Barnes by the river
Barnes sits in a loop of the Thames, and its best houses face the water. Three streets matter most for ironwork: The Terrace, Lonsdale Road and Castelnau.
The Terrace
The Terrace runs along the river from the White Hart pub, with Barnes Railway Bridge in full view. Building here started as early as 1720. The houses are mostly 18th and 19th century, in brown or stock brick or white stucco. Nos. 13 and 14 are an early 18th century listed pair. Nos. 7 to 10 form a listed group, and Nos. 28, 30 and 31 are listed too. The composer Gustav Holst lived on this stretch.
Iron is everywhere on The Terrace. Richmond’s appraisal says metal balconies on the upper floors are a common feature. Nos. 7 to 10 have metal balconies at the first floor, and No. 10 has an elaborate canopied one. The White Hart has balconies facing the river.
Lonsdale Road
Lonsdale Road continues along the river. Nos. 343 to 369 have wrought iron balconies at first floor level, above the front doors. Along the stretch inside the conservation area, front boundaries are mostly white rendered walls with piers.
Castelnau
Castelnau was laid out in 1825 to link Barnes village with the new Hammersmith toll bridge. Major Boileau led the early building. The best known houses are the villas of 1842, designed by William Laxton. They are identical semi-detached pairs in yellow stock brick, with stucco Ionic pilasters and basements. Stables link many of them. Rusticated gate piers still stand along the road, and the villas sit behind deep front gardens with mature trees.
East Sheen
East Sheen grew later, after Mortlake station opened in 1846. Christchurch Road has an 18th century group around Percy Lodge and The Plough, then Victorian villas further west. Spencer Gardens and Martindale are Edwardian terraces.
East Sheen Avenue is the area’s showpiece. It was built from the late 19th century into the Edwardian period on former meadowland. The houses are mostly large semi-detached pairs. Some are Tudor Gothic with half-timbered gables, and others show Arts and Crafts touches. Front gardens are bounded by walls, fences and hedges.
Gates and railings for Barnes and East Sheen
Garden gates
Many houses here sit behind a front garden wall, so the gate is the main piece of ironwork. For a Castelnau villa that means a gate hung between heavy piers. On Lonsdale Road it may sit within a white rendered wall. In East Sheen it often needs to suit a half-timbered gable or a red brick porch. We draw each gate to the opening and the house, then forge it by hand.
Balconies
Riverside houses on The Terrace and Lonsdale Road have first floor balconies looking over the water. We repair old ones and forge new ones to match. Any external balcony must have guarding at least 1100mm high, and we design the scrollwork to meet that.
Railings
Some houses suit a low railing above the wall rather than a solid boundary. We forge railings to match the bar size and finials of surviving examples nearby.
Building work around the gate
In Barnes and East Sheen, the wall and piers are as important as the gate. Many have been cut back or lost to car parking. Richmond’s own statements for Castelnau, East Sheen Avenue and Christchurch Road all name this as a problem.
Our team rebuilds front walls and gate piers, matching the brick or the white render of the street. We reset copings and stone caps, and relay the path under the gate. On a Castelnau villa we can repair the old rusticated piers rather than replace them. If you need to keep a drive, we can design a pair of gates and rebuild the wall around them.
Planning in Richmond upon Thames
The Terrace, Lonsdale Road and the old village are in the Barnes Green Conservation Area. Castelnau has its own conservation area, designated in 1977. In East Sheen, East Sheen Avenue and Christchurch Road are conservation areas too. A conservation area is a place the council protects for its history and character.
The Castelnau villas are Grade II listed, and many houses on The Terrace are listed as well. Changing railings, gates or balconies on a listed house needs listed building consent, which is permission from the council to alter a protected building. An Article 4 direction can also remove some normal building rights. Always check the current rules with Richmond before you order. We supply scaled drawings and a materials list for your application.
How a commission works
You can pick a pattern from the craftsman’s design album and adapt it to your house. Or we can draw a fully bespoke design in CAD. Nothing is forged until you approve the drawings.
We survey first, measuring the opening, the piers and any old ironwork. Each piece is hand-forged in our own workshop, drawing on 20 years of hand-forging experience. Our London team installs, working around the traffic on The Terrace and parked cars on the side streets.
Request a quote through our short online form, or call us.