My Adventures 3: Kew Palace

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On Friday the 14th of May 2021, I took the train and Tube to Kew in London. After an hour and forty minutes travelling time, I leave Kew Railway Station and walk towards Kew Gardens down Station Parade, onto High Park Road and across Sandycombe Road into Lichfield Road. At the top I turn right onto Kew Road passing the entrance to Kew Gardens.

I pass St Annes of Kew Church,

Originally built in 1714 on land given by Queen Anne, as a church within the parish of Kingston, St Anne's Church has been extended several times since, as the settlement of Kew grew with royal patronage. In 1770, King George III undertook to pay for the first extension, designed by Joshua Kirby who, four years later, was buried in the churchyard. The church became a parish church in its own right in 1788. In 1805, a new south aisle, designed by Robert Browne, was added, along with a gallery for the royal family's own use. Under King William IV it was further extended in 1837 by Sir Jeffry Wyattville. A mausoleum designed by the architect Benjamin Ferrey was added in 1851 and an eastern extension, including a dome, in 1882. Further extensions occurred in 1902, 1979 and 1988.The interior of the roof was repainted in 2013. To mark the church's tercentenary in 2014, a new baptismal font was installed.

The present parish hall, which is at right angles to the church and incorporates the previous choir vestry, was built in 1978. Its design echoes the materials and forms of the church building.

I reach Kew Bridge and turn left down the stairs to join the Thames Path.

The present bridge, which was opened in 1903 as King Edward VII Bridge by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, was designed by John Wolfe-Barry and Cuthbert A Brereton. Historic England listed it at Grade II in 1983.

Until 1759 a horse-ferry carried traffic across the river near here, owned for the last century of its existence by the Tunstall family, who also had a Brentford limekiln business. The entrepreneurial Robert Tunstall commissioned the building of a wooden toll-bridge, which lasted 30 years before his son, also Robert, replaced it with a stone structure.

On my left I can see Kew Palace.

Kew Palace is the smallest of all the royal palaces. It was originally built as a fashionable mansion for wealthy London silk merchant, Samuel Fortrey in 1631.

George II (r 1727-60) and Queen Caroline were first attracted to little Kew, thinking it a perfect lodging for their three eldest daughters. After them, several generations of Georgian royalty used Kew and nearby Richmond Lodge as weekend retreats from an intensely public life in town.

Kew reflects the intimate personal and domestic life of Georgian kings and queens for much of the 18th century. Today the interior of this tiny, atmospheric palace tells the powerful story of George III, his mental illness and the members of his family who lived and died there.

Kew fell under the shadow of George III’s mental illness. The King was incarcerated there during his first bout of ‘madness’ in 1788.Away from the public gaze, in the peace and seclusion of Kew, an increasingly desperate band of doctors tried to cure him. The King survived being administered powerful emetics and laxatives, freezing baths and leeching. He was also put into a strait-jacket if he refused to co-operate. He recovered by 1789, but suffered recurrences in 1801 and 1804, before suffering a severe decline in 1810. A regency was declared in 1811.

I walk on along the Thames path watching the rowers glide up river. On my left the whole way is Kew Gardens and the photograph above shows the bluebells in full bloom in a wooded area of Kew Gardens.

Kew Gardens benches overlooking the Thames.

Across on the far bank I can see Syon House.

Syon House is the west London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. A Grade I listed building, it lies within the 200-acre (80 hectare) Syon Park.

Syon House derives its name from Syon Abbey, a medieval monastery of the Bridgettine Order, founded in 1415 on a nearby site by King Henry V. The abbey moved to the site now occupied by Syon House in 1431. It was one of the wealthiest nunneries in the country and a local legend recites that the monks of Sheen had a ley tunnel running to the nunnery at Syon In 1539, the abbey was closed by royal agents during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the monastic community was expelled.

On the dissolution of the abbey, Syon became the property of the Crown for a short time before long lease to the 1st Duke of Somerset, who had the site rebuilt as Syon House in the Italian Renaissance style before his death in 1552. In 1541 and part of the following year Henry VIII's fifth wife Catherine Howard faced her long imprisonment at Syon. In February 1542, the King's men took her to the Tower of London and executed her on charges of adultery. Five years later, when King Henry VIII died, his coffin, surmounted by a jewelled effigy, rested at Syon House for one night before the procession continued to his burial place in St George's Chapel, Windsor.

