KINGSTON HUNDRED 



with some solid material, apparently flint, and all 

 coated with cement. A later but very interesting 

 house is that in which Mrs. Fitzherbert lived, No. 3 

 The Terrace, on the hill above the Terrace Gardens 

 and commanding a beautiful view across the Surrey 

 hills. It was built by one of the brothers Adam in 

 the time of George III, and is one of the finest 

 examples of their work. The staircase has wrought- 

 iron balustrading and a black-wood hand-rail ; the 

 ceilings of the two rooms on the ground floor and 

 the drawing-room and front bed-room on the first 

 floor are all richly decorated ; the fireplaces are of 

 marble, that of the drawing-room being a fine one 

 of white marble with some carved figures in low relief. 

 The iron grill to the front doorway and the iron 

 railing in front of the house are also of good design. 

 The house is now occupied by Mrs. Aldin. 



By the side of the Trumpeting House, referred to 

 above, is Queensberry House, a modern mansion built 

 in the grounds of an older one called Cholmondeley 

 House, which was erected at the beginning of the 

 1 8th century by George, third Earl of Cholmondeley. 

 It afterwards came into the possession of the Earl of 

 Warwick and subsequently passed to Sir Richard 

 Lyttelton, from whom John Earl Spencer purchased 

 it for his mother the Countess Cowper. After her 

 death in 1780 "' it was bought by the Duke of 

 Queensberry, during whose ownership it was the 

 scene of great gaiety. At a later date it was occupied 

 by the Marquess of Hertford ; but in 1830, after some 

 years of neglect, it was pulled down with the excep- 

 tion of a few arches which still remain. The present 

 house, which was built in 1831, is the residence of 

 Mr. Geoffrey de TrafFord. The next two houses 

 higher up the river are called Cholmondeley Lodge 

 and Cholmondeley Cottage. These look down upon 

 the picturesque embankment called Cholmondeley 

 Walk. Above it another walk called Waterside is 

 overlooked by the modern St. Helena Terrace, and 

 higher up are the gardens of Heron, once Herring, 

 Court, which now occupy the site of the old Royal 

 Hotel. One of these houses is the residence of Gen. 

 Sir Harry Prendergast, K.C.B., V.C., R.E. There 

 are some interesting houses near and above the 

 bridge. One of them, originally Camborne House, 

 but now called Northumberland House after Eleanor 

 Dowager Duchess of Northumberland, who lived here 

 in recent years, is let to the Richmond Club. Bridge 

 House was built by Sir Robert Taylor about the 

 same time as Asgill House. Ivy Hall was a residence 

 of William IV when Duke of Clarence, and Gothic 

 House was occupied for a short time by Madame de 

 Stafil. Bingham Villa, named after Lady Anne 

 Bingham, who lived there, stands on the site of a 

 small inn called the ' Blue Anchor.' Higher up the 

 river is the charmingly situated Buccleuch House, 

 once called Montagu Villa, which was built for 

 George Duke of Montagu, and passed on his death 

 in 1 790 to his son-in-law the Duke of Buccleuch. 10 

 A magnificent fte was given here by the fifth 

 duke in 1842 in honour of Queen Victoria and 

 the Prince Consort. A museum belonging to the 

 house, which stands on the other side of Petersham 

 Road, is connected with it by a subterranean passage. 

 Buccleuch House and grounds and the grounds of 

 Lansdowne House, 1 " which stood on the hill above 



RICHMOND 



the river, were afterwards united and the estate sold 

 to the Richmond Vestry in 1886. The greater part 

 of the gardens are beautifully laid out as a pleasure 

 ground called the Terrace Gardens, which were 

 opened to the public by the late Duchess of Teck, 

 representing Queen Victoria, the lady of the manor, 

 in 1887. Buccleuch House itself and part of the 

 grounds were sold by the vestry to Sir Whittaker Ellis, 

 to whom they still belong. Beyond this house stands 

 Devonshire Lodge, formerly the Wilderness Club, 

 which was built after the demolition of Devonshire 

 Cottage, so named after the celebrated beauty Geor- 

 giana Duchess of Devonshire who lived there. Above 

 the river, on the slope which reaches to the Terrace, 

 is the Mansion Hotel, which occupies the site of 

 Nightingale Hall, formerly the abode of the Ladies 

 Ashburnham. On the Terrace itself are two houses, 

 one called The Wick, on the site of the old Bull's 

 Head Tavern, and the other Wick House, built for 

 Sir Joshua Reynolds, who here entertained many royal 

 and aristocratic sitters as well as numerous literary 

 friends. Among the houses opposite the Terrace are 

 Downs House, once the residence of Richard Brinsley 

 Sheridan, and later of the twenty-fifth Earl of Craw- 

 ford, author of the Lives of the Lindsays. A large 

 house which afterwards became the Queen's Hotel 

 was at one time occupied by the Countess of Mans- 

 field, who died in 1843."* Doughty House is the 

 residence of Sir Frederick Cook, bart., and the one 

 next to it was occupied by Rhoda Broughton. Terrace 

 House is owned by Sir Max Waechter, D.L., J.P. 

 Next to the park gates is Ancaster House, named 

 after the Duke of Ancaster, who sold it to Sir Lionel 

 Darell, a favourite of George III. Opposite to this, 

 overlooking the river, is the famous Star and Garter 

 Hotel, which will always be associated with Richmond, 

 although nearly the whole of it is actually in the 

 parish of Petersham. Originally built in 1738, it 

 acquired its great reputation during the I gth century, 

 when it was a favourite resort of the fashionable 

 world. In the centre of the cross-roads at the top of 

 the hill there is a drinking fountain that was erected 

 a few years ago by the Society for the Prevention of 

 Cruelty to Animals. Many other noteworthy houses in 

 different parts of the parish might be enumerated if 

 space permitted. Among them are four of red brick 

 facing the Green, known as Maids of Honour Row, 

 which were built in the reign of George I. In one 

 of these the late Sir Richard Burton lived when a 

 boy. Lichfield House in Sheen Road, so called after 

 the bishop who once resided there, is now occupied 

 by Mrs. Maxwell (Miss Braddon) and her son Mr. 

 W. B. Maxwell. Spring Grove in the lower part of 

 Queen's Road is the residence of Sir Charles Rugge- 

 Price, bart., D.L., J.P. It was built by the Mar- 

 quess of Lothian in the early part of the 1 8th century 

 and was purchased by the grandfather of the present 

 owner in 1797. At No. 8 Parkshot, near the station, 

 now the offices of the Richmond Board of Guardians, 

 'George Eliot 'lived from 1855 to 1859 in lodgings 

 that have since been pulled down. Here she wrote 

 Scenes of Clerical Life an& part of Adam Bede, and here 

 also she and George Lewes were visited by Herbert 

 Spencer and other friends. Abercorn House is 

 now used as a residence by H.M. the King of 

 Portugal. 



14a G.E.C. Pttrage, ii, 395. 

 > Ibid. V, 344-5- 



144 Lansdowne House belonged to the Marquess 

 of Lansdowne, but was pulled down about 1865. 



539 



144 G.E.C. Ptiragt, V, *I5. 



