London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Isabella Plantation, Richmond Park

Douglas House in Petersham, which houses the German School London

The borough is approximately half parkland – large areas of London's open space fall within its boundaries, including Richmond Park, Kew Gardens, Bushy Park and Old Deer Park. The predominant other land use is residential. Most businesses within the borough consist of retail, property improvement/development and professional services. Parts of the borough, including Barnes, Richmond, St Margarets, Cambridge Park and Marble Hill, some areas of Twickenham and much of East Sheen rival Stanmore Hill and Kenley as the highest house-price districts and neighbourhoods in Outer London.

In 2006, research commissioned by a major mortgage lender found that, on the quantitative statistical indices used, the borough had the best quality of life in London and was in the top quarter of local authorities nationwide. A neighbouring authority in Surrey achieved the best quality of life in that report.[3]

Demography is a diverse picture as in all of London: each district should be looked at separately and even those do not reflect all neighbourhoods. Whatever generalisations are used, "the fine-grained texture of London poverty" by its minutely localised geography must always be taken into account according to an influential poverty report of 2010.[4] Richmond upon Thames has the lowest child poverty rates in London at 20%[5] and contains at least one ward with an above-average level (for London) of working-age adults receiving out-of-work benefits but even this borough – reflecting the best result – has two standard poverty indices of sixteen in which it is placed in the worst quarter of boroughs.[4]

Richmond is one of London's wealthiest boroughs on many measures. It has the lowest rates of poverty, child poverty, low pay, child obesity and adults without level 3 qualifications of any London borough, according to a 2017 research project by Trust for London.[6]

London's German business and expatriate community is centred on this borough, which houses the German School London (DSL) and most of the capital's German expatriates.[7]

List of neighbourhoods

The local authority divides the borough into fourteen loosely bounded neighbourhoods, or "villages", with which residents broadly identify.[8][9] Some of the neighbourhoods have the same name as their associated political ward, but the boundaries are not officially aligned.[9] There is also no direct alignment between these areas and postcode districts, which tend to cover much broader areas, crossing the borough boundaries. Although most addresses in the borough have TW postcodes, some have SW and KT postcodes.[10]

Neighbourhood or "Village"	Associated Postal Districts	Associated Political Wards	Sub-areas
Barnes	London SW13	Barnes; Mortlake and Barnes Common	Castelnau, Barnes Common, Barnes Bridge
East Sheen	London SW14, London SW15, Richmond TW10	East Sheen	Richmond Park
Ham and Petersham	Kingston KT2, Richmond TW10	Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside	Ham, Petersham
Hampton	Hampton TW12, East Molesey KT8	Hampton; Hampton North
Hampton Hill	Teddington TW11, Hampton TW12	Fulwell and Hampton Hill	Fulwell
Hampton Wick	Kingston KT1, Teddington TW11	Hampton Wick
Kew	Richmond TW9, Richmond TW10, London SW14	Kew	Kew Green, Kew Bridge
Mortlake	London SW15, London SW14	Mortlake and Barnes Common	Chiswick Bridge
North Twickenham and East Whitton	Twickenham TW1, Twickenham TW2, Hounslow TW3	St Margarets and North Twickenham; Whitton	Cole Park, Stadium Village
Richmond and Richmond Hill	Richmond TW9, Richmond TW10	South Richmond; North Richmond
Strawberry Hill	Twickenham TW1	South Twickenham; Teddington
St Margarets and East Twickenham	Twickenham TW1, Twickenham TW2, Isleworth TW7	St Margarets	St Margarets
Teddington	Teddington, TW11	Teddington	Fulwell
Twickenham	Twickenham TW1, Twickenham TW2	Twickenham Riverside; South Twickenham; West Twickenham	Twickenham Green, Fulwell
Whitton and Heathfield	Twickenham TW2, Whitton, Hounslow TW3 & TW4, Isleworth TW7	Whitton; Heathfield	Whitton, Heathfield

A map showing the wards of Richmond upon Thames since 2002

Aerial view of Richmond and East Twickenham from the north, August 2015

Hampton Court Palace

A view from Richmond Hill over the Terrace Gardens

Parks take up a great deal of the borough and include Richmond Park, Bushy Park, Kew Gardens, and Hampton Court Park. There are over 100 parks and open spaces in Richmond upon Thames and 21 miles (34 km) of river frontage. 140 hectares within the borough are designated as part of the Metropolitan Green Belt.

