Twickenhamshire

About the talk

London Luminaries Trust presents Chris Sumner, the co-author of Twickenhamshire: A Riverside Realm of Gardens and Villas in the Age of Enlightenment.

Sumner is joined by five speakers with special insights into Twickenham’s landmark properties. In this talk, reimagine their heyday and discover glimpses of their future, plans which involve the communities of Twickenham, Richmond and beyond.

An extraordinary ornamental cave inspired by the poet’s love of classical mythology, Alexander Pope’s Grotto is the last remaining part of his villa and gardens, built in 1720. Professor Judith Hawley, Royal Holloway, University of London, is a trustee of the Pope’s Grotto Preservation Trust.

Marble Hill is a Palladian villa set in 66 acres of parkland, intended as an Arcadian retreat from London. Imbued with the atmosphere of fashionable Georgian life, it was built for Henrietta Howard, mistress of King George II. Emily Parker is a historian who specialises in the social history of gardens.

Orleans House was built in 1710, one of the first important villas along this stretch of the Thames. Its Baroque Octagon Room, designed by the influential architect James Gibbs, is one of the last surviving parts of the property and is now Orleans House Gallery. Tim Corum leads the Arts Service in Richmond and oversees the gallery’s development.

Turner’s House, Sandycombe Lodge, is a small villa created as a quiet retreat in 1813 by England’s great landscape painter, and built to his own designs. Ricky Pound was House Director at Sandycombe Lodge.

Strawberry Hill House is Britain’s finest example of Georgian Gothic Revival architecture. From 1747, it was transformed into a ‘little Gothic castle’ by Horace Walpole, who wrote the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, inspired by a nightmare he had had there. Carole Tucker has been a guide at Strawberry Hill for over ten years, and is the property’s librarian and archivist.