Did You Know?

Twickenham is a town in South West London. It lies on the River Thames and is 10 miles west-southwest of Charing Cross. Originally part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in 1965.

In Norman times Twickenham was part of the Manor of Isleworth – itself part of the Hundred of Hounslow, Middlesex. The manor had belonged to the 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.

There was also a watch house in the middle of the town, with stocks, a pillory and a whipping post whose owner was 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.

Twickenham has an extensive town centre and is famous for being the home of rugby union, with Millions of spectators visiting the Stadium every year, the world's largest rugby stadium. Soil that had been removed during the construction of the Metropolitan Tube Line was used to raise the surface of the pitch. The first game ever played was Harlequins v Richmond and was played on 2nd October 1909. Since the ground was bought by the RFU in 1907, it has gone through a number of redevelopments.

The historic riverside area is famous for its network of 18th-century buildings and pleasure grounds, many of which survive intact. This area has three grand period mansions with public access: York House, Marble Hill and Strawberry Hill House.

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.

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.

Electricity was introduced to Twickenham in 1902 and the first trams arrived in 1903.

Actress Keeley Hawes, and Actor Matthew Macfadyen, live in Twickenham.

The town is bordered on the south-eastern side by the River Thames and Eel Pie Island – which is connected to the embankment by a narrow footbridge, the first of which was erected in 1957. Before this, access was by means of a hand-operated ferry that was hauled across using a chain on the riverbed.