Historic views of Ham House circular walk
A 3-mile circular walk taking in the historic views from Ham House, into Richmond Park and at the top of Richmond Hill. The perfect walk to take when you have finished your visit at Ham House.
Start:
Ham House and Garden
1
From Ham House, walk to the River Thames straight ahead. You are turning right, towards Richmond, walking along the Thames Path.
View
As you walk along, you’ll notice a sign on the riverbank for Hammerton’s Ferry, a pedestrian ferry that links Ham House with Marble Hill House on the north bank. A passenger ferry has been operating here since 1909. Look out for the magnificent view up towards Richmond Hill.
2
When you reach a lane and signpost pointing towards Petersham, turn off the river path and walk down the lane called River Lane. To your left is Petersham Meadows, managed by the National Trust as a grazed flood meadow.
3
At the end of River Lane, you will reach Petersham Road, a narrow main road. Turn left here and then cross the road at The Dysart Arms pub, using the pedestrian crossing. Turn right through a large kissing gate into Richmond Park and just before the children’s playground, turn left and follow the well trodden path, in the grass, up to the top of the steep hill.
View
Here you will find Pembroke Lodge, a Grade II listed Georgian mansion situated at the highest point of the largest Royal Park within London.
4
Once you reach the shared path, you are turning left towards Richmond Gate and walking out of the Park, across the road by the converted Royal Star and Garter Home.
View
The Royal Star and Garter Home was built in the 1920s to provide accommodation for 180 injured servicemen. It was sold in 2013 to a housing developer for £50m.
5
Keep walking, passing The Richmond Hill Hotel on your right to take in one of the best views in the south east.
View
his renowned hill offers the only view in England to be protected by an Act of Parliament – the Richmond, Ham and Petersham Open Spaces Act passed in 1902 – to protect the land on and below Richmond Hill. Immortalised in paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds and J. M. W. Turner, it was described by Sir Walter Scott as ‘an unrivalled landscape’. It was this view that inspired the name of Richmond, Virginia, after colonial city William Byrd II noticed a curve in the James River that resembled the Thames at Petersham.
6
From here, make your way down hill via the terraced gardens and along the Thames Path that runs alongside Petersham Meadows on your left, April to September you’ll see a herd of Belted Galloway cattle grazing the meadow. You will soon see River Lane on your left too and then you are following your previous route, back to Ham House.
End:
Ham House and Garden