Editing Twickenham (section)

==History==
===Pre-Norman===
Excavations have revealed settlements in the area dating from the Early [[Neolithic]], possibly [[Mesolithic]], periods. Occupation seems to have continued through the [[Bronze Age]], the [[Iron Age]] and the [[Roman Britain|Roman occupation]]. The area was first mentioned (as "Tuican hom" and "Tuiccanham") in an 8th-century [[charter]] to cede the area to [[Waldhere (Bishop of London)|Waldhere]], [[Bishop of London]], "for the salvation of our souls".<ref name="Tuican hom">{{cite web | url= http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.php?aid=4&ctid=3&cid=28| title=First written mention of 'Tuican hom' in a Charter | publisher=[[Twickenham Museum]] | access-date=2 February 2018}}</ref> The charter, dated 13 June 704, is signed with 12 crosses. The signatories included [[Swaefred of Essex]], [[Cenred of Mercia]] and Earl Paeogthath.

===Norman===
In [[Norman dynasty|Norman]] times Twickenham was part of the [[Manorialism|Manor]] of Isleworth&nbsp;– itself part of the [[Hundred of Hounslow]], [[Middlesex]] (mentioned in [[Domesday Book]] of 1086).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=218 |title=Domesday Book – Hampton |publisher=[[Twickenham Museum]] |access-date=15 January 2017}}</ref> The manor had belonged to [[Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia]] in the time of [[Edward the Confessor]], but was granted to Walter de Saint-Valery (Waleric) by [[William I of England]] after the [[Norman Conquest of England]] in 1066. The area was farmed, while the river provided opportunities for fishing, boatbuilding and trade.

===17th century===
[[File:The Thames at Twickenham.jpg|thumb|The Thames at Twickenham {{Circa|1700}}, depicted by [[Peter Tillemans]]]]
[[File:Twickenham, St Mary's Church - geograph.org.uk - 164928.jpg|thumb|[[St Mary's, Twickenham|St Mary's Church]] today]]
[[File:Crane Shot Tower.JPG|thumb|upright|The Shot Tower by the [[River Crane, London|River Crane]]]]
[[Image:A View of Alexander Pope's Villa, Twickenham, on the Banks of the Thames by Samuel Scott, RA.jpg|thumb|[[Pope's villa]], painting {{circa|1759}}]]
[[File:All Hallows Parish Church in Twickenham.jpg|thumb|[[All Hallows Twickenham]], as seen from the [[A316 road|A316]]]]
[[Bubonic plague]] spread to the town in 1665 and 67 deaths were recorded. It appears that Twickenham had a [[pest house]] in the 17th century, although the location is not known.

There was also a watch house in the middle of the town, with [[stocks]], a [[pillory]] and a [[flagellation|whipping]] post whose owner was charged to "ward within and about this Parish and to keep all Beggars and Vagabonds that shall lye abide or lurk about the Towne and to give correction to such...".

In 1633 construction began on [[York House, Twickenham|York House]]. It was occupied by [[Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester]] in 1656 and later by [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon]].<ref name="LondonEncyclopedia">{{Cite book |title=[[The London Encyclopaedia]] |date=1993 |publisher=PaperMac |last1=Weinreb |first1=Ben |author-link1= Ben Weinreb|last2=Hibbert |first2=Christopher |author-link2= Christopher Hibbert|isbn=0333576888 |location=London |oclc=28963301 |page=1004}}</ref>

1659 saw the first mention of the [[Twickenham Ferry]], although ferrymen had already been operating in the area for many generations. Sometime before 1743 a "pirate" ferry appears to have been started by Twickenham inhabitants. There is speculation that it operated to serve "The Folly", a floating hostelry of some kind. Several residents wrote to the [[Lord Mayor of the City of London]]:

{{quote|...Complaining that there is lately fixed near the Shore of Twickenham on the River Thames a Vessell made like a [[Barge]] and called the Folly wherein divers[e] loose and disorderly persons are frequently entertained who have behaved in a very indecent Manner and do frequently afront divers[e] persons of Fashion and Distinction who often in an Evening Walk near that place, and desired so great a Nuisance might be removed,....}}

===18th and 19th centuries===
In 1713 the [[nave]] of the ancient [[St Mary's, Twickenham|St Mary's Church]] collapsed, and the church was rebuilt in the [[Neoclassical architecture|Neo-classical]] style to designs by a local architect, [[John James (architect)|John James]].<ref name=cobbett/>

In 1736, the noted pharmacist and [[Quackery|quack doctor]] [[Joshua Ward]] set up the Great Vitriol Works to produce [[sulfuric acid|sulphuric acid]], using a process discovered in the seventeenth century by [[Johann Glauber]] in which sulphur is burned together with saltpetre ([[potassium nitrate]]), in the presence of steam. The process generates an extremely unpleasant smell, which caused objections from local residents. The area was also soon home to the world's first industrial production facility for [[gunpowder]], on a site between Twickenham and Whitton on the banks of the [[River Crane, London|River Crane]]. There were frequent explosions and loss of life. On 11 March 1758, one of two explosions was felt in [[Reading, Berkshire]], and in April 1774 another explosion terrified people at church in [[Isleworth]].<ref name="Knight">{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28369829 | title=Sulphur surplus: Up to our necks in a diabolical element | work=[[BBC News]] magazine | date=19 July 2014 | access-date=19 July 2014 | author=Knight, Laurence}}</ref>

In 1772 three mills blew up, shattering glass and buildings in the neighbourhood. [[Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford]], wrote complaining to his friend and relative [[Henry Seymour Conway]], then Lieutenant General of the Ordnance, that all the decorative painted glass had been blown out of his windows at [[Strawberry Hill House|Strawberry Hill]].

