Barnes
Barnes is a district in 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 lot of 1700s and nineteenth century buildings in the streets near Barnes Pond, which make up Barnes Village conservation area where many of the mid-19th century buildings are found. On the east riverside, there's the WWT London Wetland Centre which adjoins several fields for three principal national team sports.
The town was once 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 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 carried out in 1984.
Barnes has 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 situated in St Paul’s Cathedral. The town features a non-league football club called 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 recognised for rowing; the loop of the Thames surrounding Barnes is a part of the Championship Course made use of for the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.