The present course of the River Crane is not the original. It was slightly diverted during the 19th century (probably late 1820’s to early 1830’s.) Now it runs at right angles to the Thames, when before it ran across diagonally what is now our site and entered a little lower downstream. The Richmond Road also did not exist; in the deeds it was called the “New Road”. The original road ran along the river bank and was altered by Sir William Cooper in the 1830s. In order to improve the grounds he extended them to the water’s edge, had the old road along the river closed and opened up a new one, building high walls on each side of the road to add to the privacy of the grounds. The wall on the right, behind which was the kitchen garden, has now been removed and a housing estate was built there. The wall on the Nazareth House side of the road is still there.
From about 1750 the land which we now own was the site of Isleworth Pottery. A Joseph Shore, a potter from Worcester, established a pottery in Isleworth next to Railshead Creek. The buildings of the pottery straddled both our site and that of Isleworth House. There were at one time 23 small houses and a stable; beside the dwelling house, pottery and yard. The original course of the Crane is supposedly filled in with shards of old pottery. After the site had been cleared at some time the surface of the field was made higher by converting the site into a parish rubbish tip for old Isleworth. As a result there is a large amount of pottery shards found here but not anything much from the original Isleworth Pottery. The pottery may have made delftware, porcelain and "Welsh ware" (combed slipware).Joseph Shore died in 1768 and was succeeded by his son William. Joseph’s two daughters married (Ann) Benjamin Quarman and (Mary) Richard Goulding who were both Bristol delftware potters. The re-routing of the River Crane occurred during the latter time of the pottery which had closed here by 1831 and had been relocated to Hanworth Road Hounslow. It was only a small pottery which consisted of only 2 kilns, one for biscuit and one for glazing. The main part of Isleworth Pottery itself was probably located in the south-eastern part of the site still remaining in Nazareth House grounds. Work in this area carried out by the English Ceramic Circle appeared to show the preservation of floor surfaces and walls from the pottery buildings. The pottery was associated with a building, which seemed to be represented on the Rocque map of 1746, and this early building may have had an industrial function. This was possible as the 1746 building was large and located close to the previous channel of the River Crane. (It was common practice for pottery works to take over earlier ‘industrial’ buildings as seen in Lambeth and Mortlake.)
Sir William Cooper acquired the area which is now our site in about 1832. He pulled down the buildings on the pottery. Later maps show this area as a pasture field. Sir William Cooper was Chaplain-in-ordinary to George III and in 1833 he reconstructed the house and made it into a very beautiful place, “fitted up in an admirable style,” The lawns by the house sloped down to the water’s edge. From them, looking up the river could be seen Richmond Hill and Richmond Bridge as the three intervening bridges were not then in existence. Downstream there was a view of Isleworth with its two ferries, the Church and Syon House. His wife Lady Isabella Cooper was still in residence in 1851 aged 82 but was widowed.
In 1886 the area of land which contained the premises called “The Ferry House” was sold to Henry Finn who was a lighterman on the Thames and who I believe ran the ferry at this point. In 1892 Isleworth House was sold to the Poor Sisters of Nazareth. They intended to use the house and grounds as a hospital for infirm or aged persons and for the reception and nursing of infant and invalid children of both sexes. They changed the name from Isleworth House to Nazareth House. It was sold by the heirs of Eliza MacAndrew (aged 81 and also shown as widowed in the 1891 census) after her death: Robert Alexander and George MacAndrew and Harry Pickersgill Cunliffe.
We believe the original driveway was laid down in the twenties to provide a storage/loading area for the blocks for the widening of Richmond Bridge- the bridge used to be single track and when you go under Richmond Bridge in a boat you can see the different colours of the blocks. In 1938 the Middlesex County Council placed sewers under the Nazareth House grounds leading from Mogden sewage works to the Thames. By the late forties the land still belonged to Nazareth House and the boathouse and belvedere tower was falling into decay.
Third Osterley Sea Scout Group bought the land from the Poor Sisters of Nazareth on 7th March 1951. The price was £25. It is owned by Third Osterley under a Trust Deed by the Land Trustees. The first Land Trustees were Ernest Crawford, William Fenwick, David Milne, Percy Worsley and Herbert Wright. There have been many changes in the Trustees over the years but the land is still owned under the Trust Deed by the latest Trustees: Alan Perry, Brian Fall, Colin Baker, Pat Walsh, Linda Helsdon, Chris Klesel, Helen Guggiari, David Walsh and Viv Baker.
After the grounds of our base were purchased the remnants of the boathouse were demolished during the 1950’s. Brian Fall can just about remember the old boathouse being knocked down during the early 1950’s. Steve Randall who joined the Group in 1953 thinks he may remember the remains of the boathouse. Just after the Third bought the grounds they were made up by about a metre or so by topsoil and rubbish, then bulldozed level, hence the drive up the slope from the old driveway to the field. The original HQ was on stilts to prevent flooding. I can remember the grounds being flooded regularly at very high tides until they finally finished the Thames Barrier.