Barnes, London
Barnes is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It takes up the extreme northeast of the borough, and as such is the closest part of the borough to central London. It is centred west south-west of Charing Cross in a bend of the River Thames.
Its built environment includes a wide variety of convenience and arts shopping on its high street and a high proportion of 18th- and 19th-century buildings in the streets near Barnes Pond. Together they make up the Barnes Village conservation area where, along with its west riverside, pictured, most of the mid-19th-century properties are concentrated. On the east riverside is the WWT London Wetland Centre adjoining Barn Elms playing fields. Barnes has retained woodland on the "Barnes Trail" which is a short circular walk taking in the riverside, commercial streets and conservation area, marked by silver discs set in the ground and with QR coded information on distinctive oar signs. The Thames Path National Trail provides a public promenade along the entire bend of the river which is on the Championship Course in rowing. Barnes has two railway stations and is served by bus routes towards central London and Richmond.
Geography and transport
Barnes is in south west London, bounded to the west, north and east by a meander in the River Thames.Rail
National Rail
Barnes is not on the London Underground network. However, it is served directly by two National Rail stations, both of which are in London's Travelcard Zone 3:- Barnes railway station
- Barnes Bridge railway station
Barnes railway station saw 2.548 million passenger entries or exits in 2018. Barnes Bridge was significantly quieter, with only 0.863 passengers beginning or ending their journey at the station.
Nearby railway stations can also be found at Putney and Mortlake.
London Underground
There are London Underground connections in neighbouring Hammersmith, where two stations serve four lines: the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines and the District and Piccadilly lines. From Hammersmith, there are direct connections to the City and the West End. There are also direct connections to Heathrow Airport, Ealing, the East End and Rayner's Lane.Road
There is one River Thames crossing in Barnes for traffic and pedestrians; Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge to the north of Barnes, built in 1887. Hammersmith Bridge is currently closed indefinitely to traffic due to structural faults, but remains open to cyclists and pedestrians.Many of the roads in Barnes are residential, but several arterial routes pass through the district, carrying traffic across London and the South East.
The South Circular Road passes through the southern end of Barnes. The South Circular carries traffic eastbound towards Wandsworth, Clapham, the City of London and south east London. Westbound, the road carries traffic away from Central London, either towards Richmond and the M3, or directly to the M4 and the North Circular Road. Kew and Chiswick are en route to the M4.
The A306 runs north-south through Barnes, carried by Castelnau and Rocks Lane. Leaving Barnes to the north, the A306 crosses Hammersmith Bridge towards Hammersmith, where traffic meets the Great West Road, which links to Earl's Court and the West End. Southbound, the A306 eventually meets the A3 towards Guildford and Portsmouth.
Barnes High Street and Church Road carry the A3003, which runs between Barnes and nearby Mortlake.
Transport for London manages the South Circular Road and the A306.
Other roads which cross the Thames nearby are Chiswick Bridge to the west and Putney Bridge east.
Air pollution
The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames carries out air pollution monitoring in Barnes, both kerbside and in the London Wetlands Centre. There are several sites in Barnes which measure the concentration of Nitrogen Dioxide and Particulate Matter PM10 in the air.A site along Castelnau recorded an annual mean concentration of at 31μgm-3 in 2017. The annual mean concentration of PM10 was 18μgm-3 at the same site in the same year. Both results show that Barnes' air is the cleanest it has been since 2011, at least. Whilst Castelnau is on the kerbside, the Wetlands monitoring site recorded far lower results than Castelnau did in 2017, with an annual mean concentration at 21μgm-3, and a mean reading of 15μgm-3 for PM10. A monitoring site on Barnes High Street recorded more polluted air than the other, with levels at 43.0μgm-3. This site therefore failed to meet the UK National Air Quality Objective of 40μgm-3 for.
Buses
Barnes is served by London Buses 33, 72, 209, 265, 283, 378, 419, 485 and N22.Cycling
Compared other districts in London, Barnes is poorly connected to London destinations via cycle paths or tracks; cycling infrastructure is limited in Barnes.There are three key routes which pass through Barnes:
- National Cycle Route 4 – this signed cycle route from Greenwich to Fishguard, West Wales, runs mainly on shared-use paths or residential streets but, in Barnes, the route follows Rocks Lane for a short distance. For cyclists in Barnes, the route provides an unbroken, albeit indirect, route towards Waterloo via Putney and Chelsea. To the West, NCR 4 passes through Roehampton, Richmond Park and Kingston-upon-Thames.
