Barnes
Barnes is a district within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is within the north east of the borough and is positioned 9.3 km west south west of Charing Cross.
Barnes has a great deal of 1700s and 19th century buildings in the streets near Barnes Pond, which make up Barnes Village conservation area exactly where the majority of the mid-19th century buildings are found. Around the east riverside, there's the WWT London Wetland Centre which adjoins several fields for 3 principal national team sports.
The town was once part of Surrey, and it appears in the Domesday book as ‘Berne’. Barnes’ village church was built in 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 again in 1786. A large fire destroyed parts of the extensions to the church in 1978, so restoration work was carried out in 1984.
Barnes features a lot 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 situated in St Paul’s Cathedral. The town includes a non-league football team known as Stonewall FC, who play at Barn Elms Playing Fields.
Barnes Rugby Club is believed 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 identified for rowing; the loop of the Thames surrounding Barnes is a part of the Championship Course employed for the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
