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Heston was established as a settlement since Saxon times. A 7th-century mention speaks of a priest serving this TW5 area. The Domesday Book does not record this area. The name derives from Hestune which means enclosed village. Another theory says that the name comes from Hǣs-tūn which means brushwood farm. In 1086, William the Conqueror gave Heston to Walter of Saint-Valery. Before the 13th century, this area was part of the Gistleworth parish. King Henry III gave this settlement to the Earl of Cornwall. Queen Elizabeth I gave Heston to Thomas Gresham. This area supplied the royal kitchen with wheat as the Queen liked the bread made from local wheat.
St Leonard’s Church of England dates from the 14th century. It is a Grade II listed building and a Heston landmark. The church building together with the lychgate and tower went through restorative works in the 19th century. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner called the tower “one of the best of the Middlesex type”. This Heston building also features gargoyles and stained glass by Charles Eamer Kempe and Heaton, Butler and Bayne. The church includes a monument that honors banker and politician Robert Child.
This West London area had an aerodrome that was operational from 1929 to 1947. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew from Heston to Germany for talks with Adolf Hitler. Nowadays, housing and industrial estates cover a part of the former aerodrome. Another part of it hosts the Heston motorway service station. Airlinks golf course is also on the site of the old aerodrome. Some of the Heston and other nearby roads carry aviation-related names such as Spitfire Way derived from the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft and Norman Crescent that honors RAF officer Nigel Norman. Guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, the first man to row over the Atlantic Ocean in both directions Don Allum, and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple are notable Heston residents.