The Wick is a Grade I listed Georgian house in Richmond,

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, located at the corner of Nightingale Lane and Richmond Hill. The house, designed in 1775 by architect Robert Mylne for Lady St. Aubyn, was for many years the family home of actor Sir John Mills, who sold it to Ronnie Wood of the rock band Faces (and later of the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

) in 1971. From 1996 it was owned by

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s an ...

the Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

, who sold it in 2021 for £15,000,000.

Description

The Georgian-style house, built of plum brick and stone on the site of the ''Bull's Head'' tavern, overlooks the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

and is near

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

, the largest urban park in the United Kingdom. It was designed by architect Robert Mylne in 1775 for Lady St. Aubyn, and includes oval dining and drawing rooms, three storeys and a basement with

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

and balustrading above. The porch is built with

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and Tower of the Winds piers with a

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

above, and a line of medallions embellishes the front of the house. It faces Richmond Hill and features a garden wall that borders Nightingale Lane, with a coach house in the garden. The back of the house features bow windows that overlook the river. The Wick and the adjoining cottage, Wick Cottage, are listed as Grade I structures by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

History

Richmond Hill was part of the Royal Manor of Richmond since the time of

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. Richmond Park was enclosed by King Charles I around 1635. The countryside was mostly agricultural land in the early 18th century, but Terrace Walk was laid out at the top of Richmond Hill in the later 18th century, followed by construction of a number of fine homes, including The Wick, on the hill. The sound of the wind around the house reportedly inspired Mary Hayley Bell, actress, writer and wife of Sir John Mills, to write the novel '' Whistle Down The Wind'' which was made into both a film and, later, an

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

musical. Ronnie Wood bought the home in 1971 but did not have enough money to purchase the adjacent cottage as well; he persuaded

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...

, at the time one of his bandmates in Faces, to buy the cottage. When Wood first bought the house, Lane also lived there until his departure from Faces in June 1973. The guitarist of the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards, reportedly lived in the coach house for several months during 1973–74 during Wood's ownership. Wood recorded his first two solo albums, '' I've Got My Own Album to Do'' and '' Now Look'', released in 1974 and 1975 respectively, in a studio he built in the basement of the house. The Rolling Stones song "

It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" is the lead single from English rock band the Rolling Stones' 1974 album ''It's Only Rock 'n Roll''. Writing is credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and the single reached the top ten in the UK Record ...

", also released in 1974, was written at the house, emerging out of a jam between Wood, Richards,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

and

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

purchased the property in 1996. Writer and musician Nikki Sudden was working on a history of The Wick before he died suddenly in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wick, The Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Grade I listed houses in London History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Houses completed in 1775 Houses in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Richmond, London Pete Townshend Richmond Hill, London Ronnie Wood