Radnor Gardens is a small public riverside garden and recreation ground in Strawberry Hill, south of Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It has a

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

memorial, a grass area, a bowling green and a children's playground.

Location

Radnor Gardens is located south of Twickenham town centre between the A310, ''Cross Deep'', and the Thames riverbank. It affords one of the few pedestrian points of access to the river on the

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

bank between Twickenham and Kingston Bridge.

History and etymology

Twickenham War Memorial, London (cropped)

The Gardens were created in 1903 by Twickenham Urban District from several adjacent riverside properties dating back to the 17th century; '' Radnor House'' from which the name derives, formed the central section of the gardens, the riverside garden of ''

Cross Deep House Cross Deep House was an 18th-century house, on the banks of the River Thames in Cross Deep, Strawberry Hill, south of Twickenham town centre. It was demolished in 1906 and the remains of its grounds form part of present-day Radnor Gardens. Et ...

'' provides the southern area, and the grounds of ''Cross Deep Hall'' to the north. Several remnants of these form features of the modern gardens including the walls of the base of Radnor House and two

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

structures; a gazebo and Grade II listed polygonal summer house. After the purchase of Radnor House in 1902, of gravel from the construction of Teddington Lock was used to raise the level of Cross Deep Ait, a former ait adjacent to Swan Island that formed part of the gardens, to protect it from flooding. The two aits are shown as single entity on John Rocque's map of 1746. The channel separating the island from the bank silted up and was filled in the late 1960s. The course of the former channel can be discerned in the lawns during dry weather and metal remnants of connecting footbridges can be perceived lining the central and southern footpaths in the gardens today. Radnor House and the gardens were officially opened on 11 April 1903. The bowling green was created in 1920 and has been the home of ''Strawberry Hill Bowling Club'' since then. Twickenham War Memorial by Mortimer Brown was erected in 1921, which, despite facing south, was sited to form a focal point of a vista from the

Royal Star and Garter Home The Royal Star and Garter Home on Richmond Hill, in Richmond, London, was built between 1921 and 1924 to a design by Sir Edwin Cooper, based on a plan produced by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1915, to provide accommodation and nursing faciliti ...

on Richmond Hill to the north-east. The playground was constructed in 2006.

Administration

The gardens are administered by

Richmond upon Thames Borough Council Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the United Kingdom capital. Richmond upon Thames is ...

and form the southern limit of the Twickenham conservation area. A local group, ''Friends of Radnor Gardens'', liaises with the local authority and helped develop the PPG 17- compliant 'Radnor Gardens Management Plan'. The gardens have been winners of the

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

since 2010.

References

External links

Official website

Friends of Radnor Gardens

Strawberry Hill Bowling Club
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Radnor Gardens 1903 establishments in England Bowling greens in England Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Twickenham Parks and open spaces on the River Thames