Some of Chiswick's Oldest Houses Set to Be Restored

Plan to convert early eighteenth-century buildings on Mawson's Row

Mawson's Row next to Fuller's Brewery

May 28, 2023

Proposals have been submitted to return a row of some of the oldest houses in Chiswick to residential use.

Mawson’s Row next to Fullers Brewery was built at the beginning of the eighteenth century shortly before the current Chiswick House was constructed and is most noted for once having been the residence of Alexander Pope.

The houses were constructed in 1715 for Thomas Mawson, who founded Fuller’s Brewery nearby in 1699.

In the 1990s the Grade II listed five storey buildings were converted into offices by Fuller’s but now permission (P/2023/1567) is being sought to turn the row (112-118 Chiswick Lane South W4 2QA) back into four family homes. Number 110, which is where Alexander Pope lived, is to be the subject of different planning application as this address saw the later conversion of the ground floor into the Mawson’s Arms and Fox and Hounds pubs.

Chiswick Lane South is adjacent to the A4 facing across the Homefield Recreation Ground South. To the rear is a large car parking area which is accessed from Mawson Lane which leads to the Fuller’s Brewery.

The buildings were listed in 1951 having been used as houses up until the time. When they were converted into offices connecting doors were installed to allow access between the buildings. It is proposed to close up these connections to make four individual properties.

While conversion would make these among the oldest houses in the Chiswick area it is believed that properties in Chiswick Square, near Burlington Lane are older dating back to the seventeenth century.

One of the houses (110) on Mawson’s Row has a blue plaque to mark that it was the residence of the poet Alexander Pope who lived there which his parents between 1716 and 1719. He was a close friend of the third Earl of Burlington who owned Chiswick House and it is believed that he did his highly successful translation of The Iliad while living in Chiswick. The Earl rebuilt Chiswick House a decade after Pope’s departure from the area and much of what remains dates from this period. Pope would have walked to Chiswick House from Mawson’s Row to visit his friend but, at the time he lived in the area, the old Jacobean Chiswick House was still standing. Pope’s father died in Mawson’s Row in 1717 and he later moved to Twickenham with his mother.

The area formed part of what was known before the nineteenth century as 'Old Chiswick’, which was the settlement that surrounded the parish church of St Nicholas with Mary Magdelene. The village boundaries were roughly Chiswick House to the west, up to the eastern end of Chiswick Mall, and from the river along Chiswick Lane to up to Mawson Lane in the north.

A heritage statement issued with the application says that each house retains the character of an individual house with its staircase and room plan, although the internally, the buildings are described as ‘tired’ and have modern windows.

The statement continues, “ The primary significance of the houses can be found in their exterior front façades and role within a planned harmonious and well-designed terrace. Internally they also retain the character and appearance of their early C18 domestic arrangement, not least the barley twist staircases and the associated panelling in the stairwells, but also the survival of the service areas and their features including dressers, cupboards and fireplaces. Thus the illustrative historic values restricted to the select areas of the each building highlighted above are medium internally and high for the front façade.”

The application seeks to justify the loss of office space by pointing out that it was marketed for 20 months with no credible offers received and most interest expressed being to convert the buildings back to residential. The offices have now been vacant for nearly three years.