Lady Jane Grey was living in the house in July 1553 with her husband when she received news that she was to become Queen.

In 1557 it was proposed to convert the new building to the earlier Catholic use but Elizabeth I of England acceded to the throne before this change was effected. Syon was acquired in 1594 by Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (1564–1632) since when it has remained in his family.

In the late 17th century, Syon was in the possession of Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, through his wife, Elizabeth Seymour (née Percy). After the future Queen Anne had a disagreement with her sister, Mary II (wife of William III, also known as William of Orange), over her friendship with Sarah Churchill, Countess of Marlborough, Queen Mary evicted Princess Anne from her court residence at Whitehall and Hampton Court. Princess Anne came to live at Syon with her close friends, the Somersets, in 1692. Anne gave birth to a stillborn child there. Shortly after the birth, Queen Mary came to visit her, again demanding that Anne dismiss the Countess of Marlborough and stormed out again when Anne flatly refused.

In the 18th century, Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, commissioned architect and interior designer Robert Adam and landscape designer Lancelot "Capability" Brown to redesign the house and estate. Work began on the interior reconstruction project in 1762. Five large rooms on the west, south and east sides of the House, were completed before work ceased in 1769. A central rotunda, which Adam had intended for the interior courtyard space, was not implemented, due to cost.

In 1951, Syon House was opened to the public for the first time under the 10th Duke and Duchess. Later, in 1995 under the 12th Duke, the family rooms became open to the public as well. As the Percy family continues to live there, they continue to enhance the house. Most recently the Duchess added a new central courtyard with the design of Marchioness of Salisbury.

I follow the Thames onwards, this really is the nicer side of London.

Across the river I can see a bright pink building.

The Pavillion in Syon Park, part of Syon House.

Just a little way pass the Pavillion I see the pretty view of Isleworth across the river.

Isleworth's former Thames frontage of approximately one mile, excluding that of the Syon Park estate, was reduced to little over half a mile in 1994 when a borough boundary realignment was effected in order to unite the district of St Margaret's wholly within London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. As a result, most of Isleworth's riverside is that part overlooking the 8.6-acre (3.5 ha) islet of Isleworth Ait: the short-length River Crane flows into the Thames south of the Isleworth Ait, and its artificial distributary the Duke of Northumberland's River west of the Isleworth Ait, one of two Colne distributaries constructed for aesthetic reasons in the 1600–1750 period.

I walk on and reach the Richmond Lock and Weir.

Richmond Lock and Footbridge is a lock, rising and falling low-tide barrage integrating controlled sluices and pair of pedestrian bridges on the River Thames and is a Grade II* listed structure. It is the furthest downstream of the forty-five Thames locks and the only one owned and operated by the Port of London Authority. It was opened in 1894 and is north-west of the centre of Richmond in a semi-urban part of south-west London. It connects the promenade at Richmond with the neighbouring district of St. Margarets on the west bank during the day and is closed at night to pedestrians – after 19:30 GMT or after 21:30 when BST is in use. At high tide the sluice gates are raised and partly hidden behind metal arches forming twin footbridges.

It was built to maintain the lowest-lying head of water of the forty-five navigable reaches of the Thames above the rest of the Tideway. Below the structure for a few miles, at low tide, the navigable channel is narrow and restricts access for vessels with the greatest draft. The next major point of mooring below the lock is, accordingly, at Brentford Dock.

I cross over the lock and follow the road on the other side.

I reach Twickenham Bridge and deciding the other bank is a nicer walk I cross back over.

Built in 1933 as part of the newly constructed "Chertsey Arterial Road", the bridge connects the Old Deer Park district of Richmond (historically Surrey) on the south bank of the river to St. Margarets (historically Middlesex) on the north bank, both within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Twickenham Bridge gets its name from the fact that it is on the road to the town of Twickenham (also in the same London borough), which is approximately 3 km upstream from Twickenham Bridge, past Richmond Bridge. Given the bridge's unique position on the river, St Margarets is actually at the southwestern end of the bridge, despite being on the north bank, while Richmond, south of the Thames, is at the northeastern end of the bridge.

