North Hyde

Before the 18th century, North Hyde formed part of the infamous Hounslow Heath. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Board of Ordnance (responsible for provision of arms, artillery and other items to the armed forces) took the decision to establish an Ordnance Depot at North Hyde, alongside the Grand Junction Canal. Mindful of the vulnerability of its coastal gun wharves and gunpowder magazines to a possible seaborne attack, the Board planned to establish inland depots at points on the canal network; (another was established at Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, at around the same time). 47 acre of land alongside the canal was compulsorily purchased; work began in 1813 and took four years to…