Castelnau, London
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Castelnau is a place in south west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames approximately 6 miles west from Charing Cross on the south side of the Thames river. On the end of the Barnes peninsula, Castelnau is connected to Hammersmith in the north by Hammersmith Bridge, with Barnes village lying to the south.
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[edit] Name
Castelnau takes it name from Castelnau-le-Lez, near Montpellier in France: in 1691, the 10th Baron of Castelnau and St Croix, a Huguenot, fled France for England following persecution, and his son, Charles Boileau, settled in north Barnes and his descendants developed the area.
Three different English pronunciations of the word "Castelnau" seem to be in current use, all differing only in the final vowel: "castle know" is more ancient, and resembles the original French vowel, "castle now" is perhaps used to match with Nassau Road in the area, and "castle nor" is favoured by more recent inhabitants.
To avoid confusion with the road of the same name running through it, Castelnau is nowadays frequently called North Barnes; the driving force for the name change no doubt coming from the property market and the desire to associate with the high value of housing in Barnes.
[edit] Notable Places
- Harrods Furniture Depository, built in 1894 on the banks of the Thames.
- Holy Trinity Church, Castelnau.
- St. Osmund's Roman Catholic Church, Castelnau.
- The Leg of Mutton Nature Reserve.
- St Paul's School.
- The Swedish School.
- Colet Court (prep school).
- Lowther Primary School.
- The Harrodian School.
[edit] Pubs and Restaurants
- The Bridge (pub and restaurant)
- The Castelnau (pub) and L'Auberge (French restaurant)
- San Remo (Italian restaurant)
- Chinoise (Chinese restaurant)
- Spice of Night (Indian restaurant)
[edit] External links
| London Borough of Richmond upon Thames |
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Districts: Barnes | Ham | Hampton | Kew | Mortlake | Richmond | St. Margarets | Teddington | Twickenham | Whitton Attractions: Bushy Park | Hampton Court Palace | London Wetlands Centre | Kew Gardens | Richmond Park | Twickenham Stadium Constituencies: Richmond Park | Twickenham |
