Barn Elms is an open space in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, located on the northerly loop of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

between Barnes and Fulham. The

WWT London Wetland Centre WWT London Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the Barnes area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest London, England, by Barn Elms. The site is formed of four disused Victorian re ...

(105 acres of what were once reservoirs) lies to the north of the open space, now largely given over to sporting venues. The site is split in two: the Barn Elms Sports Trust (BEST) fields, formerly managed as the Barn Elms Sports Centre by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and the Barn Elms Sports Centre.

Barn Elms Sports Trust

There are facilities for much amateur sport, such as football,

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

, and an

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

track. It is also the home ground for Barnes RFC, Barnes Eagles FC,

Stonewall FC Stonewall F.C. is Britain's top-ranking LGBTQ+ orientated football team and the first of its kind to be FA Chartered Standard. The club is open to all, with a sizeable number of players who do not define themselves as LGBTQ+. Stonewall are aff ...

London French RFC London French R.F.C. is a London-based Rugby Union club. It was founded in 1959 by interns at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle of London. The club has two XVs, with the first XV playing in Herts/Middlesex 2 following their relegation from H ...

. and

London Exiles RFC London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. The facilities were under threat of commercial development until the local community petitioned Richmond Council. To ensure the future of Barn Elms as playing fields the community has created the Barn Elms Sports Trust.

Barn Elms Sports Centre

Barn Elms Sports Centre is a 52 acre, multi-sports facility, with a multi station gym, 4 beach volleyball courts, 16 tennis courts, artificial hockey playing surfaces and a range of grass sports pitches. It is also the home ground for the semi-professional Barnes RFC.

History

Its name is derived from the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

house and parkland, the original

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

of Barnes, which stood on the site, until it was burnt out and demolished in 1954. In earlier times the manor house of Barnes was in the ownership of the Archbishop of Canterbury and then of the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral. The Georgian house replaced the earlier one occupied by Sir Francis Walsingham, "Elizabeth's Spymaster".

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

would visit Barn Elms to see her Spymaster. Barn Elms features in English literary history from the time the royalist poet

Abraham Cowley Abraham Cowley (; 161828 July 1667) was an English poet and essayist born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the 17th century, with 14 printings of his ''Works'' published between 1668 and 1721. Early ...

moved to the house belonging to John Cartwright in 1663. In the 1660s Barn Elms became a fashionable destination for boating picnics. Samuel Pepys, who arranged many a Sunday afternoon or moonlit evening boating party to Barn Elms himself, recorded that on 26 May 1667:

I walked the length of the Elmes, and with great pleasure saw some gallant ladies and people come with their bottles, and basket, and chairs, and form, to sup under the trees, by the water-side, which was mighty pleasant.

The oldest, and one of the largest

London plane London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

trees is in Barn Elms. When Barn Elms was in the possession of the bookseller

Jacob Tonson Jacob Tonson, sometimes referred to as Jacob Tonson the Elder (1655–1736), was an eighteenth-century English bookseller and publisher. Tonson published editions of John Dryden and John Milton, and is best known for having obtained a copyright ...

, the

Kit-Cat Club The Kit-Cat Club (sometimes Kit Kat Club) was an early 18th-century English club in London with strong political and literary associations. Members of the club were committed Whigs. They met at the Trumpet tavern in London and at Water Oakley ...

met at Barn Elms for many years. Here the "Kit-Kat portraits" hung; Tonson's extensions to the house, ''c''1703, seem to have been made under the general advice of John Vanbrugh, a Kit-Kat member.

John James Heidegger John James (Johann Jacob) Heidegger (19 June 1666 – 5 September 1749) was a Swiss count and leading impresario of masquerades in the early part of the 18th century. The son of Zürich clergyman Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Johann Jacob Heidegger ...

, the opera impresario, resided at Barn Elms, where he entertained

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

, and as Heidegger's guest

Georg Friederich Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

stayed here at his first arrival in England, in 1711. The house was later remodelled or rebuilt for Sir Richard Hoare, who died at Barn Elms, and enlarged in the early 19th century by his son,

Richard Colt Hoare Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet FRS (9 December 1758 – 19 May 1838) was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study of the history of his home ...

. When

Hammersmith Bridge Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, and Barnes in the London Borough ...

was erected in 1824–27, the company that undertook the work bought Barn Elms and drove the access road, Upper Bridge Road, now Castelnau, across the park. The house was also the home of Sir Lancelot Shadwell, who was Vice Chancellor of England in the 19th century: on one occasion he delivered an injunction while up to his neck in the cool lake. From 1883 to 1939 Barn Elms was used as the club-house of the

Ranelagh Club The Ranelagh Club was a polo club located at Barn Elms in south west London, England. It was founded in 1878 as a split-off from the Hurlingham Club and by 1894 was the largest polo club in the world. The club had approximately 3000 members in 1 ...

. In 1891 Barn Elms for a short time played host to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. The club was forced to move there after it became impossible to play soccer at their home ground in

Brondesbury Brondesbury (), which includes Brondesbury Park, is an area in the London Borough of Brent, in London, England. The area is traditionally part of the Ancient Parish and subsequent Municipal Borough of Willesden, one of the areas that merged to fo ...

which was shared with London Scottish rugby club. The house became derelict and was demolished following a fire in 1954.C. J. Barrett, ''The History of Barn Elms and the Kit Cat club: now the Ranelagh Club'', 1889.

Notes and references

External links

Barn Elms Sports TrustBarnes Eagles FCBarn Elms Athletics TrackWetlands Centre
{{LB Richmond Barnes, London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Fulham F.C. home grounds Sport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Queens Park Rangers F.C.