East Sheen

Etymology

The earliest recorded use of the name is c. 950 as Sceon and means shed or shelters. The area was designated separately from Sheen (an earlier name for Richmond) from the 13th century, as the southern manor of Mortlake.

History

East Sheen was a hamlet in the parish of Mortlake:

East-Sheen is a pleasant hamlet in this parish, situated on a rising ground considerably above the level of the river. It contains about ninety houses. Here are several handsome villas; the vicinity to Richmond-park, and the beauty of the surrounding country, making it a desirable situation.

Earliest references specifically to the present area of land, rather than references to parts of Mortlake, emerge in the 13th century, generally under its early name of Westhall. Originally one carucate, it was sold in 1473 by Michael Gaynsford and Margaret his wife in the right of Margaret to William Welbeck, citizen and haberdasher, of London. The Welbecks held it until selling in 1587. Later owners of what remained, the Whitfields, Juxons and Taylors were equally not titled, as with Mortlake's manorial owners, nor had an above average size or lavish manor house.

The southern estate of Temple Grove, East Sheen, first belonged to Sir Abraham Cullen, who was created a baronet in 1661. He died in 1668, and his first son Sir John in 1677. His second son Sir Rushout Cullen seems to have sold the estate shortly afterwards to Sir John Temple, attorney-general of Ireland, brother to Sir William Temple, diplomat and author, who was earlier of adjoining West Sheen, giving the home his name. It belonged to the Temples until Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, who later would serve as Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, sold it soon after coming of age in 1805. It was bought by Sir Thomas Bernard, who rebuilt the Jacobean style front of the house shown in a drawing hung in the house of 1611. Sir Thomas sold it about 1811 to Rev. William Pearson who founded the Temple Grove Preparatory School for boys. The school moved in 1907 to Eastbourne and the estate was given over to house and apartment builders.

East Sheen was included in the Metropolitan Police District in 1840.

Before 1900, Mortlake developed a secular vestry to help administer poor relief, maintain roads, ditches and other affairs. From 1892 to 1894 Mortlake (including East Sheen) formed part of the expanded Municipal Borough of Richmond. In 1894 nearby North Sheen was created as a civil parish, being split off from Mortlake and remaining in the Municipal Borough of Richmond. The remainder of Mortlake (including East Sheen) was instead transferred to Barnes Urban District.

In 1965 North Sheen was incorporated in Kew which, with the rest of the Municipal Borough of Richmond, joined Twickenham and Barnes M.B.s to form the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In the wards of the United Kingdom, Sheen has the largest share of Richmond Park of its surrounding five wards.

Economy

East Sheen concentrates its commercial area to the main through street: its long high street has transport/furniture/hardware stores, convenience services, offices, restaurants, cafés and pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mortlake of which East Sheen was once a manor. This wide-footpath street with bus lanes is the Upper Richmond Road West which connects Richmond to Putney. Central to this street is The Triangle, a tree-lined traffic island with a war memorial and an old milestone at the intersection of Upper Richmond Road West with Sheen Lane. The main railway station serving the area, Mortlake, is centred 300m north of this.

Churches

East Sheen lies in the ecclesiastical parish of Mortlake with East Sheen. In addition to the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin the district has two daughter churches: Christ Church, and All Saints. Christ Church, situated near the crossroads of Christchurch Road and West Temple Sheen, was built by Arthur Blomfield on land formerly part of a farm at the entrance to Sheen Common in the 1860s. It was originally planned to be opened in April 1863; however, the tower collapsed shortly before completion and had to be rebuilt. The church was finally completed and consecrated nine months later, on 13 January 1864.

All Saints was built on land bequeathed under the will of Major Shepherd-Cross, MP for Bolton who lived at nearby Palewell Lodge from 1896 until his death in 1913. The church was consecrated on All Saints' Day 1929, a year and two days after the foundation stone was laid by Elizabeth Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother).

East Sheen has three other churches: East Sheen Baptist Church, Elim Pentecostal Church and Christian City Church, which meets at Hampton Works on Sheen Lane.

East Sheen has no separate Roman Catholic church; the church of St Mary Magdalen Mortlake and Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Richmond also serve East Sheen.

Other notable features

There is a Grade II-listed air-raid shelter, dating from before the Second World War, at St Leonard's Court, a block of flats on St Leonard's Road, near Mortlake railway station.

Living people

Historical figures

Education

Schools in the area include: Richmond Park Academy; Tower House Boys' Preparatory School, a small independent prep-school for boys aged 4–13; East Sheen Primary School, a state school on Upper Richmond Road West; Sheen Mount School, a state primary school on West Temple and Thomson House School located on Vernon Road.

Transport

The area is served by Mortlake railway station centred 300m north of The Triangle. Transport for London bus routes are:

East Sheen in art

The Triangle in East Sheen is the subject of a painting, The Triangle, Sheen Lane, East Sheen, Surrey by James Isaiah Lewis (1861–1934), which is in the Richmond upon Thames Borough Art Collection and is held at Orleans House Gallery in Twickenham.