Barnes is a district within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It's within the north east of the borough and is positioned 5.8 miles west south west of Charing Cross.
Barnes has plenty of 18th and 19th century buildings in the streets close to Barnes Pond, which make up Barnes Village conservation area where most of the mid-19th century buildings sit. On the east riverside, there is the WWT London Wetland Centre which adjoins many fields for 3 primary national team sports.
The town used to be part of Surrey, and it appears in the Domesday book as ‘Berne’. Barnes’ village church was built between 1100 and 1150 and named the Chapel of St Mary’s. It was extended in the early thirteenth century, and was added to again in 1786. A huge fire destroyed components of the extensions to the chapel in 1978, so restoration work was performed in 1984.
Barnes has 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 club named Stonewall FC, who play at Barn Elms Playing Fields.
Barnes Rugby Club is considered 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 employed for the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.