and despite local attempts to prevent it, the house was allowed to become derelict, and demolished in the 1960s. Economy What was the north of the parish is a major industrial, distribution and headquarters zone, bound up now in the broad expression 'the M4 corridor'. There was little building in the parish before World War I. The first factory/warehouse at Poyle appeared before 1914 another at West Bedfont in the 1920s. By 1956 there were between 70 and 80 at Poyle, and several at West Bedfont. During the 1920s and 1930s ribbon development spread along the main roads: on the A4 Bath Road Colnbrook remains mainly residential. Garages and a few small factories (now motor manufacturer garages and offices) had been built by the 1950s and remain along the A30 London Road, including Del Monte, Ford and Suzuki. At one time British Mediterranean Airways was headquartered at the Cirrus House within the post town but in the London Borough of Hounslow, near Stanwell. Politics Stanwell has historically been one of the few wards of Surrey County Council held by the Labour Party. Demography and housing The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households in the settlement who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free). Notable residents Thomas Knyvet, 1st Baron Knyvet, Member of Parliament in 1601, was granted the manor of Stanwell for uncovering the Gunpowder Plot in 1603 Nicholas Hilliard, painter, leased Poyle Manor James Nares, English organist and composer, was born in Stanwell in 1715 and married Teresa Costello Richard Cox, British horticulturist, created Cox's Orange Pippin apple, first grown in his garden on the Bath Road Sir John Watson Gibson, civil engineer, lived in Stanwell Lodge and then Stanwell Place between the 1920s and his death in 1947 Since 2015, one of the town's pubs has borne his name Sir Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books, lived at Silverbeck, Stanwell Moor King Faisal II of Iraq owned Stanwell Place from 1948 until his assassination in 1958 Gary Numan, singer, was raised in Stanwell and attended Abbotsford School Pete Shaw, author and theatrical