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Twickenham

Twickenham is a large suburban town in southwest London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is located 10.3 miles (16.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan.^[2] As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Twickenham expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1926 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965.^[3]

Pre-Norman

Excavations have shown settlements in the area dating from the Early Neolithic, possibly Mesolithic periods. Occupation seems to have continued through the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Roman occupation. The area was first mentioned (as 'Tuican hom' and 'Tuiccanham') in a charter of 13 June 704 AD to cede the area to Waldhere, Bishop of London, 'for the salvation of our souls.'^[4] The charter is signed with 12 crosses. The signatories included Swaefred of Essex, Cenred of Mercia and Earl Paeogthath.

Norman

In Norman times Twickenham was part of the Manor of Isleworth - itself part of the Hundred of Hounslow (mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086).^[5] The manor had belonged to ÆlfgÄ?r, Earl of Mercia in the time of Edward the Confessor, but was granted to Walter de Saint-Valery (Waleric) by William I of England after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

The area was then farmed for several hundred years, while the river provided opportunities for fishing, boatbuilding and trade.

17th century

Bubonic Plague spread to the town in 1605. 67 deaths were recorded. It appears that Twickenham had a Pest House (short for "pestilence") in the 17th century, although the location is not known.

There was also a Watch House in the middle of the town, with stocks, a pillory and a whipping post — its owner charged to "ward within and about this Parish and to keep all Beggars and Vagabonds that shall lye abide or lurk about the Towne and to give correction to such...".

In 1633 construction began on York House. It was occupied by Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester in 1656 and later by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon.

1659 saw the first mention of the Twickenham Ferry, although ferrymen had already been operating in the area for many generations. Sometime before 1743 a 'pirate' ferry appears to have been started by Twickenham inhabitants. There is speculation that it operated to serve 'The Folly' — a floating hostelry of some kind. Several residents wrote to the Lord Mayor of the City of London:

18th century

Gunpowder manufacture on an industrial scale started in the area in the 18th century, on a site between Twickenham and Whitton on the banks of the River Crane. There were frequent explosions and loss of life. On 11 March 1758 one of two explosions was felt in Reading, Berkshire, and in April 1774 another explosion terrified people at church in Isleworth.

In 1772 three mills blew up, shattering glass and buildings in the neighbourhood. Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford wrote complaining to his friend and relative Henry Seymour Conway, then Lieutenant General of the Ordnance, that all the decorative painted glass had been blown out of his windows at Strawberry Hill.

The powder mills remained in operation until 1927 when they were closed. Much of the site is now occupied by Crane Park, in which the old Shot Tower, mill sluices and blast embankments can still be seen. Much of the area along the river next to the Shot Tower is now a nature reserve.

Later

The 1818 Enclosure Award led to the development of 182 acres (0.74 km²) of land to the west of the town centre largely between the present day Staines and Hampton Roads, new roads - Workhouse Road, Middle Road, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Common Roads (now First-Fifth Cross Roads respectively) - being laid out.^[6] During the 18th century and 19th century a number of fine houses were built and Twickenham became a popular place of residence for people of 'Fashion and Distinction' (see Residents section below). Further development was stimulated by the opening of Twickenham station in 1848.

In 1894 Twickenham Urban District Council was formed. In 1902 the council bought Radnor House as the home of the leglislature. The council bought and occupied York House in 1924. (Radnor House was destroyed by a Luftwaffe bomb during the Blitz of 1940).

Electricity was introduced to Twickenham in 1902^[7] and the first trams arrived the following year.

In 1939, when All Hallows Lombard Street was demolished in the City of London, its distinctive stone tower designed by Christopher Wren, with its peal of ten bells and connecting stone cloister, and the interior furnishings, including a Renatus Harris organ and a pulpit used by John Wesley, were brought to Twickenham to be incorporated in the new All Hallows Church on Chertsey Road (A316) near Twickenham Stadium.