I walk under the Richmond Railway Bridge and onwards towards the pub I've just spied upriver.

Reaching The White Cross Pub at Richmond, I stop for a pint of Youngs Ordinary Bitter, yep it certainly lived up to its name, nothing special!

I left the pub walked under the bridge and past the Richmond Boat Hire.

There is also skiffs for hire here at Thames Camping Skiff Hire.

Skiffs are wooden rowing boats about 26 feet long, built for ease of handling and efficient travelling. At night a canvas cover converts the entire craft into a snug tent with room for three people to sleep aboard. The cover can also provide weather protection during the day. You can expect to travel 12-20 miles a day. Handling the boat is quickly mastered, so you do not need to be an experienced oarsperson. Their boats are used every year in the traditional swan marking event. Their boats can also be seen in the latest Harry Potter film!

I walk on along the river until I reach Ham House, unfortunately only the gardens are open due to Lockdown restrictions.

Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It was completed by 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan courtier and Knight Marshal to James I, but came to prominence during the 1670s as the home of Elizabeth (Murray) Maitland, the Duchess of Lauderdale and Countess of Dysart and her second husband John Maitland, the Duke of Lauderdale. The house retains many original Jacobean features and furnishings and is claimed by the National Trust to be "unique in Europe as the most complete survival of 17th century fashion and power."

The formal listed avenues leading to the house from the A307 are formed by more than 250 trees stretching east from the house to the arched gate house at Petersham, and south across the open expanse of Ham Common where it is flanked by a pair of more modest gatehouses. A third avenue to the west of the house no longer exists, whilst the view to and from the Thames completes the principal approaches to the house.

From the initial survey drawings produced by Robert Smythson and son in 1609 it is clear that the garden design was considered as important as that of the house and that the two were intended to be in harmony. The original design shows the house set within a range of walled gardens, each with different formal designs, as well as an orchard and vegetable garden. However, uncertainty remains as to how much of the original design was actually realised. Nevertheless, the plans illustrate the influence of French garden design of the time, with its emphasis on visual effects and perspectives.

The 1671 plans for the renovation undertaken by the Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale, which have been attributed to John Slezer and Jan Wyck, demonstrate the continued importance of the garden design, with many features that can be experienced today such as the Orangery, the Cherry Garden, the Wilderness and eight grass squares (plats) on the south side of the house. Both the private apartments for the Duke and Duchess and the State Apartments added to the South Front of the house were designed to overlook the formal gardens, an innovation that was highly commended by contemporaries. John Evelyn remarked favourably on the garden design observed during his 1678 visit, noting “...the Parterres, Flower Gardens, Orangeries, Growves, Avenues, Courts, Statues, Perspectives, Fountaines, Aviaries…”. The Duchess also commissioned a set of iron gates for the north entrance to the property, which remain in place today.

The 3rd and 4th Earls of Dysart who subsequently inherited the estate maintained the formal garden features into the 18th century, while also planting avenues of trees in the wider vicinity. After inheriting the estate in 1799, the 6th Earl opened the north front of the property to the river and installed the Coade stone statue of the River God at the front of the house. He also created the sunken ha-ha which runs along the north entrance of the property. Louisa Manners, 7th Countess of Dysart, inherited the estate upon her brother’s death and was acquainted with the artist John Constable, who completed a sketch of Ham House from the south gardens during a visit in 1835.

By 1972, the gardens had become significantly overgrown – large bay trees at the front blocked the view of the busts in their niches, the south lawn had reverted to a single large expanse of grass and the Wilderness was overgrown with rhododendrons and sycamore trees. Work to restore the 17th century design to the eastern and southern parts of the garden began in 1975. In 1974, an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum entitled "The Destruction of the Country House" had included a model of Ham House with its gardens shown according to the 1672 plans created by Ms. Lucy (Henderson) Askew. This model illustrated the details of the 17th-century design in terms of both layout and plant selection and was used to garner support for the restoration project. By 1977, the grass plats and the structure of the Wilderness to the south of the house were re-established. The 1675 painting by Henry Danckaerts showing the Duke and Duchess in the south gardens was used to guide the restoration of the furniture and statues now in place.

