“ Through its pleasant situation Richmond has grown into a large residential suburb of the metropolis. The town was anciently called Syenes and afterwards Schene and Sheen (a name preserved in the village of East Sheen, adjacent on the London side) until the name was in 1500 changed to Richmond by command of Henry VII., who was earl of Richmond in Yorkshire. It grew up round the royal manor house, which became a frequent residence of sovereigns, but of which nothing more than a gateway remains. ”

“ In the old deer park extending northwards from the site of the palace, Kew Observatory was erected in 1769, occupying the site of a Carthusian convent founded by Henry V., and a dwelling-house in which Swift for some time resided. ”