Twickenham was originally a fishing village. The Twickenham ferry linked Twickenham with Ham and with Eel Pie Island. Wealthy Londoners build houses in Twickenham in the 18th century, but most of the housing which now stands was constructed in the late 19th century to accommodate the influx of population after the opening of the Richmond Bridge in 1848 and the introduction of the railways. Twickenham is famous as the home of rugby football. William Williams bought the ground in 1907 and it was locally known as “Billy Williams’ cabbage patch”. More land was bought in 1921. Since then a succession of stands have been created which can seat over 50,000 spectators.

Between St Margaret’s Road and the river is St Margaret’s Estate, an estate of roads with houses backing on to extensive private grounds and gardens. Streets include St Peter’s Road and St George’s Road. In recent years more houses were built on a riverside site to the north of this estate. On the other side of St Margaret’s Road are more Victorian terraces, but without the benefit of the exclusive gardens, in roads such as Gordon Avenue and Hills Avenue. Winchester Road and the streets off it towards St Margaret’s Station form the Moor Mead Estate, where there are small terraced houses. Coal Park Road (which runs round Coal Park) and nearby roads, contain large Edwardian houses and more modern houses towards Twickenham station.

Below Richmond Bridge, there are mansion blocks lining Richmond Road. The streets between Richmond Road and Marble Hill Park and the river include Victorian terraces and semi-detached houses in streets such as Creswell Road and Cambridge Park, virtually in Marble Hill Park, contan larger mansions and some modern houses. Montpelier Row is one of the earliest streets and contains Georgian terraced properties, and there are more Georgian properties in Riverside and Sion Roads. Lebanon Park contains larger Edwardian properties.

Central Twickenham, south of Twickenham station, has a variety of cottages and larger houses from Victorian through to modern times. There are Georgian cottages in the Green, as well as modern flats. Pope’s Grove has larger Edwardian homes. But mainly this is an area to go to look for cottages such as Albert Road. Strawberry Hill is the area between Waldegrave Road and Strawberry Vale. Waldegrave Park contains large Victorian and detached houses. To a considerable extent this is an area for more recent developments and in-fills.