- London Cycle Network 37 – Many signs in Barnes still remain along this route, which is part of the discontinued London Cycle Network. The route runs eastbound towards Wandsworth, Vauxhall and the City, or westbound towards Mortlake and Richmond.
- EuroVelo 2 – part of the EuroVelo network, EV2 runs from Moscow, Russia to Galway, Ireland. It is unsigned in Barnes, but it follows the route of NCR 4 between Greenwich and Chepstow, Monmouthshire.
River Thames
The Thames Path passes through Barnes, following the banks of the river.Transport for London, in conjunction with MBNA Thames Clippers, run riverboat services from nearby Putney Pier to Blackfriars, weekday morning and evenings only. This connects the Barnes area to Chelsea, Battersea, Westminster, Embankment and the City. A Summer River Tour, operated by Thames River Boats runs from Kew Pier to Westminster, or Richmond and Hampton Court.
Nearest places
History
In 1889, Barnes became part of the Municipal Borough of Barnes. In 1965, that borough was abolished and Barnes became part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Berne". It was held by the Canons of St Paul of London when its assets were: eight hides, paying tax with Mortlake; six ploughlands, of meadow. It rendered to its feudal system overlords £7 per year.The original Norman chapel of St Mary's, Barnes' village church, was built at some point between 1100 and 1150, and was subsequently extended in the early 13th century. In 1215, immediately after confirming the sealing of Magna Carta, Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury, stopped on the river at Barnes to dedicate St Mary's church. The church was added to in 1485 and in 1786. After a major fire in 1978 destroyed the Victorian and Edwardian additions to the building, restoration work was completed in 1984.
Some of the oldest riverside housing in London is to be found on the Terrace, a road lined with Georgian mansions which runs along the west bend of the river. Construction of these mansions began as early as 1720. Gustav Holst and Ninette de Valois lived in houses on this stretch, both of which have corresponding blue plaques. The Terrace also has an original red brick police station, built in 1891. It has been remodelled as flats but still preserves the original features.
The pink-fronted Rose House facing the area's pond dates to the 17th century, while Milbourne House facing the Green, the area's oldest, parts of which date to the 16th century, once belonged to Henry Fielding. The park of Barn Elms, formerly the manor house of Barnes, for long the parish's chief property and now an open space and playing field, is home to one of the oldest and largest plane tree in London, one of the Great Trees of London.
The Grade II listed Barnes Railway Bridge, originally constructed in 1849 by Joseph Locke, dominates the view of the river from the Terrace.
Castelnau, in north Barnes and on the banks of the river, has a small church, Holy Trinity. The area between Castelnau and Lonsdale Road contains a 1930s council estate, mostly consisting of "Boot Houses", constructed by the Henry Boot company.
Economy
A 2014 survey found that Barnes had the highest proportion of independent shops of any area in Britain, at 96.6%.Barnes Common and the London Wetland Centre
is an important open space and a local nature reserve. Its dominate the south of Barnes, providing a rural setting to the village and a wealth of habitats including acid grassland, scrub, woodland and wetland. Beverley Brook passes through part of the common before meeting the Thames at Putney.In April 2001, Barnes Pond dramatically emptied overnight. Although a broken drain was suspected no cause could be conclusively found. The pond was redeveloped and landscaped with funding from Richmond Council and the local community.
Barn Elms reservoirs were turned into a wetland habitat and bird sanctuary in 1995. The majority of the WWT London Wetland Centre comprises areas of standing open water, grazing marsh and reedbed. It is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest as it supports nationally important wintering populations of shoveller and teal.
Landmarks, trails and events
The Barnes Trail, a 2.3 mile circular walk funded by the Mayor of London and Richmond upon Thames Council, was opened in June 2013. It gained in 2014 a further QR code-marked extension, along its riverside, which equates to the Thames Path National Trail; part of this is wide, pavemented embankments with Victorian townhouses and the rest is tree-lined green space.The site of rock musician Marc Bolan's fatal car crash on Queen's Ride in 1977 is now Bolan's Rock Shrine. The memorial receives frequent visits from his fans, and in 1997 a bronze bust of Bolan was installed to mark the twentieth anniversary of his death. In 2007, the site was recognised by the English Tourist Board as a "Site of Rock 'n' Roll Importance" in its guide England Rocks.
Olympic Studios on Church Road is an independent cinema, showing a mixture of films on general release and art films. Originally a local cinema and for many years a leading recording studio, down the decades Olympic played host to some of rock and pop's greatest stars, from the Beatles, who recorded the original tracks of "All You Need Is Love" in Barnes, to the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Queen, Eric Clapton, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Nilsson, the Verve, Massive Attack, Duran Duran, Coldplay, Madonna and Björk.
