Barnes
Barnes is a district within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is in the north east of the borough and is positioned 5.8 miles west south west of Charing Cross.
Barnes has a lot of 18th and nineteenth century buildings in the streets close to Barnes Pond, which make up Barnes Village conservation area where most of the mid-19th century buildings are found. On the east riverside, there is the WWT London Wetland Centre which adjoins a number of fields for three principal national team sports.
The town once was a part of Surrey, and it appears within the Domesday book as ‘Berne’. Barnes’ village church was constructed between 1100 and 1150 and named the Chapel of St Mary’s. It was extended during the early thirteenth century, and was added to once more in 1786. A large fire destroyed parts of the extensions to the church in 1978, so restoration work was performed in 1984.
Barnes has a large amount of sporting history spanning decades. In football, a High Master of St Paul’s School, Richard Mulcaster, is recognised with turning mob football into a refereed team sport. The school sits on Lonsdale Road, but at the time of Mulcaster it was located in St Paul’s Cathedral. The town has a non-league football team named Stonewall FC, who play at Barn Elms Playing Fields.
Barnes Rugby Club is known to be the oldest club in the world in any football code. They play next to the WWT London Wetlands Centre. The town is also known for rowing; the loop of the Thames surrounding Barnes is part of the Championship Course utilised for the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
