For most Londoners, Boston Manor is nothing but the name of a Piccadilly line station passed on the way west to Heathrow Airport. But next time you’re passing, stop, get off, and visit the fine Jacobean house and park from which the stop takes its name. You won’t be disappointed.
Boston Manor House was built in the early 17th century for Lady Mary Reade, clearly a woman of some substance. Her husband, who had inherited the nearby Osterley Park as well as some buildings on this site, died in 1621 and Reade needed a place to match her standing. Her solution? Knock down the old, rambling medieval building and rebuild in a new style. Something neat and compact, as befitting her status. Something that echoed the style of the royal family and greatest nobles of the realm; something that would impress her friends, family and business acquaintances. How do we know that this was a house built for Mary Reade? Her initials are everywhere — including on the lead downpipes hurrying water away from the roof and, most conspicuously, on the ceiling of the state drawing room.
