Thanks to the Gas Man – unexpected evidence for the location of Twickenham Park

This article was published in the BOTLHS newsletter: George A.J.T. Thanks to the Gas Man –unexpected evidence for the location of Twickenham Park. Borough of Twickenham Local History Society Newsletter, (2026) 201: 9-11. It describes some unexpected evidence that provides support for the location of the house of Twickenham Park. This is a lightly edited version of the report.

Detail from Moses Glover map of 1635 showing Twickenham Park House

One of the missing great houses of Twickenham was Twickenham Park, which sat in the middle of a estate that approximates to the area bordered by the River Thames, Richmond Road and St Margarets Road. It had many illustrious residents, perhaps most notably Sir Francis Bacon who entertained Elizabeth I in the house, but also Lucy Harington the Countess of Bedford, Thomas Vernon who introduced the weeping willow into England in his garden, Lord Berkeley of Stratton (who was visited by King Charles II) and Harriet, Duchess of Newcastle ¹.

The layout of the building is shown in a plan by Robert Smythson in 1609. However, this building was replaced (probably during the ownership of Lucy, Countess of Bedford). In Glover’s map of the Hundred of Isleworth it is seen as a typically Jacobean House with two towers. It was built of brick, and other pictures show it also had a triangular pediment.

In the late 18^th century the house was modernised, and pictures of that time show it with a more classical facade. However, in spite of its size and importance it was demolished in Francis Gosling in 1805-1809.

Alan Urwin, in his classic history of the house ², suggests that it was located along The Avenue (around house numbers 29-33, Figure 1). In a subsequent piece of work he suggested the location was between the Lake in the Trust Grounds and St George’s Road ³.

The building was known to straddle the boundary between Twickenham and Isleworth. In the annual Beating the Bounds ceremony to mark the boundary a man would climb through a window in the house to meet the group in the hall, where they would sing the 100^th Psalm and have a glass of wine before he climbed out of another window ⁴. It was assessed as having 18 hearths in Twickenham and 25 in Isleworth.

The Glover map shows the boundary between the two parishes as a bold red line. Interestingly the black and white pictures of the Glover map in Urwin’s book and pamphlet show this line very faintly ^{2, 3}. This would have made it difficult for him to use the boundary to locate the house.

The boundary shown in the Glover map, and its relationship with the house, is consistent with Sauthier’s map of 1786/7. This boundary is shown on Ordnance Survey and other maps (forming the borough  boundaries) until the transfer of land from Hounslow to Richmond in 1993. This makes it possible to locate Twickenham Park House to close to the junction of St George’s Road and The Avenue  (Figure 1).

Figure 2: Anachronistic map showing current road layout, the two locations of Twickenham Park proposed by Alan Urwin (AU1 ², AU2 ³) and the location suggested by the parish boundary (shaded black). The parish (and borough) boundary shown in broken line.

Picture of wall in hole

Further evidence came in March 2024 when there were road works to improve the gas supply. A large hole was dug on St George’s Road, between 27 and 29 The Avenue. Visible in the hole was a low brick wall, running along St George’s Road. Based on the size and nature of the brickwork (one of which was retrieved), local architect and architectural historian Paul Velluet tentatively dated the wall as early 16^th to early 17^th century (Figure 2). At the time there were considerable road works with many holes dug in St George's and other roads - none, however, revealed similar historic brickwork.

Figure 2: Location of hole in St George’s Road dug for gasworks in March 2024 between 27 and 29 The Avenue (marked X, the wall followed the line of the road) and two photographs taken at scene.

Picture of bricks in wall

The evidence of a wall of this age is consistent with the presumed location of Twickenham Park House. It also suggests that there may be further remains of the house under St George’s Road and surrounding properties. While local residents would not welcome further gas works, if they happened they may provide an opportunity to explore the remains of this important local building.

For sake of space the historic maps cannot be reproduced in this article, but can be found in reference ¹.

References

¹Andrew J.T. George. The Gardens and People of Twickenham Park. (Bristol: Redcliffe Press, 2025).

²Alan C.B. Urwin. Twicknam Parke. (Privately published, 1965).

³———. The Houses and Gardens of Twickenham Park 1227-1805. (Twickenham: Borough of Twickenham Local History Society, 1984).

⁴Edward Ironside. The History and Antiquities of Twickenham. Being the First Part of Parochial Collections for the County of Middlesex. (London: John Nichols, 1797).