Twickenham, Surrey

Kearsley's Traveller's Entertaining Guide through Great Britain (1801)

TWICKENHAM is seated on the Thames and is adorned with many handsome seats; to enumerate them would be to exceed our limits. We must not however omit to notice the celebrated villa of Pope, now of lord Mendip. In the lifetime of Pope the house was humble and confined. The centre of the present building only was the residence of Pope. Towards the margin of the river propped with uncommon care still stands the weeping willow planted by Pope himself. In 1789 the late empress of Russia, in veneration of the memory Pope, caused some slips of tree to be planted in her own garden at Petersburgh. The once celebrated grotto is no longer remarkable, but for having erected under the immediate direction of the poet.

Here is also the villa of the Horace Walpole, earl of Orford, called Strawberry-hill, delightfully situated on an eminence near the Thames. This beautiful little structure formed from select parts of Gothic architecture in cathedrals, chapel tombs &c was wholly built, at different times, by himself, whose fine taste is displayed in the elegant embellishments of the edifice and in the valuable collection of pictures, sculptures, antiquities, and curiosities adorn it, many of which have been purchased from some of the first cabinets in Europe. It is now the residence of Mrs Damer/ Twickenham park is lord F Cavendish.

Use the "Show me" link to locate Twickenham on the map. You may need to scroll down to see Twickenham highlighted.