Richmond Hill, London
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Richmond Hill in Richmond and Petersham, London, is a hill that begins gently in the north and north-east side of Richmond town and through its former fields, orchards and vineyard to a point just within Richmond Park, the deer park emparked and enclosed by Charles I.
Topography
The straight southwest slope is steepest, falling away to Petersham meadows by the Thames and is a backdrop to Kingston and Richmond Bridges. Other returns to the flood plain are more complex across and beyond the park due to semi-natural ponds and dry and wet running vales feeding an easterly draining brook. The park has further upland – Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath – beyond. On, and gently scaling the steep fluvial terrace, is residential street Richmond Hill.[a] It is built up only on its higher (northeast) side – from the Richmond Bridge corner of the town centre to the hilltop fronted by a cinema, homes, eateries and hotel-restaurants. It is one-way along its bulk.
Unique scenery
The hill offers the only view in England to be protected by an Act of Parliament—the Richmond, Ham and Petersham Open Spaces Act passed in 1902—to protect the land on and below it and thus preserve the fine views to the west and south. Two years before the wooded isle centrepiece of the view, Glover's Island (also known as Clam Island), was bought by a local resident and given to the Richmond Corporation (Borough) in return for the latter noting against its records that it and its successors would not develop the isle.
Immortalised in paintings by John Wootton, Sir Joshua Reynolds and J. M. W. Turner,[1][2] it was described by Sir Walter Scott as "an unrivalled landscape". It was this view that inspired the name of Richmond, Virginia, after the colonial founder of the city, William Byrd II, noticed a curve in the James River that remarkably resembled this meander.
Terrace Gardens and Terrace Walk
The scenic panorama may be viewed from Terrace Walk, laid out near the top of the hill in the 18th century. This promenade surmounts the Terrace Gardens[3][4][5] and both are Grade II* listed in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.
History
As the town of Richmond developed from its founding in the early 16th century, after Henry VII had established Richmond Palace, the attributes of the hill naturally attracted desirable residential and commercial development – with the result that many large, ornate properties came and went on the hill over the centuries, some of them with famous or notable persons as owners or occupiers. Newer waves and subdivisions of these have continued, subject to external stylistic conformity.[6] This three-times extended conservation area is "almost entirely surrounded" by others.[6]
The original homes on Richmond Hill were set back in what is now The Vineyard, including Clarence House,[7] Halford House,[8] Michel's Almshouses[9] and Vineyard House.
Richmond Hill shares with Ham and Petersham TW10 postcodes.
Etymology
The last two syllables (mond, hill) are an unlinked pleonasm (tautology) unapparent to native speakers. Mond[b] and large hill are cognate. The origin is as a description of a place in France. This came across due to a noble style of at least 1071 Lord of (seigneur de) Richmond/t, associated with the Harrying of the North and thus Richmond, North Yorkshire. This settled into the title of Earl of Richmond briefly in its history borne by Henry VII of England. It was popularised from his local development of Richmond Palace to replace Shene Palace, precisely as the manor name had already changed and parish name would change. The associated settlement took the same name; for some years the two names were often used in conjunction (for example, "Shene otherwise called Richemount").[10][11]
Footnotes
References
- ^ Warde-Aldam, Digby (15 September 2013). "Revolutionary Richmond?". Apollo. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
- ^ "Turner & Constable & their Contemporaries: Sketching from Nature". Forthcoming events and exhibitions at the Laing. Laing Art Gallery. 2014. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
- ^ Jackson, Hazelle. "To Tree or not to Tree". London Gardens Trust . Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "TERRACE AND BUCCLEUCH GARDENS, Non Civil Parish (1001551)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ "Terrace Gardens". London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ a b Richmond Hill Conservation Area 5 - London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames.
- ^ Orr, Stephen. "Clarence House". The Vineyard, Richmond. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
- ^ Orr, Stephen. "Halford House". The Vineyard, Richmond. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
- ^ Orr, Stephen. "Michel's Almshouses". The Vineyard, Richmond. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
- ^ "Richmond", in Encyclopædia Britannica, (9th edition, 1881), s.v.
- ^ Gover, J. E. B.; Mawer, A.; Stenton, F. M. (1934). The Place-Names of Surrey. English Place-Name Society. Vol. 11. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 65–66.
Further reading
- Richmond Local History Society (2022). The Streets of Richmond and Kew (4th edition), ISBN 978-1-912314-03-4.
