Riverside south of the river and west of the Tower. Castelnau


Riverside south of the river and west of the Tower. Castelnau

Post to the east Harrod's Village and Fulham Palace Rad and riverside
Post to the north St.Paul's School and Hammersmith Riverside
Post to the south Barnes
Post to the west Lonsdale Road and Old Chiswick



Arundel Terrace
Housing built for employees of Cowan’s Soap Factory in 1858.
42-44 Vulcan Foundry. Between the wars this was an engineering works run by a Mr. Randall. It has since been used for a number of commercial applications.  Now a garage and flats


Barn Elms
West Middlesex Waterworks Co. The works was established in 1838, initially with two settlement reservoirs. Eventually much of this area became reservoirs which lay at the north end of the Castlenau peninsula and on both sides, with a stretch of farmland between them. In this square the reservoirs were those on the east side, now the wild life site, and on the western riverside stretch between St. Pauls School and Barn Elms. The reservoirs eventually took water from Hampton which it filtered here.  There was an engine house of 1891. At Barn Elms was a pilot plant for clarifying stored Thames water and for the first experiments on super chlorination. 
Wetlands Centre. Much of the reservoir area of the West Middlesex Water works was converted into a housing development and Barn Elms Nature Reserve. This was created by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. The Artist and naturalist Sir Peter Scott is said to have always dreamed of a sanctuary for wildfowl within London, and he founded this in 1946. It was opened in 2000 and covers 100 acres, including a main lake, a reed bed, a grazing marsh, a wader scrape and a sheltered lagoon. It is designed to attract a wide range of birds, and there are two- and three-storey hides and an observatory. There is also a visitor centre, a restaurant, cafe and shop.  It is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.


Barnes Avenue
Housing built as part of the Castelnau Estate in 1927 by the London County Council


Castelnau
This was a new road built in 1827 as an approach to Hammersmith Bridge. It was thus called Upper Bridge Road until 1846.  Then 20 semi detached villas were built by William Lawton for the Boileau family.  It is named from Castelnau de la Garde near Nimes in France where the Boileau family of Mortlake had their ancestral home. They were a Huguenot family who came to Mortlake to escape persecution.
204 The Bridge. Renovated from what was The Bridge Tavern
201a The Boileau Arms. Pub with a Tuscan porch and built in the same style as the houses surrounding it. It was named for the local family who developed the area. It is now closed. It has had many names - most recently The Castelnau.  In the 1980s it was The Old Rangoon. In the early 1990s it was ‘The Garden House’ and later The Porterhouse Inn, then Browns, and then back to the Boileau Arms. It closed in 2008 and is now the Bright Horizons Day Nursery
162 Holy Trinity. Built in 1868 By Thomas Allom who lived locally. It became a Parish church in 1888.
162 Vicarage in stock brick
79 St. Osmond. Roman Catholic Church built in 1958 by Ronald Hardy.
75 Castelnau Library. Built on the site of Castelnau House in the 1960s
Castlenau House. Built by Major Charles Lestock Boileau and named after his family’s former estate of Castelnau de la Garde, near Nîmes in France. Demolished in the 1960s.


Lonsdale Road
St.Paul's School. The school buildings lie in the square to the north. This square covers the extensive western playing fields. These were built on filter beds and a reservoir of the West Middlesex Water Works.


Stillingfleet Road
Lowther Primary School. The school dates from 1929. The Lowther family were previous landowners


Washington Road
Recreation Park. This small Recreation Ground predates the amalgamation of Barnes into Richmond Council and has some of hedging which could be older hedgerow. It is hedged to the boundaries and laid to grass, with undulating paths, shrubs and ornamental grasses, but no mature trees. There is a paddling pool and utilitarian metal gates.


Sources
Clunn. The Face of London
Field. London place names,
GLC. Home sweet home
GLC. Thames Guidelines,
London Encyclopaedia
London Gardens OnLine., Web site
Metropolitan Water Board. London’s water supply
Meulenkamp. Follies.
Pevsner and Cherry. South London,
Pevsner, Surrey
Riverview Gardens. Web site
Smythe. Citywildspace
St. Paul’s School. Web site
Thames Basin Archaeology of Industry Group. Report

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