Barnes
Barnes is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It's in the north east of the borough and is positioned 9.3 km west south west of Charing Cross.
Barnes has lots of 18th and nineteenth century buildings in the streets close to Barnes Pond, which make up Barnes Village conservation area exactly where a lot of the mid-19th century buildings sit. Around the east riverside, there is the WWT London Wetland Centre which adjoins several fields for three main national team sports.
The town was previously part of Surrey, and it appears in the Domesday book as ‘Berne’. Barnes’ village church was constructed in between 1100 and 1150 and named the Chapel of St Mary’s. It was extended in the early 13th century, and was added to again in 1786. A large fire destroyed components of the extensions to the chapel in 1978, so restoration work was done in 1984.
Barnes features a great deal 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 in the time of Mulcaster it was located in St Paul’s Cathedral. The town includes a non-league football team called 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 utilised for the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
