Cranford Countryside Park is a 144-acre public park in Cranford, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. Situated in close proximity to Heathrow Airport, it is bordered by the M4 Motorway to the north, the A312 trunk road to the east, and by the towns of Harlington and Cranford to the South West and South East respectively. Although its namesake Cranford is within the London Borough of Hounslow, the park itself is geographically in fact part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, as it straddles the southernmost point of this borough. Despite this, the park is managed under Hounslow's council authority. Although the park is in an urban location, it is vehicle-accessible only by a small road before a motorway entrance slip, and as such it has been described as a 'hidden gem'. The park features in the London Parks & Gardens Trust’s ‘Inventory of Historic Green Spaces’ and is centrally positioned among the Crane Valley’s parkland chain. It is fully open to the public from 07:30-21:00 during the summer months, and closes instead at dusk during the autumn, winter and spring. Facilities include an information centre, toilets, a car park, a children's playground and a bridle route. Situated roughly 1 mile south of Hayes & Harlington railway station and one mile north-west of Hounslow West tube station, Cranford Park is accessible by rail; however London Bus routes 81, 105, 111, 195, 222, H98, H28, and E6 serve passengers closer to the park's location.
History
The park has significant historical importance, with settlement in the area including within the area of the park dating at least from Saxon times. As such, there is within the park grounds a number of Grade II listed buildings including the medieval St Dunstan's Church and a block of 18th century stables. There was once a manor house on the site of the park, however this was demolished following the conclusion of World War 2 shortly before the park was jointly opened to the public by Hayes & Harlington UDC and Heston & Isleworth Borough Council in 1949 The park surrounds and extends from the church St Dunstan with Holy Angels, Parish of Cranford. The modern church is known to have been built during the reign of Edward the Confessor, and the surrounding land has been part of the estates of the Knights Templar, Sir Roger Aston and Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley who's living descendants are still in its possession today. It is likely that a church of some capacity has stood on this site since at least the 8th Century The earliest known reference is to be found in Sir Montague Sharpe's edition of "Middlesex in British, Roman and Saxon Times", in which he mentions the church at Cranford as one of those built upon the site of a compita, or 'little chapel', which usually stood at the cross-roads, and where the Romans offered sacrifices to their rural gods twice a year.