Facing the Thames, and on the main commercial street's junction, the Bull's Head pub is known as the "suburban Ronnie Scott's" and was one of the first and most important jazz venues in Britain from the post-war years onward.
The OSO Arts Centre, which opened in 2002, is a venue for art and fringe theatre, hosting numerous exhibitions and theatre productions, as well as a regular auction. The building was previously the postal sorting office, but was redeveloped into a mixture of residential and commercial space with the first residents moving in in 1999.
The area around Barnes Pond is host to several open-air and covered markets each month. Barnes Green is the site of the Barnes Fair, held each year on the second Saturday of July and organised by the Barnes Community Association, whose headquarters are at Rose House, a distinctive 17th-century pink-painted building on Barnes High Street.
In 2015, Barnes Pond became home to London’s largest dedicated children’s book event, the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival, which is now the second largest in Europe.
Places of worship
Barnes has eight churches, of which six are members of Churches Together in Barnes:- Barnes Baptist Church
- Barnes Healing Church
- Barnes Methodist Church
- Catholic Church of St Osmund, Barnes
- Holy Trinity Barnes
- St Mary's Church, Barnes
- St Michael and All Angels Church, Barnes
Societies
Sport
;Association footballin Barnes Cemetery, with a wreath commemorating 150 years of the Football Association
Barnes has a place in the history of football. First, a former High Master of St Paul's School, Richard Mulcaster, is credited with taking mob football and turning it into an organised, refereed team sport that was considered beneficial for schoolboys. St Paul's School is currently sited on Lonsdale Road, although in Mulcaster's time it was at St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London.
Barnes was also home to Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who in 1862 was a founding member of the Football Association. In 1863, he wrote to Bell's Life newspaper proposing a governing body for football, and this led to the first meeting at the Freemasons' Tavern where the FA was created. He was the FA's first secretary and at his home in Barnes he set out the first set of rules for modern football, and these were adopted by the FA and subsequently spread throughout the world. As a player, he took part in the first match played according to today's rules. Morley may be considered the father of football for his key role in establishing modern Association Football.
Barnes has a non-League football club, Stonewall F.C., who play at Barn Elms Playing Fields.
;Rugby
Barnes Rugby Football Club's ground is next to the WWT London Wetlands Centre, formerly known simply as Barn Elms.
;Rowing
In rowing, the loop of the Thames surrounding Barnes forms part of the Championship Course used for the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race and the main national head races, the Head of the River Races, for each category of Olympic boat. Three rowing clubs are across Barnes Bridge which can be crossed by foot and St Paul's School boat from Barnes. A statue of Steve Fairbairn who revolutionised technique and equipment in the sport is by the river close to the London Wetlands Centre in the district.
Education
Notable residents
Only notable people with entries on Wikipedia have been included. Their birth or residence has been verified by citations.Living people
| Name | Dates | Description | Notes | Refs | Image |
| Joss Ackland | b. 1928 | Actor | Has lived in Barnes | ||
| Michael Ball | b. 1962 | Singer and actor | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Samantha Bond | b. 1961 | Actor | Brought up in Barnes and St Margarets | ||
| Gyles Brandreth | b. 1948 | Writer, broadcaster, actor, comedian, and former Conservative MP | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Niamh Cusack | b. 1959 | Actor | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Carl Davis | b. 1936 | Composer | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Duffy | b. 1984 | Singer | Has lived at The Terrace in Barnes | ||
| Michael Edwards | b. 1938 | Poet and academic | Was born in Barnes | ||
| Sheherazade Goldsmith | b. 1974 | Environmentalist, jeweller and columnist | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Zac Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park | b. 1975 | Life peer and former MP for Richmond Park | Lives in Barnes | ||
| David Harsent | b. 1942 | Poet | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Patricia Hodge | b. 1946 | Actor | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Tomoyasu Hotei | b. 1962 | Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor | Moved to Barnes in 2012 | ||
| Matthew Kneale | b. 1960 | Novelist | Brought up in Barnes | ||
| Susan Kramer, Baroness Kramer | b. 1950 | Life peer and former MP for Richmond Park | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Gary Lineker | b. 1960 | Sports broadcaster and former professional footballer | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Suzannah Lipscomb | b. 1978 | Historian, academic and broadcaster specialising in the 16th century | Lives in Barnes | ||
| George MacKay | b. 1992 | Actor | Grew up in Barnes | ||
| Dr Tania Mathias | b. 1964 | MP for Twickenham from 2015 to 2017 | Brought up in Barnes | ||
| Brian May | b. 1947 | Musician, singer, songwriter and astrophysicist | Has lived at Suffolk Road, Barnes | ||
| Roger McGough | b. 1937 | Performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Alistair McGowan | b. 1964 | Impressionist, comic, actor, singer and writer | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Chris Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes | b. 1944 | Life peer, Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and former MP for Bath, who subsequently served as 28th Governor of Hong Kong and Chairman of the BBC Trust | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Robert Pattinson | b. 1986 | Actor | Grew up in Barnes | ||
| Jan Pieńkowski | b. 1936 | Writer and illustrator | Lives in Barnes and is a patron of the Barnes Literary Society | ||
| Dan Snow | b. 1978 | Historian and broadcaster | Grew up in Barnes | ||
| Roger Taylor | b. 1949 | Musician, singer and songwriter | Lived at White Hart and at 40 Ferry Road, Barnes | ||
| Pete Tong | b. 1960 | Disc jockey | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Stanley Tucci | b. 1960 | Actor, writer, producer and film director | Lives in Barnes | ||
| Julia Watson | b. 1953 | Actor | Lives in Barnes |
Historical figures
Those marked § are commemorated in Barnes by a blue plaque.Actors
- Rosemary Ackland, actress, lived in Barnes.
