The Richmond Golf Club (Richmond)
Brief Description
Richmond Golf Club was established here in 1898 on the former estate of Sudbrook Park, an early C18th Palladian mansion, now used as the golf clubhouse. It was built for the 2nd Duke of Argyll and Greenwich who had been given a lease on 12 hectares of Richmond Park by King George I in recognition of the part he played in defeating Louis XIV and the Hanoverian Succession. John Rocque's map of 1741-5 shows the extensive formal layout of the park at that time. Gibbs may have brought in landscape gardener Charles Bridgeman to help with the planning of the garden. The estate remained in the family until 1842 and was later a spa and then a hotel before it was taken over by Richmond Golf Club.
Practical Information
- Previous / Other name:
- Sudbrook Park
- Site location:
- Sudbrook Lane, Petersham
- Postcode:
- TW10 7AS
- What 3 Words:
- rushed.hedge.salad
- Type of site:
- Private Open Land
- Borough:
- Richmond
- Open to public?
- Partially
- Opening times:
- Members club but visitors welcome to play on course Mon - Fri (no bookings necessary), and weekends/Bank Holidays after 2pm, subject to availability
- Special conditions:
- Facilities:
- Facilities for visitors include changing rooms, driving range, chipping area, large putting green
- Events:
- Public transport:
- Rail/London Overground/Tube (District): Richmond then bus. Bus: 65, 371.
- Research updated:
- 01/04/2012
- Last minor changes:
- 19/07/2023
Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.therichmondgolfclub.com
Full Site Description
Sudbrook Park was built in 1726-28 by architect James Gibbs for John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll and Greenwich, and has been described by Nikolaus Pevsner as 'especially interesting as a transitional building poised between Baroque and Palladian'. The house has a famous Cube Room, and the south front is on the garden side and has a fine open stair towards the entrance, which starts in two flights, parallel with the facade and then joins up into one. Rocque's map of 1741-5 shows the extensive formal layout of the park at that time. Gibbs may have brought in Charles Bridgeman to help with the planning of the garden. The Duke built extensions to the west of the house, which included a separate annexe where his 'useless pack' of five daughters were brought up by servants. The family remained at Sudbrook Park until 1842, upon which the Crown re-purchased the estate and leased it for a hydropathic spa offering a water cure, which Charles Darwin is known to have taken. By 1891 the house was a hotel and in 1898 it was taken over by the Richmond Golf Club, with the house as its clubhouse, which continues to maintain the house and grounds.
The golf course was designed by Tom Dunn, who designed a number of London golf courses including Wanstead Golf Course on the former grounds of Wanstead Park (q.v.). The club at one time had as its captain the Duke of York, later to become King George VI.
Sources consulted:
'Blest Retreats' LB Richmond, 1984; Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 2: South (Penguin) 1999; Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, 'The London Encyclopaedia' (Macmillan, revised ed. 1993)
Further Information (Planning and Conservation)
- Grid ref:
- TQ184725 (518470,172577)
- Size in hectares:
- 12
- Site ownership:
- The Richmond Golf Club
- Site management:
- The Richmond Golf Club
- Date(s):
- 1726-8
- Designer(s):
- ? Charles Bridgeman. Golf course: Tom Dunn
- Listed structures:
- LBI: Richmond Golf Clubhouse (Sudbrook Park)
- On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:
No- Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:
No- Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:
No
Local Authority Data
The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.
- On Local List:
- No
- In Conservation Area:
- Yes
- Conservation Area name:
- Richmond Park
- Tree Preservation Order:
- Not known
- Nature Conservation Area:
- Yes
- Green Belt:
- No
- Metropolitan Open Land:
- Yes
- Special Policy Area:
- No
- Other LA designation:
- None
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
