George Street, at the confluence of the A305 and

A307 road The A307 road runs through SW London and NW Surrey. It is primary at the north-east end; the remainder is non-primary, generally superseded in the mid-twentieth century in two stages by newer alignments of the Portsmouth Road, the Kingston by ...

s, is the

high street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Com ...

and was one of the first streets to be developed in the town. Previously known as Great Street, it was renamed after King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

in 1769. Buildings on the street include the

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

Greyhound House, formerly the Greyhound Hotel, in a building dating from the 1730s. The facade of the former

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

building at 70–72 George Street, now a retail store, incorporates the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of the former Municipal Borough of Richmond, which existed from 1890 to 1965. Number 29, now a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

Metro, was built in 1896 by the brothers Alfred and Harold Wright as a drapers shop. It developed into the first department store in Richmond, Wright Brothers Ltd, in 1929. Wright Brothers was purchased by Hide & Co Ltd, of Kingston, in 1940; they were taken over by

House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...

in 1975, and the department store was sold to

Owen Owen Owen Owen was a Liverpool-based operator of department stores in the United Kingdom and Canada. Beginning with a drapery shop in Liverpool, a chain of department stores was built up, often by taking over rival retailers. The company remained u ...

in 1976 and closed in 1990. Number 80 George Street was the site of J H Gosling & Sons, department store, founded as a drapers by John Hunt Gosling in 1796. The site expanded to include 75-79. In 1947 it was taken over by John Barker & Co. (later acquired by House of Fraser in 1957); it was demolished in 1968 after being damaged in a fire. It reopened as

Dickins & Jones Dickins & Jones was a high-quality department store in London, England, which traded between 1835 and 2007, although tracing its origins to 1790. From 1835, the main store was in London's Regent Street. In its final years the store had branches a ...

on completion of new building 1970; renamed House of Fraser 2007; closed in 2020 and is now undergoing redevelopment. The street is one-way eastbound. Westbound traffic uses Eton Street, Paradise Road and Red Lion Street.

Memorial plaque

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

a memorial plaque, relocated in 2014 from the bank's former branch in Ham, commemorates Angela Woolliscroft, a

bank teller A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. ...

who was murdered in 1976 during a bank robbery at the Ham branch. It reads: "In fond memory of Angela Woolliscroft who died on 10th November 1976. A member of staff of this branch who will always be remembered by her colleagues."

Gallery

File:Old post office building, George Street (geograph 3701290).jpg, Former Post Office building on George Street File:Former Post Office in Richmond, Badge over entrance.jpg, Facade of the Post Office building, showing the

of the former Municipal Borough of Richmond File:Angela Woolliscroft plaque, Richmond.jpg, Memorial plaque paying tribute to

Angela Woolliscroft, murdered in 1976 during a robbery at Barclays Bank's branch in Ham File:Richmond, Wright Brothers building, George Street, facade.jpg, Corner of the Wright Brothers building

References

External links

Aerial view: the junction of King Street and George Street, Richmond, August 1928
{{LB Richmond Barclays High Streets Richmond, London Shopping streets in London Streets in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Memorial plaque

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links