- Phyllis Calvert, actress, lived in Barnes.
- Jimmy Edwards, comedy actor and writer, was born in Barnes.
- Rik Mayall, actor, writer and comedian, lived and died in Barnes.
- Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars films, was born and brought up in Barnes.
- John Moody, actor, lived at 11 The Terrace, Barnes, from about 1780 until his death. He is buried at St Mary's Church, Barnes with his two wives.
- Jimmy Perry, actor and scriptwriter, co-creator of the TV series Dad's Army and Hi-de-Hi, was born in Barnes.
- Jon Pertwee, Doctor Who actor, had a family house in Barnes.
- Terry-Thomas, actor, lived in Barnes.
- Frank Thornton, actor, lived and died in Barnes.
Artists, architects and designers
- Thomas Allom, architect, artist, topographical illustrator and a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects, designed Holy Trinity Barnes and lived locally at 1 Barnes Villas, Barnes, where he died on 21 October 1872.
- Gillian Ayres , artist, grew up in Barnes.
- Sidney Richard Percy, landscape painter, lived with his father at 32 Castelnau Villas, Barnes, from 1845 to 1856.
- Henry William Pickersgill, portrait painter, lived at Nassau House, Barnes Green, from about 1854 to 1857. He is buried in Barnes Cemetery with his wife, who died in 1857.
- Kurt Schwitters, artist, lived at 39 Westmorland Road, Barnes.§
Musicians
- Marc Bolan, singer, songwriter, musician and poet, lived at Lonsdale Road, Barnes.
- George Frederick Handel, composer, lived at the house of Mr Mathew Andrews in Barn Elms in the summer of 1713.§
- Gustav Holst, composer, lived at 31 Gretna Road, Richmond from 1903 to 1908, then moved with his family to 10 The Terrace, Barnes until 1913.§
- Freddie Mercury, musician, vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Queen, shared a house at 40 Ferry Road.
Sportspeople
- Ebenezer Cobb Morley, sportsman, regarded as the father of The Football Association and modern football, lived in The Terrace at Barnes and is buried in Barnes Cemetery.
Writers
- Henry Fielding, novelist, lived at Milbourne House, Barnes Green in about 1750, when writing Amelia.§
- Judith Kerr, author and illustrator, and her husband, Nigel Kneale, scriptwriter, both lived in Barnes.
- Eric Newby, travel author, grew up in Castelnau Mansions, Barnes.
- Barbara Pym, novelist, lived at 47 Nassau Road.
- Richard Brinsley Sheridan, playwright, poet, theatre owner and MP, who owned Downe House, Richmond Hill, took a house on Barnes Terrace in 1810 when his son Tom was living at Milbourne House.
- Dodie Smith, author of I Capture the Castle and The Hundred and One Dalmatians, lived in Riverview Gardens.
- Colin Welland, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Chariots of Fire, lived in Barnes.
Demography and housing
| Ward | Detached | Semi-detached | Terraced | Flats and apartments | Caravans/temporary/mobile homes/houseboats | Shared between households |
| Barnes | 277 | 1,198 | 996 | 1,784 | 0 | 41 |
| Mortlake and Barnes Common | 167 | 547 | 1,765 | 2,453 | 1 | 8 |