Richmond and Kew: houses behind walls and gates
Richmond grew up around a royal palace. Henry VII rebuilt the old palace at Shene after a fire in 1497 and named it Richmond. Most of it was pulled down after the Civil War, but the Gate House on Richmond Green still holds some of the original walls. The Green then became home to courtiers and diplomats, and later to some of the best early Georgian houses in the town.
Maids of Honour Row, on the Green, is a terrace of four brick houses from the 1720s. Their front gardens are closed by boundary walls and railings that tie the houses to the open grass. Trumpeters’ House, built between 1702 and 1704, stands on part of the old palace site. On the north side, Pembroke Villas are mid-19th-century Italianate pairs with stucco ground floors and round-arched porches.
Richmond Hill tells a different story. In the early 18th century a spa at Richmond Wells drew wealthy visitors, and large houses followed up the hill. Sir William Chambers designed Wick House for the painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Wick, close by, is listed Grade I and has an iron overthrow lamp holder of its own. The council’s appraisal records wrought-iron railings at 28 to 40 Richmond Hill, with original cast-iron flower guards below the ground-floor windows. Lower down, a brick retaining wall with wrought-iron railings runs between Hill Rise and Petersham Road.
Kew Green has its own feel. Georgian houses replaced older cottages around the Green in the mid-18th century, and many are now listed. Cambridge Cottage at No. 37 has a Greek Doric portico. Nos. 68 and 70 are a rendered Italianate pair with first-floor cast-iron balconies. The Gables, at Nos. 39 to 45, still have their original cast and wrought-iron gates.
What ironwork suits Richmond and Kew
Most houses here are set back from the road. So the gate, the front wall and the railings on top of it do most of the work. A badly proportioned gate stands out on Richmond Hill in a way it might not on a busy high street.
Driveway and garden gates
For the larger houses on Richmond Hill and the roads off it, a pair of driveway gates is usually the main piece. We design them in proportion to the piers and the house behind. Frames can be built to take automation. For terraces and smaller houses near the Green, a single pedestrian gate with a matching run of railings is often enough.
Front and garden railings
The Kew Green appraisal describes three main railing types. Georgian railings have square or round bars with spiked heads. Edwardian ones use plain round bars with decorative heads. Victorian railings on the Priory Estate have twisted bars, rosettes and finials. We look at what survives on your part of the road and design to match it, rather than bringing in a pattern from somewhere else.
Balconies and window guards
Balconies like those at 68 and 70 Kew Green, and flower guards like those on Richmond Hill, are small pieces full of detail. We forge new ones and repair old ones. Any new balcony guarding is designed to meet Approved Document K, which asks for 1100mm on an external balcony.
Heritage restoration
Where old railings survive but have rusted or lost their heads, we repair them and forge new parts to match.
The building work around the ironwork
Railings in Richmond and Kew nearly always sit on brick. The Richmond Green appraisal says boundaries are generally brick to match the house. It also notes that many have been lost at Pembroke Villas and Little Green to make room for parking, and it encourages owners to put walls, railings and hedges back.
We do that as one job. If the wall under your railings is leaning, or a pier has cracked where an old gate was hung, our team rebuilds it. We set new copings, rebuild gate piers strong enough to carry a heavy gate, and make good front paths and steps. You deal with one team from the first survey to the last coat of paint.
Planning and consent in Richmond upon Thames
Richmond upon Thames Council looks after three conservation areas that cover the streets on this page. Richmond Hill and Richmond Green were both designated on 14 January 1969, and Kew Green in the same year. Each has a published appraisal, which is the council’s written account of what makes the area special.
New gates, walls or railings more than one metre high next to a road need planning permission. Taking down an old wall in a conservation area may need consent too. If your house is listed, changing its railings or gate needs listed building consent. That is permission from the council to change a protected building. Parts of the borough also have Article 4 directions, which remove the right to make some changes without asking. Always check with the council first. We prepare scaled drawings for your application.
Choosing a design
You can start from the craftsman’s design album, which holds hundreds of proven patterns, and adapt one to your opening and piers. Or we can draw a fully original design in CAD. Either way, nothing is forged until you have approved the drawings.
How a commission works
Survey
We measure openings, piers and levels, and record any old ironwork worth keeping.
Design and approvals
We agree the drawings with you and supply them for planning or listed building consent.
Forging and installation
Your gates and railings are hand-forged in our own workshop, drawing on 20 years of hand-forging experience. Our London team then installs them. Richmond Hill is steep, so we plan delivery and parking well before the day.
To talk about gates or railings for a house in Richmond or Kew, request a quote or give us a call.