Strawberry Hill, London

infobox UK place
country = England
map_type = Greater London
region= London
population=
official_name= Strawberry Hill
london_borough= Richmond
constituency_westminster= Twickenham
post_town= TWICKENHAM
postcode_district= TW1, TW2
postcode_area=TW
dial_code= 020
os_grid_reference= TQ155725
latitude= 51.4381
longitude= -0.3350

Strawberry Hill is an affluent area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames near Twickenham. It is a suburban development situated 10.4 miles (16.7 km) west south-west of Charing Cross. It consists of a number of residential roads centered around a small development of shops and serviced by Strawberry Hill railway station. The area's ACORN demographic type is characterized as well-off professionals, larger houses, and converted flats.

Walpole's villa

The nineteenth-century development is named for "Strawberry Hill", the fancifully "Gothic" villa of Horace Walpole, a folly which he purchased in 1748 and rebuilt in stages to his own specifications, expanding the little property from five acres to forty-six over the years.

Walpole and two friends, including the connoisseur and amateur architect, John Chute (1701-1776), and draftsman, Richard Bentley (1708-1782), called themselves a “Committee of Taste” which would modify the architecture of the building. Bentley left the group abruptly after an argument in 1761. William Robinson of the Royal Office of Works contributed professional experience in overseeing construction. They looked at many examples of architecture in England and in other countries, adapting such works as the chapel at Westminster Abbey built by Henry VII for inspiration for the fan vaulting of the gallery, without any pretense at scholarship. Chimney-pieces were improvised from engravings of tombs at Westminster and Canterbury and Gothic stone fretwork blind details were reproduced by painted wallpapers, while in the Round Tower added in 1771, the chimney-piece was based on the tomb of Edward the Confessor "improved by Mr. Adam".

He incorporated many of the exterior details of cathedrals into the interior of the house. Externally there seemed to be two predominant styles ‘mixed’; a style based on castles with turrets and battlements, and a style based on Gothic cathedrals with arched windows and stained glass.

The building evolved similarly to how a medieval cathedral often evolved over time, with no fixed plan from the beginning. Walpole added new features over a thirty-year period, as he saw fit.

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Walpole's 'little Gothic castle' has significance as one of the most influential individual buildings of such Rococo "Gothick" architecture which prefixed the later developments of the nineteenth century Gothic revival, and for increasing the use of Gothic designs for houses. This style has variously been described as Georgian Gothic, Strawberry Hill Gothic, Georgian Rococo, or Gothick

In 2004, Strawberry Hill featured in the BBC/Endemol TV series Restoration, presented by Griff Rhys Jones, Ptolemy Dean and Marianne Suhr, produced and directed by Paul Coueslant.

Other attractions

Other local attractions include:
* St Mary's University College, Twickenham
* Radnor Gardens
* Strawberry Hill railway station, built in 1873, is an excellent local example of the Victorian era railway building boom.

Education

References

*Jones, E. and Woodward, C. "A Guide to the Architecture of London", 1983, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London

External links

* [http://www.friendsofstrawberryhill.org Friends of Strawberry Hill]
* [http://www.shra.org.uk The Strawberry Hill Residents' Association]
* [http://www.strawberryhill-online.co.uk/ Strawberry Hill Online]
* [http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk The Twickenham Museum]
* [http://www.twicksoc.org.uk The Twickenham Society]
* [http://www.shgc.net/ Strawberry Hill Golf Club]
* [http://www.richmond.gov.uk/local_history_h_walpole.pdf (London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames) "Horace Walpole and Strawberry Hill"]