At the heart

This magnificent Elizabethan manor house was once at the heart of a town in a north western suburb of London, and still figures prominently in the annals of history.
Restored to its present glory as a Grade 2 Listed Building by the Borough of Hillingdon, with additional funding by the Lottery Heritage Fund, it flourishes as a museum and still at the centre of the town’s leisure area.
Yet it stands on the site of a one time priory founded by a Benedictine Order of monks after the Norman Conquest of 1066, when the settlement of Ruislip was taken over by the French.
The Manor House itself was initially built in the early  16th century when the ownership of the manor changed to Kings College, Cambridge, but history has it that the area was farmed from the 13th century right up until the 1930s when the manor and its farm and estate were gifted to the townspeople by the College.
The farming link is retained as the venue for the town’s monthly Farmers’ Market.
Today with clear skies, but a biting chill wind, there were few visitors to the grounds, yet a week ago with one of the markets under way the place was bustling.
 
It is another part of our heritage that quickly carves a place in your heart.