Riverside north of the river and west of the Tower. Twickenham Crossdeep

This post shows sites north of the river only. South is Ham Lands

Post to the south Teddington and Ham Lands and Teddington Lock
Post to the north Twickenham and Ham Street Riverside



Cross Deep
The road runs parallel to a stretch of river called Cross Deep
Pope’s Villa. This was the home of Alexander Pope who moved here in 1719. He leased a piece of land close to the river and demolished cottages on site and then employed he architect James Gibbs to create a Palladian house and was later extended by William Kent. Pope also built his grotto and laid out one of the first picturesque gardens – including "a Theatre, an Arcade, a Bowling Green, a Grove, and a 'What Not'". After Pope's death in 1744, it was acquired by William Stanhope, who enlarged it and extended the garden. He also built a second tunnel; and some of this remains as does a brick gazebo. The house was demolished in 1808 by Baroness Howe of Langar and a new house was built. This house two was partially demolished and the rest became Ryan House and River Deep.
Pope’s Grotto is an underground passage leading from under his house to his garden. Alexander Pope came to live here in 1719 and leased some riverside properties. He obtained a licence to build a tunnel beneath the road, to give access to his garden. The cellars of his villa were at ground level facing the river and he placed his original grotto in the centre. It was completed by 1725 and he had found a spring of water. But this did not go under the road. In 1739 Pope visited the Hotwell Spa near Bristol and resolved to redesign the grotto as a museum of mineralogy and mining. He was sent material from Cornish tin mines, a stalagmite from Wookey Hole and of basalt from the Giants' Causeway. A restoration project is in hand. It is now owned by Radnor House School.
Pope’s Villa. In about 1845, house known as Pope's Villa was built on approximately the same site and has been used as a school in the 20th.  It was built for a tea merchant called Thomas Young and was designed by Henry Edward Kendall Jr. T
St Catherine's School. This is built round the core of a house built in 1842 by Thomas Young on the site of Pope’s Villa. It was founded by Sisters of Mercy in 1914 in Vicarage Road and named after St. Catherine of Siena. It moved here in 1919 with building on both sides of Cross Deep and including Pope’s Grotto. In 1948 they bought the Lawn, a house built in 1845 and thus expanded and in 1954 a pre-fabricated Hall with stage facilities was paid for by the parents. A continuous building programme made it possible to have a full two form entry by 1960. In 1991 the Sisters of Mercy left after 77  years. The river side of the school was sold and a charitable trust was set up by parents, who purchased the buildings and appointed a lay Headmistress. Building work and expansion continued.
Blue Plaque to radical journalist Henry Labouchere who used Pope’s Villa as a weekend retreat in the 1880s
Ryan House. This is the remaining half of a house built in 1807 by Baroness Howe near the site of Pope's villa.
Radnor House School. This is a private school in the later house called Pope’s Villa. In 2010 David Paton who was a teacher at the Harrodian School had the opportunity to buy Pope’s Villa which had been used as a school by St. Catherine’s.  With others he raised money and opened the school here.


Radnor House Gardens
Early buildings on this riverside land included a row of four houses owned by Mathias Perkins, and a tannery. These gardens were made up from a number of riverside properties. These were:
Radnor House. This was on the site of some of the gardens. It was named after the owner John Robartes, 4th Earl of Radnor who lived here 1722 - 1757. The house and land was bought by the Urban District Council in 1902 But was destroyed during a bombing raid in 1940. It had been given a Gothick exterior around 1749. Robartes had a Cold Bath at the water's edge and a remnant of this building, is in the gardens today but moved from its original site in 1847. The entrance to the gardens stands between the site of this house and Cross Deep Hall
Cross Deep Hall. The northern end of the gardens is made up of land from a house built by Samuel Scott in 1758. Damaged by a flying bomb (V1) in 1944
Joseph Hickey's house built at the same time. The grounds make up part of Radnor Gardens. Damaged by a V1 in 1944
Beechcroft. This was a 19th house originally called Pope’s Garden. The grounds make up part of Radnor Gardens.  This replaced Thomas Hudson's house built about 1750 and demolished in 1808, damaged by a flying bomb (V1) in 1944
River Deep - villa built by Baroness Howe in 1808 ,  These properties were further badly damaged by a flying bomb (V1) in 1944 damaged by a flying bomb (V1) in 1944
The Gardens were opened in 1903 after Radnor House had been bought by the Urban District Council. 7000 cubic yards of material from the construction of Teddington Lock were used to raise the ait above flooding level. At the opening a Catalpa Speciosa was planted in commemoration but was cut down later. In 1911 a cedar was planted for the coronation of King George V.
'Gothick' Summerhouse.  Built in the mid 18th. Polygonal, with trefoiled appertures
Plaque - this is on a wall in commemorates a flood. It says: "A Remarkable High Flood rose to this Mark on 12 March 1774". A pointing hand gives the exact level.
Strawberry Hill Bowls club. Formed in 1920
War Memorial, This was erected in 1921. The statue is facing south but it was sited to mark the end of a vista from Star and Garter Home to the north east. It depicts a joyful soldier, coat undone and grinning broadly – maybe delighted to be home
Bridge - Until 1965 the gardens were divided by a stream, which was a creek from the River Thames and a bridge led on to an island.  When the stream was filled in the bridge was left in place and the top of it marks the edge of the footpath leading from the entrance
Chinoiserie gazebo – this wooden structure was refaced in 1847. It was originally a bath house.


Mallard Place
Houses built 1978-80 by the Enc Lyons Cunningham Partnership, but a more affluent development than the earlier Span schemes. The  houses have their own riverside mooring places..
Radnor Works. Arthur Gibson Roller Shutter works were there from at least 1902 until the late 1950s. They are described as ‘manufacturing engineers’ making “Kinnear patent steel rolling shutters and Gibson patent bi-folding doors for generating stations, boiler houses, engine sheds, core ovens” . They also maintained branches in Manchester and Glasgow.  The site was redeveloped in the early 1970s and Malllard Place built.

Swan Island
This is a small island downstream of Teddington Lock.
Swan Island Harbour. Run by the Port of London Authority.
Newman Boat Yard. River, canal and houseboat building and repairs. Family run business.
Neal’s Yard Bakery. Fashionable bakery which moved here in 2004 from central London.

Sources
Grace’s Guide. Web site.
Pevsner and Cherry. South London
Pope’s Grotto. Web site
Radnor House School. Web site
Simpson. Twickenham Past
Strawberry Hill Bowls Club. Web site
Strawberry Hill Residents Association. Web site
St. Catherine’s School. Web site
Twickenham Museum. Web site