and later industry/storage buildings. The obsolete locality name of West Bedfont mainly lies around Long Lane in the parish (area) of neighbouring Stanwell. It once had a small chapel. Its casting off from the rest of the parish and new…

from Bedfont Powder Mills]] Charles I licensed the Hounslow Sword Mill in 1630 on the banks of the Duke of Northumberland's River. The sword smiths, who came from Solingen in Germany, produced one thousand swords a month, which have become collector's items and an impressive collection of these can be seen at the Gunnersbury Park Museum. There is also one on display at Warwick University. The Longford River, which also flows through Bedfont, also dates from the reign of Charles I. During the English Civil War, when both the Royalist and Parliamentary armies passed through Bedfont, the mill was taken by Parliamentary forces, and was converted to a gunpowder mill in 1654. This converted mill…