External links
51°27′10″N 0°17′57″W / 51.45278°N 0.29917°W / 51.45278; -0.29917
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![Location of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Coat_of_arms_of_the_London_Borough_of_Richmond_upon_Thames.svg/100px-Coat_of_arms_of_the_London_Borough_of_Richmond_upon_Thames.svg.png)
![Location of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/LondonRichmond.svg/100px-LondonRichmond.svg.png)
Barnes
Barnes Bridge
Fulwell
Hampton
Hampton Wick
Kew Gardens
Mortlake
North Sheen
Richmond
St Margarets
Strawberry Hill
Teddington
Twickenham
Whitton
- A307 road
- A308 road
- A309 road
- A316 road
- Barnes High Street
- Castelnau, Barnes
- Church Road, Barnes
- George Street, Richmond
- Kew Green
- Mill Hill, Barnes
- Mortlake High Street
- Old Palace Lane
- Old Palace Yard
- Queen's Road
- Ringway 2
- South Circular Road
- The Green, Richmond
- The Terrace, Barnes
- The Vineyard, Richmond
and river services
- Beverley Brook
- River Crane
- Duke of Northumberland's River
- Longford River
- Sudbrook and Latchmere stream
- River Thames
- Athletic Ground, Richmond
- Barn Elms playing fields
- The Championship Course
- Cricket clubs and grounds
- Golf clubs and courses
- Hampton Pool
- The Lensbury
- Pools on the Park
- Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court
- Teddington Pools and Fitness Centre
- Thames Young Mariners
- Twickenham Stadium
- Twickenham Stoop
- former Ranelagh Club
- former Richmond Ice Rink
- Britannia, Richmond
- The Bull's Head, Barnes
- The Crown, Twickenham
- Dysart Arms, Petersham
- The Fox, Twickenham
- The George, Twickenham
- Hare and Hounds, East Sheen
- Jolly Coopers, Hampton
- Old Ship, Richmond
- Park Hotel, Teddington
- Richmond Brewery Stores
- Sun Inn, Barnes
- Twickenham Fine Ales
- Watney Combe & Reid
- White Cross, Richmond
- The White Swan, Twickenham
and music venues
- The Bull's Head
- Crawdaddy Club
- The Exchange
- Olympic Studios
- Orange Tree Theatre
- OSO Arts Centre
- Puppet Theatre Barge
- Richmond Theatre
- TwickFolk
- Wathen Hall
- former Eel Pie Island Hotel
- former Richmond Theatre (1765–1884|
- Richmond and Twickenham Times
- former Gaydar Radio
- former Hogarth Press
of interest
- 123 Mortlake High Street
- 14 The Terrace, Barnes
- 18 Station Road, Barnes
- 70 Barnes High Street
- Asgill House
- Barnes power station
- Brinsworth House
- Bushy House
- Cambridge Cottage
- Chapel House
- Chapel in the Wood
- Clarence House
- Doughty House
- Douglas House
- Downe House
- East Sheen Filling Station
- Fulwell bus garage
- Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare
- Garrick's Villa
- Great Pagoda, Kew Gardens
- Grove House, Hampton
- Halford House
- Ham House
- Hampton Water Treatment Works
- Hampton Youth Project
- Harrods Furniture Depository
- Hogarth House
- The Homestead
- Hotham House
- Kew Gardens
- Kew Mortuary
- King's Observatory
- Kneller Hall
- Langham House
- Langham House Close
- Latchmere House
- Lichfield Court
- Marble Hill House
- Montrose House
- National Physical Laboratory
- Normansfield Theatre
- The Old Court House
- Old Town Hall, Richmond
- Ormeley Lodge
- Parkleys
- Park Lane Stables Teddington
- The Pavilion
- Pembroke Lodge
- Pope's Grotto
- Poppy Factory
- Royal Military School of Music
- Royal Star and Garter Home
- St Leonard's Court
- Strawberry Hill House
- Stud House
- Sudbrook House and Park
- Thatched House Lodge
- University Boat Race Stones
- Victoria Working Men's Club
- West Hall
- White Lodge
- The Wick
- Wick House
- Yelverton Lodge
- York House
- former Admiralty Research Laboratory
- former Alcott House
- former Camp Griffiss
- former Cardigan House
- former Cross Deep House
- former The Karsino
- former Mortlake Tapestry Works
- former Mount Ararat
- former Pope's villa
- former Radnor House
- former Richmond House
- former Richmond Lodge
- former Richmond Theological College
- former Sheen Priory
- former Star and Garter Hotel
- former Twickenham Park
- Adana Printing Machines
- Ashe baronets
- Cook baronets of Doughty House
- Darell baronets, of Richmond Hill
- GHQ Liaison Regiment (Phantom)
- Hampton Court Conference
- Kew Letters
- Petersham Hole
- Pocock baronets
- Richmond Flyers
- Richmond, Petersham and Ham Open Spaces Act 1902
- Treaty of Hampton Court (1562)
- Vandeput baronets
- Warren-Lambert
- Wigan baronets
- Richmond Park
- Twickenham
- former Richmond and Barnes
- former Richmond (Surrey)