In approaching the restoration of the “cherry garden” on the east side of the house, there was less documentary evidence available to guide the design. A set of diagonally-set parterres outlined by box hedges and cones were planted with lavender, with the whole garden being enclosed by tunnel arbours and double yew hedges. However, later archaeological studies completed in the 1980s indicated no evidence of formal gardens in this area prior to the 20th century. Despite this finding, the National Trust’s Gardens Panel decided not to remove the garden, but rather allow it to remain so long as visitors to the property were clearly informed of its origins.

The focus of garden restoration since 2000 has been the walled garden to the west of the house, to restore its use as a supply of fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers. The produce is used in the Orangery cafe, while the flowers are used to decorate the house. The garden itself is also used as an exhibition space, with information about tulip varieties and the range of edible flowers.

Films House starred in....

Spice World (1997)
The Young Victoria (2009) – The exterior was used as Kensington Palace.
An Englishman in New York (2009)
Never Let Me Go (2010) – The house was used as the setting for Hailsham Boarding School in the 2010 film Never Let Me Go, which starred Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley.[33]
Anna Karenina (2012) – Ham's interior provided the location for Vronsky's rooms in Joe Wright's 2012 film Anna Karenina.[34]
John Carter (2012) – Ham House's interior featured in Disney's version of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian adventure, John Carter.
A Little Chaos (2014)
Victoria and Abdul (2017)
Downton Abbey (2019)
The Last Vermeer (2019)
Rebecca (2020)

Television the house has starred in.........

Left, Right and Centre (1959)
Steptoe and Son (1964) – The BBC comedy series Steptoe and Son featured wintertime exterior shots in the episode "Homes Fit For Heroes" (1964).
Cambridge Spies (2003)
Ballet Shoes (2007)
Sense and Sensibility (2008)
Broadside (2009)
Downton Abbey (2010–2015)
The Scandalous Lady W (2015)
Taboo (2017)
Bodyguard (2018)
A Stitch in Time (2018–2019)
Belgravia (2020)
The Great (2020)
George Clarke's National Trust Unlocked (2020)
Taskmaster (Trailer for Channel 4 series) (2020)

I leave the house and head back down to the Thames.

I now pass Eel Pie Island. It is situated on the Tideway and can be reached only by footbridge or boat. The island was known as a major jazz and blues venue in the 1960s.

Today, the island has about 50 houses with 120 inhabitants, a couple of boatyards and some small businesses and artists' studios. It has nature reserves at either end, but there is no public access to these.

The island is privately owned and the public can only access the main pathway from the bridge, passing all the doors and gates of the houses and businesses on the island. On a few weekends a year, usually in June and December and dubbed "Artists' Open Studios", the public are invited to visit the collection of art studios, known as Eel Pie Island Art Studios.

The Eel Pie Studios or Oceanic Studios at The Boathouse on the mainland nearby, formerly owned by Pete Townshend, were the location of several significant pop and rock recordings. Townshend's publishing company, Eel Pie Publishing, is also named after the ait.

For his 2005 television show How To Start Your Own Country, presenter Danny Wallace claimed to be "Leader" of Eel Pie Island after invading the island via the footbridge. After a few hours, the Metropolitan Police Service forced him to give the island back peacefully to Queen Elizabeth II.

Radnor House Independent School

I pass Thames Young Mariners Camp.

Here on the bank is the Teddington Obelisk.

The Teddington Obelisk, a boundary marker near Teddington Lock marking the formal boundary of responsibility for the River Thames between the upstream reaches governed by the Environment Agency and the downstream reaches governed by the Port of London Authority.

Now I reach Teddington Lock.

Teddington Lock is a complex of three locks and a weir on the River Thames. It was first built in 1810.

