The last decade’s archaeological research in the grounds of Hanwell have revealed, inter alia, the ruins of the ‘House of Diversion’ referred to by Robert Plot in 1678, where “a ball is tossed by a column of water, and artificial showers descend at pleasure”. Astonishingly, over sixty C17th terracotta urns have been recovered from the mud of its former moat or pond – an incomparable find.