Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Twickenham

TWICKENHAM, a town of Middlesex, England, is situated on the north bank of the Thames and on the London and South- Western Railway, 111/4 miles south-west of London by rail. It is a straggling and irregular town, but has many fine suburban villas, and the district is noted for its sylvan beauty. Opposite the town there is an eyot in the river about 8 acres in extent, called Eel Pie Island, much resorted to by boating parties. The parish church of St Mary was rebuilt in red brick in very plain style after the fall of the old one in 1713, but the picturesque western tower of the 14th century still remains. It contains many interesting monuments, including one to Pope, who was buried in the nave. The principal public buildings are the town-hall and assembly rooms (built in 1876, and containing the free library established in 1882), the economic museum, the royal naval female school for the daughters of naval and marine officers, the Montpellier lecture hall, the metropolitan and City of London police orphanage, the almshouses of the London Carpenters Company, and a branch of the national refuge for the homeless and destitute. The population of the urban sanitary district (area 2415 acres) in 1871 was 10,533, and in 1881 it was 12,479.

Twickenham at Domesday was included in Isleworth. Anciently it was called Twittenham or Twicanham. The manor was given in 941 by King Edmund to the monks of Christ Church, Canter bury, from whom it had been previously taken, but it was again alienated, for it was restored to the same monks by Edred in 948. In the reign of Henry VIII. it came into the possession of the crown, and by Charles I. was assigned to Henrietta Maria as part of her jointure. It was sold during the Protectorate, but after the Restoration the queen mother resumed possession of it. In 1670 it was settled for life oil Catherine of Braganza, queen of Charles II. It still remains in possession of the crown, but since the death of Catherine has been let on leases. In the neighbour hood are many residences of literary or historical interest. Pope's villa, where he lived from 1717 till his death in 1744, has been removed. Among old mansions of interest still remaining are Strawberry Hill, the residence of Horace Walpole, now much altered; Marble Hill, built by George III. for the countess of Suffolk, and subsequently resided in by the marquis of Wellesley; Orleans House, built in the reign of Queen Anne by Johnstone, occupied for some time by the duke of Orleans, and from 1879 to 1883 as a club house; York House, said to have been the residence of James II. when duke of York, bestowed by Charles II. on Lord Clarendon when he married the duke of York's daughter, and in modern times resided in by the Comte de Paris; and Twickenham House, formerly the residence of Sir John Hawkins, author of the History of Music, and the meeting place of the "Literary Club." Of the old manor house of Twickenham, to which Catherine of Aragon is said to have retired after her divorce from Henry VIII., and which was subsequently the residence of Catherine of Braganza, queen of Charles II., the only remains are a ruin called the Aragoa tower. Twickenham Park House, for some tune the residence of Lord Chancellor Bacon, has been demolished.