Beautiful Streets

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Richmond Hill

Georgian houses along the one view in England that an Act of Parliament forbids anyone to build on.

Terraces

Photo by Brit in Seoul, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Terrace at the top of Richmond Hill looks south-west over the Thames as it bends round the meadows towards Petersham and Ham. Sir Joshua Reynolds, who had a house up here, and J. M. W. Turner both painted it, and Walter Scott called it an unrivalled landscape.

The protection is the unusual part. The Richmond, Ham and Petersham Open Spaces Act of 1902 covers the land on and below the hill and keeps it from being built on, which makes this the only view in England safeguarded by its own Act of Parliament - the reason the foreground is still meadow and not housing, more than a century after the land became worth a great deal. Terrace Gardens drop away below the walk, and the houses along the top are the Georgian and later terrace that grew up to look at it.

Where
Richmond Hill, Richmond, TW10
Nearest station
Richmond · 16 min walk

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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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