Chiswick’s three faces
Chiswick is a riverside village, a Georgian waterfront and a Victorian garden suburb, all in one W4 postcode. Each part has its own kind of ironwork.
Chiswick Mall
Chiswick Mall runs along the Thames beside Chiswick Eyot. Its north side is lined with large Georgian and Victorian houses. Many older houses here were given new fronts in the 18th or 19th century. Walpole House, listed Grade I, has a front from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Strawberry House was given a red brick front around 1730. Morton House dates from 1726.
The gardens of these houses lie across the road, on the river side. The street floods at high water on spring tides, and it is still allowed to.
The ironwork here is some of the best in west London. Walpole House has a wrought iron gate and screen with globe-topped gateposts, listed Grade II* on its own. Strawberry House has a wrought iron balcony over a porch on cast iron columns.
Strand on the Green
Further upstream, near Kew Bridge, Strand on the Green is a row of houses, cottages and pubs right on the riverbank. Zoffany House, at No. 65, was built around 1704. The painter Johann Zoffany lived and died there. Hounslow’s appraisal picks out the balconies on Zoffany House and the balcony railings on Strand on the Green House. Prospect House, at No. 71, has a curved balcony on iron columns.
Bedford Park
Bedford Park is quite different. Jonathan Carr began it in 1875, near Turnham Green station. Norman Shaw set the style, with other architects including E. W. Godwin and E. J. May. The houses are red brick Queen Anne Revival, with tile-hung walls, gables, bay windows and white-painted balustrades. It is often called the world’s first garden suburb. In 1967, 356 houses were listed Grade II.
What suits each part of Chiswick
On Chiswick Mall, gates and screens are the main event. The houses face the street, with their gardens across the road by the river, so gates like the one at Walpole House are what people notice. A Georgian house here suits a hand-forged gate with straight bars, a decorative top and solid piers.
On Strand on the Green, the houses face a narrow riverside path. Here the best iron is often higher up, in balconies and balconettes looking over the water.
In Bedford Park the mood is lighter. The red brick houses have white painted balustrades and woodwork. Gates and railings here are best kept simple, so they do not fight the gables and tile hanging.
Ironwork we make for Chiswick homes
Gates
We forge garden gates, side gates and pairs of driveway gates. Each is drawn to the width and height of your opening and the style of your house. Gates are hung on forged hinges and fitted with latches and locks that suit the design.
Railings
We make front railings for houses with a low wall or a basement area. We also make garden railings for houses where the boundary needs to stay open to the view.
Balconies
We repair old balconies and forge new ones for riverside houses. We draw them to meet current guarding rules while keeping a light, period look.
Restoration
Where an old gate or balcony survives but has rusted, we repair it. We forge new bars, scrolls or collars to match and keep as much of the original as we can.
Building work around your gate
A new gate is only as good as the piers it hangs on. On Chiswick Mall and Strand on the Green, walls and piers are often old brick, and some get wet on high tides.
Our team builds new gate piers or rebuilds leaning ones, resets copings and repairs the garden wall either side. We match the brick and use a suitable lime mortar on older walls. If the path or step under the gate needs relaying, we do that too. For Bedford Park houses we can repair the low front wall and path before the gate goes in.
Planning in Hounslow
Chiswick Mall is in the Old Chiswick Conservation Area. Strand on the Green has its own conservation area. The Chiswick part of Bedford Park is in a Hounslow conservation area, while the larger part is in Ealing. A conservation area is a place the council protects for its history and character. New gates or railings at the front of a house there will often need planning permission.
Many houses in all three areas are listed. Changing railings, gates or balconies on a listed house needs listed building consent, which is permission from the council to alter a protected building. Hounslow’s Strand on the Green appraisal also explains the council’s power to make an Article 4 direction, which removes some normal building rights. Always check with the council before you order.
We supply scaled drawings and a materials list for your application.
How a commission works
You can choose a pattern from the craftsman’s design album and adapt it. Or we draw a fully bespoke design in CAD. Nothing is forged until you approve the drawings.
We survey first. Each piece is then hand-forged in our own workshop, drawing on 20 years of hand-forging experience. Our London team installs, planning around tides on the riverside and parking on the narrow streets.
Request a quote with our short online form, or give us a call.