In 1926 Twickenham was constituted as a municipal borough. Eleven years later the urban district Councils of Teddington, Hampton & Hampton Wick merged with Twickenham. In 1965 the former areas of the boroughs of Twickenham, Richmond and Barnes were combined to form the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The borough council offices and chamber are located at York House, York Street, Twickenham and in the adjacent civic centre.

The Member of Parliament for Twickenham has been Liberal Democrat Dr Vincent Cable since his first election in 1997. Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency) includes St Margaret's, Whitton, Heathfield, Teddington, Hampton, Fulwell, Hampton Hill and Hampton Wick.

Geography

The town is bordered on the south-eastern side by the River Thames and Eel Pie Island — which is connected to the Twickenham embankment by a narrow footbridge erected in 1957, prior to which access was by means of a hand-operated ferry that was hauled across using a chain on the riverbed. The land adjacent to the river, from Strawberry Hill in the south to Marble Hill Park in the north, is occupied by a mixture of luxury dwellings, formal gardens, public houses and a newly built park and leisure facility.

In the south, in Strawberry Hill, lies St Mary's University College, Twickenham (the oldest Catholic college in the United Kingdom), historically specialising in sports studies, teacher training, religious studies and the humanities Drama studies and English literature. Strawberry Hill was originally a small cottage in two or three acres (8,000 or 12,000 m²) of land by the River Thames. Horace Walpole, a son of the politician Robert Walpole, rented the cottage in 1747 and subsequently bought it and turned it into one of the incunabula of the Gothic revival. The college shares part of its campus with Walpole's Strawberry Hill. On adjacent land were the villa and garden of the poet Alexander Pope. A road just north of the campus is named Pope's Grove, and a local landmark next to the main road is the Alexander Pope (formerly known as Pope's Grotto), a public house and hotel where Pope's landmark informal garden used to be. Near this hostelry lie St Catherine's school for girls and St James's school for boys, formerly a convent, in a building on the site of Pope's white stucco villa and the location of Pope's original — surviving — grotto.

There are a large number of fine houses in the area, many of them Victorian. Radnor Gardens lies opposite the Pope's Grotto.

Twickenham proper begins in the vicinity of the Pope's Grotto, with a large and expensive residential area of (mostly) period houses to the west, and a number of exclusive properties to the east, on or near the river. Further to the north and west lies the district of Whitton, an area of Twickenham, once of allotments and farm land, but now of 1930s housing.

The fashionable district of St Margarets lies immediately to the east of central Twickenham, across the river from Richmond, and is popular for its attractive tree-lined residential roads and an eclectic range of shops and cafés. Much of St Margarets next to the River Thames was formerly Twickenham Park, the estate of Sir Francis Bacon, the 16th century philosopher and Lord Chancellor. St Margarets is also the home of Twickenham Studios, one of London's most important film studios. The London suburb of Isleworth lies to the north of Twickenham and St Margarets.

Nearest places

Feltham

Ham

Hampton

Hampton Hill

Hampton Wick

Kingston upon Thames

Richmond

St Margarets

Teddington

Whitton

Isleworth

Fulwell

Education

Twickenham is noted for its arts heritage and embraces the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall and St Mary's University College.

Transport

Until 1971 London Transport operated a bus depot known as "Twickenham Garage" (coded AB) which was located in Cambridge Road, East Twickenham. The relevant destination blind for garage journeys always referred to this location as Richmond Bridge, which was close by. On closure, all its routes and vehicles were transferred to Fulwell Garage, but the building remained under the ownership of London Transport until the mid-1990s when it was demolished to make way for a housing development.

Nearest stations

Fulwell railway station

Richmond station

Richmond underground station

St Margaret's railway station

Strawberry Hill railway station

Twickenham railway station

Whitton railway station

Sport

Twickenham is home to the headquarters of the Rugby Football Union and Twickenham Rugby Stadium, one of England's largest stadia. Harlequins, a rugby union and league club play at The Stoop.