Old Deer Park *

Site on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens, for Register Entry see https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England was established in 1984 and was commonly called English Heritage. In April 2015 it split into 2 separate entities, Historic England (HE), which continues to champion and protect the historic environment, and the English Heritage Trust, whose role is to look after the 400+ historic sites and monuments owned by the state. HE manages the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) that includes over 400,000 items ranging from prehistoric monuments to office blocks, battlefields and parks, which benefit from legal protection.

The Old Deer Park is a fragment of the land connected to Richmond Palace built by Henry VII, named from the hunting park created by James I in 1604. It was once 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 Carthusian monastery, the Charterhouse of Jesus of Bethlehem of Sheen, was established in 1414 by Henry V on land from the former Royal Warren, on a site which was at the centre of the present Old Deer Park. Later, George III acquired the monastery site and commissioned Sir William Chambers (1723-96) to built the Royal Observatory in time to observe the Transit of Venus in 1769; the Observatory was on the original Meridian Line used to set the King's time at the Houses of Parliament before Greenwich became the Prime Meridian in 1884. A number of obelisks still exist in the park marking the old meridian line, which were used for adjusting instruments. Capability Brown was appointed by George III as royal gardener in 1764 and was responsible for creating 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. In 1865 Richmond Cricket Club leased c.4 hectares adjacent to the old royal laundry and in 1866 the club let out the ground for winter football; various sports including hockey, croquet, archery and athletics took place here in the following years and in 1885 Richmond Town Cricket Club and Athletics Association leased the first 3.64 hectares of the current Athletics Ground, bring other sports such as tennis, cycling, bowls, quoits and athletics. The Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club leased land around the Observatory in 1892 and two 18-hole golf courses were laid out. An annual Royal Horse Show took place on the Athletics Ground in 1892 and is still held each year in June on the lower flood plain level of the public Recreation Ground. Richmond Borough Council leased over 35 hectares in 1898 in the southern part for football, hockey, cricket, a drill hall for the new Territorial Army and a tea room; originally called Old Deer Park Recreation Ground, it is now known as Richmond Recreation Ground. A Motor Show took place here in 1899. From WWI until 1932 c.7.5 hectares were used for allotments to provide food for people of Richmond and Kew. London Scottish Rugby Club moved to the Athletics Ground in 1892. The eastern part is leased to the Athletics Association.

The site now consists of a public park, Richmond Recreation Ground, as well as a number of private sports grounds including the Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club, Richmond Athletic Ground, London Welsh Rugby Football Club, and Richmond Cricket Club. Richmond Swimming Baths were built in 1966 and are leased by Whitewater Leisure plc.

Crown Estate's Landscape Strategy for Old Deer Park was commissioned in November 1997 from Kim Wilkie Associates to provide a holistic framework for co-ordinated management of the park. As part of this project work is being undertaken to re-open vistas within the park such as the original Meridian line on which the King's Observatory is located which now has public information boards (Thames Path).