Twickenham

Twickenham is a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in the south-west of London

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. The land adjacent to the river, from Strawberry Hill in the south, to Marble Hill Park in the north, is occupied with a mixture of luxury dwellings, formal gardens, public houses and a newly built park and leisure facility.

Related Topics:
River Thames - Eel Pie Island - Strawberry Hill - Marble Hill Park

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In the south, in Strawberry Hill, lies St Mary's College, one of London's prominent universities (and the oldest Catholic college in the UK), 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 1717 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 lay the villa and garden of the poet Alexander Pope. A road just north of the campus is named "Pope's Grove," as is a local landmark next to the road, Pope's Grotto a public house where Pope's landmark informal garden lay. Near the hostelry lies 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.

Related Topics:
St Mary's College - London - Universities - Catholic - UK - Sports studies - Teacher training - Religious studies - Humanities - Drama studies - English literature - Cottage - Horace Walpole - Robert Walpole - Gothic revival - Alexander Pope - Pope's Grotto - Public house - Surviving - Grotto

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

Related Topics:
Victorian - Radnor Gardens

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Twickenham proper begins in the vicinity of 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, a less expensive area of Twickenham with largely 1930s housing.

Related Topics:
Pope's Grotto - Whitton

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The fashionable district of St. Margarets lies immediately to the north east of Twickenham Town Centre and is popular for its attractive tree-lined residential roads and an eclectic range of shops and cafes.

Related Topics:
St. Margarets - Shop - Cafe

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The London suburb of Isleworth lies to the north.

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