St Margarets, London

St Margarets
Independent shops and cafes in Crown Road, St Margarets
St Margarets is located in Greater London
St Margarets
St Margarets
Location within Greater London
Population3,872 2011 census: loosely associated electoral ward
OS grid referenceTQ168742
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTwickenham
Postcode districtTW1
Dialling code020
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly
Turner's House
Marble Hill House
Houseboats on river Thames, close to Twickenham Bridge

St Margarets is a suburb and neighbourhood[1] in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, about 9 miles (14 km) west-southwest of central London. It is bounded by the Thames Tideway to the north-east, and the River Crane to the north-west and north where the land tapers between those rivers.[n 1] Land and buildings closer to Richmond Bridge than the eponymous railway station are, traditionally distinctly, known as East Twickenham. Both places go by their post town and traditional parish, Twickenham quite often; in the 19th century the south of St Margarets was marked on maps as Twickenham Park.

The area hosts a house that J. M. W. Turner saw built during his painting career and St Margarets railway station is within 1⁄3 mile (0.54 km) of Marble Hill House.

Uniquely in London among the few places prefixed Saint it is named after a house. Specifically it is named after a large house together with appurtenant land of an 18th-century Scottish-New Jerseyan aristocrat, rather than a church which began in 1930.

History

The place hosted, in the south-east, remnants of the site of an encampment of the barons and their men in 1261. This refers to a minor civil war of the last three weeks of June or so – a power struggle between the crown (ministry of Henry III of England) and the aristocracy, a few uprisings later cemented into constitutional change led by de Montford.[3] The net result of the uprisings was a settled parliamentary system enabling limits to the monarch's powers to tax and departure from such edicts as the Provisions of Oxford and Westminster.

The district and the west of the Cambridge Park/Marble Hill area and the near-centre of Twickenham, with part of Richmond (across the river): 1870s. Click for broader map and to enable varied magnification.

Saint Margarets takes its name from the former Saint Margaret's House, the second guise of which stood from 1827 to 1853.[4][5] It was the country house of Archibald Kennedy, 1st Marquess of Ailsa (12th Earl of Cassilis), and for a few final decades became the home of the Earl of Kilmorey. Their names can be found in such streets as Kilmorey Gardens and Ailsa Road.

Victorian and Edwardian houses dominate the housing stock. In 1854 the St Margaret's Estate was laid out for building family houses, becoming one of the first garden suburbs.[6]

Today's developed suburb dates from the arrival of the railway. The new railway station was preliminarily "Ailsa Crossing" as it passed through the estate, but it became "St Margarets" before opening.

A memorial was unveiled in April 2017 to the 6000 Belgian refugees many of the adults of whom lived and worked locally during the First World War. It is on the west bank of the Thames at Warren Gardens, next to the site of the Pelabon Munitions Works.[7]

Governance

St Margarets is part of the Twickenham constituency for elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

St Margarets is part of the St Margarets and North Twickenham ward for elections to Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council.[8]

Annual events

St Margarets Fair is held each July in Moormead Park by the River Crane, a channel from its larger stream, on the western limits.[9]

Buildings

In 1814 the painter J. M. W. Turner had built Solus Lodge in Sandycoombe Road. The house survives as Sandycombe Lodge.

Gordon House is a Grade II*-listed[10] Georgian mansion on the river Thames at St Margarets. Like St Margaret's House it was owned by Lord Kilmorey.[11] The house has a Robert Adam wing, added in 1738. For many years, it was used as part of Brunel University.[12] In recent years the house has been redeveloped by Octagon Developments, with the former chapel and coachhouse converted to private homes.

A number of other large villas and houses were put up by Leonard Wild Lloyd in the 1820s and 1830s in East Twickenham, many since replaced by housing. Among the survivors are the Grade II listed buildings Bute Lodge, Willoughby House and Ryde House.[13][14][15]

The Kilmorey Mausoleum has been moved several times, and is now on the northern edge of St Margarets. It was built in the 1850s by the 2nd Earl of Kilmorey and contains the bodies of the Earl and his mistress, Priscilla Anne Hoste. Now a Grade II* listed building,[16] it was built to resemble an ancient Egyptian monument. It is jointly maintained by Richmond upon Thames Council and English Heritage.[17] The mausoleum is occasionally open to the public.[18]

The Roman Catholic Church of St Margaret of Scotland on St Margarets Road was built to a modern design of the architect Austin Winckley and opened in 1969. In 1999 it became a Grade II listed building.[19] Its forerunner stood on site from 1938, after the relevant mission begun in an adjoining house in 1930.[20] Twickenham and Isleworth as broad encompassing areas have had no other churches named after the saint.[21][22]

In Anglicanism, two late-19th-century-founded Anglican church parishes serve the area. The place represents the north-west third of Saint Stephen's and the eastern two-fifths of All Souls, if the Crane is taken as the northern limit.

Education

There are three main schools nearby, in Twickenham: Orleans Park School (secondary), St. Stephen's Primary School (primary) and Orleans Primary School (primary).

