Landscapes and open spaces

Vineyard Passage Burial Ground

The Burial Ground, lying behind the Vestry House and Paradise Road, Richmond, was opened in the 1790s and closed a century later. It was laid out as a garden of rest in the 1960s and then became neglected and overgrown.

In 1995, the Vineyard Passage Burial Ground (VPBG) group within the Environment Trust was formed and its dedication has brought the Burial Ground back to a charming wild woodland garden much enjoyed by passers-by. The VPBG group has completed a great deal of landscaping work, such as clearing ivy and undergrowth, planting many trees, shrubs and spring bulbs that will extend the flowering season almost year round, cleaning and repairing the wooden benches, and restoring 12 of the most important monuments (one listed Grade II).

Recently, the group provided a new all-weather gravel path on Grosvenor Avenue to provide safe access to the Vineyard Passage and on into the centre of town. A low wall on one side was also built to prevent the erosion of the garden. New plantings include a white Rose of York and the red Rosa Glauca; and fuchsias donated by the Thames Valley Fuchsia and Pelargonium Society are starting to get established.

The VPBG group has raised and spent £20,000 on this work, but there is still more to be done as funds become available. The group meets at the Burial Ground at 10:30 am on the first Saturday of each month for a litter-pick and regular garden maintenance. All are welcome – please contact Martin Edgar on 020 8948 1577 if you would like to get involved.

Kilmorey Mausoleum Garden

In addition to the grove of silver birch trees, the Trust has planted amelanchier, buddleia, viburnum, ferns, wild rose bushes, and narcissus, seeded a wild flower meadow, and laid a path of bark chippings. All the work is done by volunteers, led by a Kew-trained conservation gardener.

The Thames Towpath

The wooded towpath is a special landscape feature of the Thames upstream from Beverley Brook and is prized on both sides of the River. The Towpath Group, formed in 2001, is a project of the Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames and brings together committed representatives from amenity groups on both banks of the Thames. The group's aim is to conserve and restore the towpath between Kew Bridge and Beverley Brook and to manage it to achieve its maximum amenity, ecology and landscape potential following the recommendation of the Thames Strategy: Kew to Chelsea.

This strategy for the Thames between Kew and Chelse includes recommendations that a management plan for the wooded towpath should be prepared to provide a diversity of age and structure that will ensure its long-term protection as a landscape and heritage feature and enhancement of its nature conservation interest.

In 2004, the Towpath Group, after consulting with the council and representatives of the local areas, completed an audit of the existing situation with detailed maps and photographs. This formed the basis for a series of council Parks and Open Spaces Consultation Days and led to work on a management plan and proposals for specific projects. One of these, carried out in 2005, was the restoration of Jubilee Gardens in Mortlake.

For further information please contact Angela Dixon on 020 8748 7416 or Angela Kidner on 020 8892 6474.

The Environment Trust is also involved in the towpath working party, with the Port of London Authority (PLA), Crown Estates, the Environment Agency and local councils. Together, we have undertaken the complex and detailed work to clarify ownership of the towpath on both sides of the river. Clarifying ownership and future management responsibilities will be vital to obtaining funding from outside sources for large projects.

London’s Arcadia

Richmond Hill and its stretch of the river have been a popular resort for Londoners and visitors from further afield for nearly 300 years. London’s Arcadia, a partnership project overseen by the Thames Landscape Strategy: Hampton to Kew, aims to meet the expectations and needs of the 21st century for the benefit of the local community and visitors while ensuring the survival of one of the world’s most splendid and historic landscapes.

An important part of the Environment Trust’s work involves lending support to this borough-wide initiative to preserve and maintain Richmond's riverside and views. This £3.2 million Lottery-funded project began in March 2005, with work on Cholmondeley Walk, Terrace Field and the Richmond Hill Terrace.

The Environment Trust supports the Thames Landscape Strategy, both as a unique and valuable piece of planning guidance and as an organisation devoted to the management and protection of the River Thames landscape from Kew to Hampton and in the neighbouring boroughs of Hounslow, Kingston and Elmbridge.

Twickenham Cemetery

The Environment Trust has agreed to help the cemetries department of Richmond council to help set up a Friends of Twickenham Cemetery group. Please call 020 8891 5455 for further information.

Strawberry Hill Gardens

The Environment Trust has been working with the World Monuments Fund In Britain (WMFB) to assist with the restoration of the gardens at Horace Walpole's 18th-century gothic villa, Strawberry Hill.