Barnes
Barnes is a district inside the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It's inside the north east of the borough and is positioned 9.3 km west south west of Charing Cross.
Barnes has lots of 1700s and 19th century buildings in the streets close to Barnes Pond, which make up Barnes Village conservation area exactly where many of the mid-19th century buildings are placed. On the east riverside, there's the WWT London Wetland Centre which adjoins a number of fields for 3 primary national team sports.
The town was previously a 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 13th century, and was added to once again in 1786. A huge fire destroyed components of the extensions to the chapel in 1978, so restoration work was performed in 1984.
Barnes includes 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 located in St Paul’s Cathedral. The town has a non-league football team referred to 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 used for the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