The city of [[Huntsville, Alabama]] was first settled as Twickenham in 1805. In 1811 the name was changed to its present name of Huntsville. It was named after Twickenham, the home of founder [[LeRoy Pope|LeRoy Pope’s]] kinsman, Alexander Pope. The name is still used today as a neighborhood and a [[Twickenham Historic District|Historical District]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alabama |url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_JvtKAAAAYAAJ |title=Alabama laws and joint resolutions of the Legislature of Alabama |date=1819 |publisher=Catawba : Printed by Allen & Brickell, State Printers |others=New York Public Library}}</ref>

The powder mills remained in operation until 1927 when they were closed. Much of the site is now occupied by [[Crane Park]], in which the old Shot Tower, mill sluices and blast embankments can still be seen. Much of the area along the river next to the Shot Tower is now a nature reserve.

The 1818 Enclosure Award led to the development of {{convert|182|acre|km2}} of land to the west of the town centre largely between the present day Staines and Hampton Roads, where new roads&nbsp;– Workhouse Road, Middle Road, 3rd, 2nd and 1st Common Roads (now First to Fifth Cross Roads respectively)&nbsp;– were laid out.<ref>Cashmore, T H R (1977), ''Twickenham in 1818: The year of the Enclosure'', Borough of Twickenham Local History Society Paper 38.</ref>  During the 18th and 19th centuries, a number of fine houses were built and Twickenham became a popular place of residence for people of "fashion and distinction". Further development was stimulated by the opening of [[Twickenham railway station|Twickenham station]] in 1848.

In 1898 some buildings on London Road, near the east end of King Street, were demolished, and a new road was built, in order to relieve congestion on the older Church Street. This new road was named York Street and opened on 1 March 1899.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.php?aid=381&ctid=4&cid=39|title=Shopping in Twickenham|publisher=[[Twickenham Museum]]|access-date=10 February 2020}}</ref>

===20th and 21st centuries===

[[Electricity]] was introduced to Twickenham in 1902<ref>Urwin, A C B (1977), ''The Coming of Electricity to Twickenham'', Borough of Twickenham Local History Society Paper 37</ref> and the first [[tram]]s arrived the following year.

In 1939, when [[All Hallows Lombard Street]] was demolished in the [[City of London]], its distinctive stone tower designed by [[Christopher Wren]], with its [[Ring of bells|peal of ten bells]] and connecting stone cloister, and the interior furnishings, including a [[Renatus Harris]] organ and a pulpit used by [[John Wesley]], were brought to Twickenham to be incorporated in the new [[All Hallows Twickenham|All Hallows Church]] on [[A316 road|Chertsey Road (A316)]] near [[Twickenham Stadium]].<ref name="All Hallows History">{{cite web|url=https://www.allhallowstwick.org.uk/about-us/history|title=History |website=All Hallows Twickenham|access-date = 13 April 2024}}</ref>

There was a high-profile murder on 19 August 2004, when French woman [[Amelie Delagrange]] (aged 22) died in hospital after being found with a serious head injury (caused by [[Battery (crime)|battery]]) in the Twickenham Green area. Within 24 hours, police had established a link with the murder of Marsha McDonnell, who was killed in similar circumstances in nearby [[Hampton, London|Hampton]] 18 months earlier.<ref name="Link">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3582958.stm | title=Murder police probe Marsha 'link' | work=[[BBC News]] | date=20 August 2004 | access-date=13 May 2014}}</ref> [[Levi Bellfield]] was found guilty of both murders on 25 February 2008 (as well as a further charge of attempted murder against 18-year-old Kate Sheedy) and sentenced to [[life imprisonment]].<ref name="bbc_students_conviction">
{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7227830.stm
|title=Stalker guilty of student murders
|date=25 February 2008
|publisher=[[BBC News]]
}}
</ref> In 2011 he was found guilty of the [[murder of Milly Dowler]],<ref name="Guilty">{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-13875507 |title=Levi Bellfield guilty of Milly Dowler murder |date=23 June 2011 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=2 February 2018}}</ref> a teenage girl who vanished from [[Walton-on-Thames]] in March 2002 and whose body was later found in [[Hampshire]] woodland.<ref>{{cite news|title=Levi Bellfield guilty of murdering two women|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579748/Levi-Bellfield-guilty-of-murdering-two-women.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579748/Levi-Bellfield-guilty-of-murdering-two-women.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|author=Moore, Matthew and agencies|work=[[Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=25 February 2008|access-date=11 September 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>