London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

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Geography
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Shown within Greater London
Status	London borough
Area — Total	Ranked 290th 57.41 km²
ONS code	00BD
Admin HQ	{{{adminhq}}}
Demographics
Population — Total (2005 est.) — Density	Ranked 78th (of 354) 186,300 3,245 / km²
Ethnicity	91.0% White 3.9% South Asian 2.7% Afro-Caribbean
Politics
Leadership	Leader & Cabinet
Mayor	—
Executive	Liberal Democrats
MPs	Vincent Cable Susan Kramer
London Assembly — Member	South West Tony Arbour
Coat of Arms

Official website	http://www.richmond.gov.uk/

The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is a London borough in South West London and part of Outer London.

1 Settlement
- 1.1 List of districts
2 Attractions, parks and open spaces
3 History
4 Transport
- 4.1 List of stations
5 Schools
6 Colleges
7 External links

[edit] Settlement

It can been seen from a map that the borough is not entirely urbanised. There are some large areas of open space within the borough boundaries. The main suburban developments are Hampton and Teddington in the south, Twickenham, St Margarets and Whitton in the central area west of the River Thames and the Richmond-Kew-Mortlake-Barnes corridor across the loop of the river. It is the only London borough to straddle the Thames with districts on both sides of the river.

[edit] List of districts

[edit] Attractions, parks and open spaces

Hampton Court Palace

Main article: Richmond upon Thames parks and open spaces

Parks take up a great deal of the borough and include Richmond Park, Bushy Park, Kew Gardens, and Hampton Court Park. There are over 100 parks and open spaces within its boundary and 21 miles of river frontage - five times more green and open space than any other London borough.

A view from Richmond Hill over the Terraced Gardens.

The borough is also home to the National Physical Laboratory and the attractions of Hampton Court Palace, Twickenham Stadium and the WWT London Wetlands Centre draw both domestic and international tourism.

In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of the Richmond upon Thams were the 2nd most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 29.8% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.[1]

[edit] History

The borough was formed in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Twickenham from Middlesex with the Municipal Borough of Richmond and the Municipal Borough of Barnes from Surrey; council offices were centred at York House in Twickenham. The name 'Richmond upon Thames' was coined at that time; it is now commonly but inaccurately used to refer to Richmond only.

The borough is twinned with Konstanz in Germany, Fontainebleau in France and Richmond, Virginia, USA.