Bedfont Heritage Trail Location 9 - Bedfont Lakes

Bedfont Heritage Trail Location 9 - Bedfont Lakes

The land that now forms Bedfont Lakes in front of you was originally owned by the Duke of St Albans and was referred to as Fawn's Manor Farm until it was purchased by William Sherborn in 1780.
Gravel was extracted from the site from the 1860's onwards and and it was used to supply produce to the London markets until the 1920's.
From the 1950's to 1973 it became a landfill site for industrial and domestic waste which created polluted lakes. You can see old Pathe footage online which shows burning cars being pushed into the water on this site.
View a photo of planes being cut up on the site: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/location/Bedfont%20Gravel%20Pits

With the extensive development of the surrounding area Hounslow Council secured a commitment to create a new park on this site cleaning the area of pollution and carrying out extensive landscaping. There are now over 70 hectares of open green space including nature trails and several lakes.

View a list of all other locations on the trail here.