That small building beyond has a blue plaque that commemorates the filming of Monty Pythons Fish slapping dance that was filmed here. But the bridge over is locked no doubt due to lockdown rules. Shame but I didnt walk over back in April 2017 when I was on a walk with Team South East walking group in the area.

I walk on passing the Teddington Weir.

Teddington Weir marks the river's usual tidal limit and is the lowest on the Thames. This lock is the lowest full-tide lock and second lowest of all-tide locks on the Thames.

The complex of civil engineering or infrastructure in essence consists of a large long weir and three locks: a conventional launch lock in regular use, very large barge lock and a small skiff lock. The barge lock was made to accommodate long barges, steamers or passenger ferries and has an additional set of gates half-way to operate more quickly for shorter craft. The staggered structures incorporate two reinforced narrow islands. The upper island is traversed by and accessible by the lock gates or Teddington Lock Footbridge.

I am now walking into Kingston Upon Thames.

For about 500 years, Half Mile Tree stood here, making the fact that Kingston-Upon-Thames was about half a mile away.

The tree itself decayed so much that it was felled in the 1950s, and replaced by this tree.

I pass the Boaters Inn.

A riverside beer garden that also backs directly onto the park and a quiet sunset balcony. The interior is a mix of classic and contemporary with a 65 seat riverside raised dining area opposite the bar and a smaller dining space by the back garden.

They're always been known for serving interesting ales and as such we are CAMRA certified and have an ever-changing selection of real ale from local and national microbreweries; all interesting and sometimes obscure. They’re also a local hub for food and have a seasonally changing menu for lunch and dinner, a comprehensive bar snacks menu as well as a full Sunday roast offering. During the summer they also offer a full BBQ menu from the garden kitchen.

A Mandarin Duck.

I cross over the Kingston Bridge.

Until Putney Bridge was opened in 1729, Kingston Bridge was the only crossing of the river between London Bridge and Staines Bridge.

According to 16th-century antiquarian John Leland, the bridge existed in the centuries when Anglo-Saxon England existed (after Roman Britain and before 1066). He wrote "And yn the old tyme the commune saying ys that the bridge where the commun passage was over the Tamise was lower on the ryver then it is now. And when men began the new town in the Saxons tymes they toke from the very clive of Comeparke [cliff of Coombe Park] side to build on the Tamise side; and sette a new bridge hard by the same." However, it is also claimed that the first Kingston Bridge was constructed in the 1190s.

I now walk along the other side of The Thames.

Ravens Ait Island.

I take a path that leads through Hampton Court Park.

This then turns into a golf course and I walk up a path that leads to the rear of Hampton Court Palace.

Building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief minister of King Henry VIII. In 1529, as Wolsey fell from favour, the cardinal gave the palace to the king to check his disgrace. The palace went on to become one of Henry's most favoured residences; soon after acquiring the property, he arranged for it to be enlarged so that it might more easily accommodate his sizeable retinue of courtiers. Along with St James' Palace, it is one of only two surviving palaces out of the many the king owned. The palace is currently in the possession of Queen Elizabeth II and the Crown.

In the following century, King William III's massive rebuilding and expansion work, which was intended to rival the Palace of Versailles, destroyed much of the Tudor palace. His work ceased in 1694, leaving the palace in two distinct contrasting architectural styles, domestic Tudor and Baroque. While the palace's styles are an accident of fate, a unity exists due to the use of pink bricks and a symmetrical, if vague, balancing of successive low wings. King George II was the last monarch to reside in the palace.

I have to walk back a way to a gate where I re-join the Thames and walk alongside the Palace's side.

Today, the palace is open to the public and a major tourist attraction, easily reached by train from Waterloo station in central London and served by Hampton Court railway station in East Molesey, in Transport for London's Zone 6. In addition, London Buses routes 111, 216, 411 and R68 stop outside the palace gates. The structure and grounds are cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown. In addition, the palace displays many works of art from the Royal Collection.

Apart from the Palace itself and its gardens, other points of interest for visitors include the celebrated maze, the historic royal tennis court (see below), and the huge grape vine, the largest in the world as of 2005. The palace's Home Park is the site of the annual Hampton Court Palace Festival and Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.