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Originally part of the Whitton Park estate in Middlesex that at one time comprised 200 acres, Murray Park is named after Colonel Gostling Murray, whose family owned the estate from 1766-1892. Archibald Campbell, Lord Islay and later 3rd Duke of Argyll, first began acquiring the land from 1722 in the creation of his country seat in England. Known as ‘the treemonger of Whitton' his famed garden featured rare and exotic trees, many of which were cultivated here. In 1738, Campbell created a separate estate on the site of today's Murray Park for his mistress, Mrs Elizabeth Ann Williams. On his death in 1761 the entire estate at Whitton went to Mrs Williams and then to their illegitimate son, William, who divided and sold it in 1766. In 1796/7 the estate was re-united by George Gostling, who invited Humphry Repton to advise on the landscape design. What had by then become known as the Whitton Park Estate survived until 1894 when it was eventually sold for housing. Following efforts to save some open space, Twickenham UDC purchased 10 acres of Mrs Williams' former estate in the creation of Murray Park, which opened on 1 May 1914.
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Normansfield Hospital was founded in 1868 by Dr John Haydon Langdon-Down who converted a private house as a private hospital for subnormal patients. He identified and pioneered treatment for the condition later named Down's Syndrome after him. Believing in the educational value of music and drama as part of their care, an amusement hall was built in 1877. Other therapeutic activities included art and craft workshops and farming, and amenities in the grounds included an orchard and gardens. The hospital transferred to the NHS in the 1950s, later became a day centre for the mentally handicapped, but closed in 2000. The remains of the landscaped grounds contained many fine trees although much of the land had been built over and after closure the site became neglected. In 2008 planning permission was given for its redevelopment as Gabriella Park Gardens, a private housing scheme of 89 dwellings. The Normansfield Theatre, refurbished through a Section 106 agreement, has been opened as part of the Langdon Down Museum of Learning Disability.
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North Sheen Cemetery was opened in 1909 to provide for Fulham burials when the old cemetery on Fulham Palace Road was full, hence its occasional name as Fulham New Cemetery. The cemetery was laid out with a grid layout of paths and initially had a temporary chapel, which was replaced by a small red brick chapel in 1931. Near this is the memorial garden to both world wars. The original boundary railings and its stone gate piers and ornamental gates at the main entrance on Lower Richmond Road.
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Originally part of an orchard on the Popham Estate, the site was first opened as a public recreation ground in June 1909 and was further extended in 1923. In December 1963 it was renamed North Sheen Park but has since reverted to being called North Sheen Recreation Ground. In 1995 London Welsh Amateur Football Club, which had been founded c.1890, made its home here.
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Oak Avenue Nature Reserve was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 1992 having been created on the site of a former derelict garden nursery. Following site clearance and planting of a native hedge and bulbs, the site now has rich habitats of both woodland and scrubland around the boundary edges, a seasonal pond that is dry during summer months, and wildflowers that produce nectar and pollen for local wildlife.
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Land for a new cemetery was granted by Queen Victoria in 1838 when both the churchyard of Twickenham Parish Church of St Mary and its supplementary burial ground at Holly Road, now Holly Road Garden of Rest, were full. However, the new Oak Lane Cemetery itself filled up quickly due to the rapidly expanding population largely due to the coming of the railway to Twickenham; the last burial here was in 1955 and the cemetery was officially closed. Friends of Oak Lane Cemetery was set up and raised funds enabling them to restore paths and provide an information plaque in 2001. Surrounded by housing, the small cemetery is nevertheless a haven for wildlife.
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In 1854 a plot of land in the north-east corner of Barnes Common was enclosed to provide an additional burial ground for St Mary's Barnes, whose churchyard had become overcrowded. The cemetery was laid out with paths, a chapel was built and it was in use until the mid-1950s, with many artists and writers among those buried. After it closed to burials, it was taken over in 1966 by Richmond Borough Council who intended to turn it into a lawn cemetery. The chapel and lodge were demolished, and the boundary railings removed. It was badly vandalised over the ensuing years and many of the headstones broken. The Council has now declared it a nature reserve and it is effectively part of Barnes Common.
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* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
The Old Deer Park is a fragment of the land connected to Richmond Palace, named from the hunting park created by James I in 1604. It was an integral part of the royal estate until the mid C19th when a ha-ha was built between the ornamental gardens at Kew and the parkland to the south. A monastery established in 1414 was later the site of George III's Royal Observatory, built in time to observe the Transit of Venus in 1769 and on the original Meridian Line used before Greenwich became the Prime Meridian in 1884, still marked by a number of obelisks. Capability Brown, royal gardener from 1764, created an Arcadian landscape uniting Kew Gardens, Syon Park and the Old Deer Park. Since the C19th the Crown Estate has leased parts of the park for various sports activities and today part is public recreation ground and part leased to private clubs and other organisations.
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Land for what is now called Old Mortlake Burial Ground was purchased in 1854 and the first burial took place in December. In 1874 Mortlake Burial Board was established and further pieces of land were purchased, and the cemetery was enlarged to the west in 1877. The original cemetery chapel was demolished in 1969, its site marked by a an area of tarmac in front of the main entrance gates on South Worple Way. From here an avenue of mature horse chestnuts flanks the path that prior to the extension ran through the centre of the cemetery. A brick lodge was built at a second entrance on Avenue Gardens, now privately owned. The cemetery has many fine mature trees and a number of historic tombs including those of Charles Dickens' eldest son and sister-in-law.
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Built in the early C18th, the house was later known as Orleans House after Louis Phillippe, Duc d'Orleans who lived here in exile from France in 1800-14 and 1815-17, before he became King of France in 1830. His widow returned to Twickenham and purchased Orleans House in 1852, her son owning it until 1877. The early C18th house was demolished in 1926/7 and the only surviving buildings are stables, wings of the main house and the Octagon, a garden room of c.1720, now Orleans House Gallery, set in shady woodlands. The riverside Orleans Gardens were originally linked to Orleans House via a tunnel under the road and were purchased by Twickenham Corporation in the 1930s.
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Palewell Common is part of the extensive common lands that existed before the enclosure of Richmond Park, from which it is separated by a brick wall. Part of the common is wooded, the rest is playing fields and tennis courts. To the north and separated by a road, a children's paddling pool marked the site of the Pale Well, which was surrounded by mature plane trees.
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The largest of Eric Lyons' schemes for Span Developments Ltd, Parkleys consists of 169 flats and 6 shops in two and three storey blocks on the main road. Behind this 'protective barrier' two storey terraces are grouped around enclosures, with vistas of the landscaping around and beyond. The landscaping of trees, grass and shrubs emphasise colour, contrast, texture and contour with areas of paving, lawns and planting on rectangular designs. The spirit of the original design is still evident. Prior to housing development the land had been a nursery and a number of existing trees were retained and incorporated into the landscaping.