Feltham Green

Feltham Green is a remnant of Feltham Common. Feltham, a small village on the edge of Hounslow Heath (q.v.), was previously centred around St Dunstan's Church (q.v.); in 971 AD the land was given to Westminster Abbey. Much of the commonland had been encroached upon for agricultural use before 1869 and the area remained agricultural until the 1920s. It was important for growing food to supply London particularly after the railway was built in the late 1840s when building in the vicinity of the new station began. In the C20th the centre of Feltham moved from the church to nearer Feltham Green and the station.

The Green was radically changed by the widening of the High Street in the mid-1960s and the shopping precinct on the west side of the road, and later the New Chapel Square development. A retaining wall forms the western boundary of the open space, which affords a formal promenade overlooking the green and its large pond, fed by water from the Longford River. An island was created in the pond c.1865, where brass bands played in the early C20th, gaining access via wooden planks. The pond escaped being filled in on a number of occasions in the C19th when Feltham Urban District Council twice threatened to fill it, on one occasion to create a children's playground. In the 1960s the pond was connected to the Longford River so that fresh water could top up the pond when levels became too low during hot periods. Feltham Pond is the only pond connected to a water source. The pond was drained and dredged in 1964, and again in 2019.

On one corner of the Green is the Red Lion public house of c.1722, one of Feltham's oldest buildings, and it is also overlooked by St Lawrence's Catholic Church. In the early C19th the 'Loyal Lads of Feltham' gathered here in preparation for invasion by Napoleon. A drinking trough donated in 1899 is in the south corner of the Green. Along the boundary with the main road the wide area of pavement overlooking the pond has a line of London plane trees, seating and a war memorial. In the late C20th the Green was restored with gravel paths and seating, low wood railing and some new perimeter trees with oak and ornamental species.

One of Feltham's most famous residents was the singer Freddie Mercury, who lived here in his late teens/early 20s from 1964-68. After his death in 1991, a Hollywood-style memorial star was unveiled in Feltham on 24 November 2009, the anniversary of his death, in the presence of hundreds of Queen fans who came to pay tribute. The ceremony was attended by Mercury's mother and his band-mate Brian May, who also grew up in Feltham. However, the original memorial was taken up and replaced by a smaller memorial located on the pathway opposite the High Street near Feltham Green; a maple tree was planted next to the memorial stone by Freddie Mercury’s mother. However this was felt by many to be insufficient recognition of the singer and as a result of a campaign to remedy this, supported by local residents, Friends of Feltham Green and Hounslow Council/Greenspace360, the small memorial site was enhanced to create the Freddie Mercury Memorial Garden in 2020. Granite stone and labour were donated by Gavigan Paving Ltd. The Memorial and Memorial Garden are looked after by Friends of Feltham Green, a community volunteer group set up to promote the history of Feltham ponds and to maintain the Freddie Mercury Memorial Garden, Feltham Green and pond.