The borough is home to the National Physical Laboratory and the attractions of Hampton Court Palace, Twickenham Stadium and the WWT London Wetlands Centre that draw domestic and international tourism.

The river Thames becomes narrower than at any part of Inner London towards its flow into the borough and becomes non-tidal at Teddington Lock in the borough; its main axis runs south to north, rather than west to east through more than half of the borough.[11]

The borough was formed in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Twickenham from Middlesex with the Municipal Borough of Richmond and the Municipal Borough of Barnes from Surrey; the new council's offices were at York House in Twickenham.

Since its formation, the council has most often been led either by the Conservatives or by the Liberal Democrats. Currently, the Lib Dems make up the majority in the council.

Richmond upon Thames is the local education authority for the borough.

Harlequins during the 2005–2006 season

View from a helicopter of Ham House, the River Thames and Ham Polo Club

The borough has a non-League football club, Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C., who play at Beveree Stadium in Hampton. The Twickenham Stadium hosts rugby internationals and the Twickenham Stoop is home to the Harlequins Rugby Team.

Richmond Rugby Club are also active and share their grounds with London Scottish F.C. The Richmond Minis is a large youth rugby organisation whilst the Richmond Heavies organise games for more veteran players.

Cricket is played in many locations around the borough including Ham Common, Richmond Green and Kew Green.

The River Thames flows through the borough and a number of sailing and rowing clubs are located along it. Richmond Canoe Club is situation a short distance up river from Richmond Bridge

The borough has a large amount of equestrian activity; this includes the Horse Rangers Association and Ham Polo Club.

Richmond's swimming pools, Pools on the Park, are located in Old Deer Park close to the town centre. The outdoor pool is open in the summer months only.

The Twickenham Museum is a volunteer-run museum opposite St Mary's parish church.

Richmond's Old Town Hall, which now houses Richmond Reference Library, The Museum of Richmond and the Riverside Gallery

The Museum of Richmond, in Richmond's Old Town Hall, close to Richmond Bridge, has displays relating to the history of Richmond, Ham, Petersham and Kew. Its rotating exhibitions,[14] education activities and a programme of events cover the whole of the modern borough. The museum's highlights include 16th-century glass from Richmond Palace and a painting, The Terrace and View from Richmond Hill, Surrey by Dutch draughtsman and painter Leonard Knyff (1650–1722), which is part of the Richmond upon Thames Borough Art Collection.[15]

Orleans House Gallery in Twickenham displays material from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames' art collection.[16] This includes a portrait of James Johnston by Thomas Gibson, paintings of Orleans House by Arthur Vickers and several other artists, and the Burton Collection, which includes artwork, personal effects and photographs of the explorer Richard Francis Burton. The gallery is also the site of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames' arts service and provides educational workshops[17] for a wide variety of ages, using the converted stables and coach house as educational spaces.

Garrick's Temple to Shakespeare in Hampton hosts a free Sunday afternoon Shakespeare exhibition from April to October and a series of summer drama, music and exhibitions.[18]

Richmond Lending Library and Richmond Theatre

Richmond has two theatres. The Richmond Theatre at the side of Little Green is a Victorian structure designed by Frank Matcham and restored and extended by Carl Toms in 1990. The theatre has a weekly schedule of plays and musicals, usually given by professional touring companies, and pre-West End shows can sometimes be seen. There is a Christmas and New Year pantomime tradition and many of Britain's greatest music hall and pantomime performers have appeared here.

Close to Richmond railway station is the Orange Tree Theatre which was founded in 1971 in a room above the Orange Tree pub. As audience numbers increased there was pressure to find a more accommodating space and, in 1991, the company moved to current premises within a converted primary school. The 172-seat theatre was built specifically as a theatre in the round. It has acquired a national reputation for the quality of its work for staging new plays, and for discovering undeservedly forgotten old plays and neglected classics.[19]

Performance group Richmond Opera rehearse regularly at The Vineyard Centre.[20]

The Cabbage Patch pub on London Road near Twickenham railway station has, since 1983, been a regular venue for live music on Sunday nights, organised by TwickFolk.[21][22]

Richmond upon Thames is twinned with:

• Fontainebleau, France[23] (since 1977)[24]
• Konstanz, Germany (since 1983)[24]
• Richmond, Virginia, United States (since 1980)[24]

• List of people from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Wikimedia Commons has media related to London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

• Richmond upon Thames Council