Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sometime before 1755. The house has a well-preserved Arts and Crafts interior and
contains lots of Morris memorabilia as well as de Morgan ceramics and furniture by
Philip Webb, architect of Morris's Red House in Bexleyheath (see p.327) - tours are
very popular so book ahead online.
London Wetland Centre
Queen Elizabeth's Walk • Daily: April-Oct 9.30am-6pm; Nov-March 9.30am-5pm • £10.59 • Guided tours daily 11.30am & 2.30pm •
Free • Duck feeding daily, 3pm •
T
020 8409 4400,
W
wwt.org.uk • Bus #283 from
!
Hammersmith
For anyone even remotely interested in wildlife, the
London Wetland Centre
, in
well-to-do Barnes, is an absolute must. Lying on the site of four disused reservoirs, the
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) has created a mosaic of wetland habitats. On
arrival - unless it's raining - skip the introductory audiovisual, and head straight out to
the ponds. If the weather's bad, head for the
Discovery Centre
, where kids can take part
in a swan identification parade, or take a duck's-eye view of the world. You can also
look out over the wetlands from the glass-walled
Observatory
next door, or from the
tables of the
Water's Edge Café
. Visitors with children should make their way to
Explore
,
a nature-themed adventure playground, while the
Pond Zone
gives younger children a
chance to do some pond-dipping.
The centre basically serves a dual function: to attract native species of bird to its
watery lagoons, and to assist in the WWT's programme of breeding rare wildfowl in
captivity. The
World Wetlands
area harbours a variety of extremely rare wildfowl - from
White-faced Whistling Ducks to the highly endangered Blue Duck - whose wetland
habitats have been re-created in miniature (3pm is feeding time). In the
Wildside
are
the reedbeds and pools that attract native species, such as lapwing, sand martins, water
rail and, if you're lucky, even the odd wintering bittern, all of which you can view from
a moss-roofed hide. At the far end is the
Peacock Tower
, the mother of all hides: a
triple-decker octagonal one with a lift, allowing views over the whole of the reserve.
22
Chiswick
The old riverside village of
Chiswick
was centred on the Church of St Nicholas from
medieval times until the Victorian period, when the action moved north to
Chiswick
High Street
, near the tube. The most picturesque approach is to walk along the river
from Hammersmith. If you do so, you'll soon come to
Chiswick Mall
, which continues
for a mile or so along the river to the church. A riotous ensemble of seventeenth- and
eighteenth-century mansions lines the north side of the Mall, which cuts them off
from their modest riverside gardens. Halfway along, a particularly fine trio ends with
Walpole House
, once the home of Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of
Castlemaine and one of Charles II's many mistresses.
Church of St Nicholas
Church St •
T
020 8995 7876,
W
stnicholaschiswick.org •
!
Turnham Green
At the very western end of Chiswick Mall stands the church of
St Nicholas
, rebuilt in
the 1880s, but still retaining its original fifteenth-century ragstone tower. Lord
Burlington and his architect friends William Kent and Colen Campbell are all buried
in the graveyard, as is the aforementioned Barbara Villiers, though only the painters
William Hogarth and James Whistler are commemorated by gravestones, the former
enclosed by wrought-iron railings.
Fuller's Gri
n Brewery
Chiswick Lane South • Mon-Fri guided tours hourly 11am-3pm • £10 online •
T
020 8996 2063,
W
fullers.co.uk •
!
Turnham Green
Church Lane
was the medieval village high street, and its oldest building today is
the Old Burlington, originally a sixteenth-century inn, and now a private residence.
