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Barn Elms

Barnes, LondonFulham F.C. home groundsParks and open spaces in the London Borough of Richmond upon ThamesQueens Park Rangers F.C.Sport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Use British English from February 2023
Barn Elms Recreation Ground geograph.org.uk 789523
Barn Elms Recreation Ground geograph.org.uk 789523

Barn Elms is an open space in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, located on the northerly loop of the River Thames between Barnes and Fulham. The WWT London Wetland Centre (105 acres of what were once reservoirs) lies to the north of the open space, now largely given over to sporting venues. The site is split in two: the Barn Elms Sports Trust (BEST) fields, formerly managed as the Barn Elms Sports Centre by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and the Barn Elms Sports Centre.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Barn Elms (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Barn Elms
Bill's Bridge, London Barnes (London Borough of Richmond upon Thames)

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.473611111111 ° E -0.23083333333333 °
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Address

Bill's Bridge
SW15 1HU London, Barnes (London Borough of Richmond upon Thames)
England, United Kingdom
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Barn Elms Recreation Ground geograph.org.uk 789523
Barn Elms Recreation Ground geograph.org.uk 789523
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Ranelagh Club

The Ranelagh Club was a polo club located at Barn Elms in south west London, England. It was founded in 1878 as a split-off from the Hurlingham Club and by 1894 was the largest polo club in the world. The club had approximately 3000 members in 1913, including many prominent military figures and members of different royal families. On 18 July 1878, the club became the first to host a sports match under floodlights when it played the Hurlingham Club.At its height the Ranelagh Club consisted of a large clubhouse (the inherited manor house of Barn Elms), four polo grounds, ten croquet lawns, two tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course. From the mid-1890s the club hosted an annual ladies' open golf meeting. From 1901 to 1936 the meeting included the International Cup, contested by the Home Nations. There were also two lakes for rowing. As the 20th century continued, the club's patronage diminished and funds dwindled. It closed shortly before World War II, and the polo grounds were used for allotments under the Dig for Victory scheme. The clubhouse burnt down in 1954. The lake was then drained, and the site converted into playing fields. Trees now cover the area which was previously occupied by the clubhouse and its gardens, and an athletics track resides on top of the drained land, reclaimed from the old lake. The entire site now constitutes the Barn Elms open space, consisting of two separately-operated sports facilities. There is very little left to be seen of the Ranelagh Club except an ice house and a 300m long driveway entrance off the Lower Richmond Road, which now leads to the council housing of the Ranelagh estate.

WWT London Wetland Centre
WWT London Wetland Centre

WWT London Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the Barnes area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest London, England, by Barn Elms. The site is formed of four disused Victorian reservoirs tucked into a loop in the Thames. The centre first opened in 2000, and in 2002 an area of 29.9 hectares was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest as the Barn Elms Wetland Centre.The centre occupies more than 100 acres (40 hectares) of land which was formerly occupied by several small reservoirs. These were converted into a wide range of wetland features and habitats before the centre opened in May 2000. It was the first urban project of its kind in the United Kingdom. Many wild birds which have now made their home in the centre cannot be found anywhere else in London, and there are nationally significant numbers of gadwall and northern shoveler. Other wild birds include Eurasian bittern, northern pintail, northern lapwing, water rail, ring-necked parakeet, Eurasian sparrowhawk, sand martin, common kingfisher, little grebe and great crested grebe. The centre also holds a collection of captive wildfowl. It is host to regular lectures and events concerned with preserving Britain's wetland animals and was featured on the BBC television programme Seven Natural Wonders in 2005 as one of the wonders of the London area, with a focus on the region's parakeets, in an episode presented by Bill Oddie. The site contains a large visitors' building which is occasionally used as a wedding venue. In 2012 London Wetland Centre was voted Britain's Favourite Nature Reserve in the BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards. The site received 190,206 visitors during 2019.