Local commerce and townscape

Two main streets have a range of shops, cafés and bars/pubs serving food. Twickenham Studios are at the heart of the village and have recently announced plans to expand their presence in St Margarets.[23]

Neighbouring areas

Direct neighbours comprise:

Between Richmond Lock and Kew Bridge is the first reach of the Thames proceeding upstream out of Central London on both sides: Kew Gardens and Syon Park.

Marble Hill House and Marble Hill Park are immediately to the south.

Notable inhabitants

Living people

Name Description Connection Ref
Samantha Bond Actress Brought up in Barnes and in St Margarets. With husband, actor Alexander Hanson, resident in St Margarets. [24]
Milton Jones Comedian Lives in St Margarets. [25]
Sophie Raworth Newsreader and journalist Lives in St Margarets. [26]

Historical figures

Name Dates Description Local connection Ref
Lynn Faulds Wood 1948–2020 Television presenter and cancer campaigner With John Stapleton, journalist and presenter, resident. [26]
Arnold Gerschwiler 1914–2003 Figure skating coach at Richmond Ice Rink Lived in Ailsa Road for 53 years.

[27]

Simon Hoggart 1946–2014 Broadcaster and journalist Lived in Sandycoombe Road [28]
Henrietta Howard 1734–1767 Influential courtier and mistress to King George II George II built her a residence, Marble Hill House (now a museum) in Marble Hill Park. [29]
William Cook Mackenzie 1862–1952 Scottish historian Lived in Richmond and later St Georges Road, St Margarets [30]
Garry Marsh 1902–1981 Stage and film actor Born in St Margarets. [31][32]
J. M. W. Turner 1775–1851 English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist Had built country retreat on Sandycoombe Road also known as Turner's House, open to the public. [33]

Footnotes and references

Footnotes

  1. ↑ This border has slightly deviated in several local government boundary changes.[2]

Citations

  1. ↑ A City of Villages: Promoting a sustainable future for London's suburbs (PDF). Greater London Authority. August 2002. ISBN 1-85261-393-9. Retrieved 16 January 2014. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  2. ↑ "Review of Greater London, the London boroughs and the City of London: London Borough of Hounslow Report no 652". Local Government Boundary Commission for England. 10 February 1992. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  3. ↑ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 144–146. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
  4. ↑ "Lord Cassilis' Grounds – Guide to London's Georgian Thames". Panorama of the Thames. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Earl Cassilis, Marquis of Ailsa, Twickenham Park". www.twickenhampark.co.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "History". St Margarets Estate Residents Association. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "Belgian WWI Memorial commemoration in East Twickenham". St Margarets Community Website. 29 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (Electoral Changes) Order 2020". gov.uk. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  9. ↑ St Margarets Fair
  10. ↑ Historic England (21 May 1973). "Gordon House Maria Grey Training College (1240076)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  11. ↑ "The Earl of Kilmorey". Twickenham Museum. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  12. ↑ "Gordon House today". Kilmorey Mausoleum. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  13. ↑ "Bute Lodge, Non Civil Parish - 1065364 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "Willoughby House, Non Civil Parish - 1261911 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "Ryde House, Non Civil Parish - 1250207 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Historic England (3 November 1995). "The Kilmorey Mausoleum, including enclosure wall, railings and gate (1240128)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  17. ↑ Rachel Bishop (14 June 2013). "Egyptian tomb was damaged by repairs". Richmond and Twickenham Times. p. 4.
  18. ↑ "Home page". Kilmorey Mausoleum. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  19. ↑ Historic England (5 May 1999). "Church of St Margaret of Scotland (1387183)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  20. ↑ 'Twickenham: Roman catholicism', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3 (London, 1962), pp. 161–162.
  21. ↑ 'Twickenham: Churches', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3 (London, 1962), pp. 161–161.
  22. ↑ 'Isleworth: Churches', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3 (London, 1962), pp. 122–129.
  23. ↑ Ackerman, Naomi (1 November 2021). "Revamp of historic movie venue Twickenham Studios gets go-ahead". The Standard. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  24. ↑ Clare Buchanan (15 January 2014). "St Margarets resident Samantha Bond misses out on star baker". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  25. ↑ Siân Ranscombe (20 February 2015). "Milton Jones on hecklers, Geoff Hurst and Arsenal". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  26. 1 2 Tom Ambrose (7 March 2014). "Watchdog returns, with St Margarets presenters taking the lead". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  27. ↑ James Adlam (12 September 2003). "A legendary figure in the world of ice skating". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  28. ↑ Tom Ambrose (6 January 2014). "St Margarets mourns renowned journalist Simon Hoggart". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  29. ↑ "History and Stories: Marble Hill House". English Heritage. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  30. ↑ "Death of Mr W. C. Mackenzie". The Scotsman. 3 March 1952. p. 4.
  31. ↑ "Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837–2006". Find My Past.
  32. ↑ International Television Almanac, vol. 12, p. 194
  33. ↑ "Home". Turner's House. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
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