In the Middle Ages, Gunnersbury Park was an estate owned by the bishops of London, part of the Manor of Fulham. By 1656, the estate had been bought by Sir John Maynard who commissioned the architect John Webb, a pupil and relative of Inigo Jones, to design a new manor house. In 1739, Gunnersbury was bought by Henry Furness, MP and art collector. A contemporary map shows a formal layout with canals linking the house to the pleasure grounds. It is thought that Furness engaged William Kent to layout the grounds. And if you are looking for proof, look out for the Arch near the main house – and then check out the arch at Chiswick House.

Princess Amelia, daughter of George II, bought Gunnersbury Park in 1761 as her summer residence. She spent an estimated £20,000 – c£4 million today – on the estate. Work included The Temple, probably designed by Sir William Chambers, the Round Pond, the Horseshoe Pond with its sham bridge and the Bath House. In 1742, the novelist Daniel Defoe described the setting of the house as: ‘an exceeding fine prospect of the county of Surrey, the River Thames, and all the meadows and Borders for some miles, as also a good Prospect of London’.

After her death in 1786, the property passed through several owners until 1800 when it was bought by John Morley, a floorcloth manufacture of Chelsea. Morley demolished the Webb house and divided the estate into 13 lots with a view to development.

In 1802, Alexander Copland, a partner of the architect Henry Holland, bought twelve of the lots with Stephen Cosser buying Lot 1. Copland built Gunnersbury Park to his own designs and would likely have consulted his partner’s father-in-law, Lancelot Brown, regarding the layout of the grounds.

Copland was friends with John Quincy Adams (later US President) who visited Gunnersbury on 21st September 1816. Quincy Jones wrote in his diary:

‘…There was a cricket match of about twenty young men upon his grounds. They had begun at twelve 0’Clock, there was cold dinner served in a tent on the grounds between three and four and after dinner the young men returned to their cricket. George and I were invited to the dinner at three and the ladies threw a party after dinner at five….  After sitting about an hour at the table we returned to witness the match of the cricketers which continued until the dusk.

The company then repaired to the Portico [The Temple], a detached building near the house where they have a billiards room…. I took a walk around the grounds. There are seventy two acres enclosed within the garden walls. The walk round it is at least a mile and a half. The kitchen garden, fruit garden and hot house are upon a very extensive scale, and kept in the highest perfection…The grounds are laid out for a view from this Portico in the most beautiful style of English ornamental gardening, with the distant prospect bounded by Richmond Hill and the adjacent country….’

Gunnersbury House was either built by Cosser or its next owner, Major Alexander Morrison.

In 1828, the Gunnersbury House estate was bought by Thomas Farmer who lived there with Copland as his neighbour until 1835 when Gunnersbury Park was bought by Nathan Mayer de Rothschild. The house was substantially remodelled by Sydney Smirke (Smirke also designed the Orangery) while JC Loudon was consulted about the gardens. It is not known if any of Loudon’s ideas were implemented as Rothschild died the following year. In 1889, Leopold de Rothschild, Nathan’s grandson, bought Gunnersbury House thus reuniting the estate.

The Rothschilds built the Tennis Court, the extensive Gothic Ruins and the Japanese Garden designed by James Hudson – little remains of this garden although you can still see the Japanese Pagoda Tree which was originally the centrepiece of the garden. In 1861, Lionel Rothschild bought further land including a former clay pit and tile kiln. He created the Potomac Pond – named after the river in US – and turned the kiln into the Boathouse designed by JW Pulham – Pulham also created the rockery to the east of the lake. The Pond is now managed by the Barnes and Mortlake Angling & Preservation Society and you can only catch glimpses of it through the trees.

Leopold’s son, Lionel Nathan de Rothschild was a keen photographer and there are some wonderful photographs in the Museum, taken between 1908 and 1912.

After the death of Leopold de Rothschild in 1917, the estate was broken up and gradually sold off. In 1925, part of the estate including both houses and the garden buildings were purchased by the boroughs of Acton and Ealing. The park was formally opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, MP on 21 May 1926.

In 1929, the main house at Gunnersbury was turned into a Museum. It has some fascinating and unusual collections. Check out the Victorian kitchens with an early design for a fridge and the range which was heated by gas.