Richmond Park

Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA · EN · 04/10/2026

Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park. It is now a national nature reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation and is included, at Grade I, on Historic England's Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. Its landscapes have inspired many famous artists and it has been a location for several films and TV series.

Richmond Park includes many buildings of architectural or historic interest. The Grade I-listed White Lodge was formerly a royal residence and is now home to the Royal Ballet School. The park's boundary walls and ten other buildings are Grade II-listed, including Pembroke Lodge, the home of 19th-century British Prime Minister Lord John Russell and his grandson, the philosopher Bertrand Russell. In 2020, Historic England listed two other features in the park – King Henry's Mound, possibly a round barrow, and an unnamed mound which could be a long barrow.

Historically the preserve of the monarch, the park is open for all to use and includes a golf club with two courses, and other facilities for sport and recreation. It played an important role in both world wars and the 1948 Summer Olympics and also featured in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Overview

Size

Richmond Park (856 ha) is the largest of London's Royal Parks and the second-largest park in London after Lee Valley Park, whose linear-shaped area (4000 ha) extends beyond the M25 into Hertfordshire and Essex. It is Britain's second-largest urban walled park after Sutton Park (2200 ha) in Birmingham.

Status

Of national and international importance for wildlife conservation, most of Richmond Park is a National Nature Reserve (NNR), and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The park, excluding the golf course, Pembroke Lodge Gardens and the Gate Gardens, was designated as an SSSI in 1992, the largest one in London. In its citation, Natural England said: "Richmond Park has been managed as a royal deer park since the seventeenth century, producing a range of habitats of value to wildlife. In particular, Richmond Park is of importance for its diverse deadwood beetle fauna associated with the ancient trees found throughout the parkland. In addition the park supports the most extensive area of dry acid grassland in Greater London."

The park was designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in 2005, because it has "a large number of ancient trees with decaying timber. It is at the heart of the south London centre of distribution for stag beetle Lucanus cervus, and is a site of national importance for the conservation of the fauna of invertebrates associated with the decaying timber of ancient trees".

Since 1987 the park has been included, at Grade I, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. In its listing, Historic England describe it as "A royal deer park with pre C15 origins, imparked by Charles I and improved by subsequent monarchs. A public open space since the mid C19".

Geography

The park is in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is close to Richmond, Ham, Petersham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon, Roehampton and East Sheen.

Organisation

Governance

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport manages Richmond Park and the other Royal Parks of London under powers set out in the Crown Lands Act 1851, which transferred management of the parks from the monarch to the government. Day-to-day management of the Royal Parks has been delegated to The Royal Parks, an executive agency of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The Royal Parks' Board sets the strategic direction for the agency. Appointments to the Board are made by the Mayor of London.

The Friends of Richmond Park and the Friends of Bushy Park co-chair the Richmond and Bushy Parks Forum, comprising more than 30 local stakeholder organisations. The forum was formed in September 2010 to consider proposals to bring Richmond Park and Bushy Park – and London's other royal parks – under the control of the Mayor of London through a new Royal Parks Board and to make a joint response. Although welcoming the principles of the new governance arrangements, the forum (in 2011) and the Friends of Richmond Park (in 2012) expressed concerns about the composition of the new board.

Richmond Park is in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, which is governed by Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council. Three local government wards cover the park: East Sheen; Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside; and South Richmond.

The park forms part of the Richmond Park constituency for the UK Parliament. The MP, since 2019, is Sarah Olney from the Liberal Democrats. Richmond Park is also part of the South West constituency for the London Assembly, which has been represented by Gareth Roberts from the Liberal Democrats since 2024.

Access

Richmond Park is the most visited royal park outside central London, with 4.4 million visits in 2014. The park is enclosed by a high wall with several gates. The gates either allow pedestrian and bicycle access only, or allow bicycle, pedestrian and other vehicle access. The gates for motor vehicle access are open only during daylight hours; the speed limit is 20 mph. The gates for pedestrians and cyclists are open 24 hours a day except during the deer culls in February and November, when the pedestrian gates are closed between 8:00 pm and 7:30 am. However, since 2020, there has been restricted through traffic in Richmond Park, for example between Richmond Gate and Roehampton Gate at weekends. Apart from taxis, no commercial vehicles are allowed unless they are being used to transact business with residents of the park.

From March to November, a free bus service, calling near Mortlake railway station, runs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It stops at the park's main car parks and at the gate at Isabella Plantation nearest Peg's Pond.

The gates open to motor traffic are: Sheen Gate, Richmond Gate, Ham Gate, Kingston Gate, Roehampton Gate and (for access to Richmond Park Golf Course only) Chohole Gate.

The park has designated bridleways and cycle paths. These are shown on maps and noticeboards displayed near the main entrances, along with other regulations that govern use of the park. The bridleways are for horses (and their riders) only and are not open to cyclists.

The Beverley Brook Walk runs through the park between Roehampton Gate and Robin Hood Gate. The Capital Ring walking route crosses the park from Robin Hood Gate to Petersham Gate.

Cycling is allowed only on main roads, on National Cycle Route 4 through the centre of the park and on the Tamsin Trail (the shared-use pedestrian–cycle path that runs close to the park's perimeter).

National Cycle Route 4 crosses the park between Ham Gate in the west and Roehampton Gate in the east, skirting Pen Ponds and White Lodge. It interlinks with the Thames Cycle Route and forms part of the London Cycle Network. The speed limit on this route through the centre of the park, where it is off the main road, is 10 mph.

As the park is a national nature reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, dog owners are required to keep their dogs under control while in the park. This includes not allowing their dog to disturb other park users or disrupt wildlife. In 2009, after some incidents leading to the death of wildfowl, the park's dogs-on-leads policy was extended. Park users are said to believe that the deer are feeling increasingly threatened by the growing number of dogs using the park and The Royal Parks advises against walking dogs in the park during the deer's birthing season.

Law enforcement

A mugging at gunpoint in 1854 reputedly led to the establishment of a park police force, which was originally mounted but has now been replaced by a patrol team in a four-wheel drive vehicle. Until 2005 the park was policed by the separate Royal Parks Constabulary, but that was subsumed into the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit of the Metropolitan Police. In 2015 the Friends of Richmond Park expressed concern about plans to cut the numbers of police in the park to half their level ten years previously, despite an increase in visitor numbers and in incidents of crime. In 2025, the Metropolitan Police disbanded the Royal Parks Police to save money.

Sport and recreation

The park has dedicated bridleways for horse-riding. Horses can be hired from local stables, including Operation Centaur based at Holly Lodge. The Tamsin Trail, shared between pedestrians and cyclists, is 7.2 mi and provides a circuit of the park. It is almost entirely car-free and is popular with runners. Members of Barnes Runners complete at least one circumnavigation of it on the first and third Sunday of every month. Richmond Park parkrun, a 5 km organised run, takes place every Saturday morning on a single-lap circular course which starts near Bishop's Gate. Cycles are available for hire near Roehampton Gate and, at peak times, near Pembroke Lodge. At Petersham Gate there is a children's playground which was renovated and upgraded in 2025.

Fishing is allowed, by paid permit, on Pen Ponds from mid-June to mid-March; the fish in the ponds include roach and bream. Golf is played at Richmond Park Golf Course, a public facility opened in 1923 by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII). It has two 18-hole golf courses and practice facilities. A section of the grassland to the north of the Roehampton Gate is laid out during the winter months for rugby; there are three pitches. At weekends, this area is hired to the rugby union club Rosslyn Park F.C.. Visiting teams use the club's nearby clubhouse and changing rooms and are transferred by bus to and from the park pitches.

Friends of Richmond Park

The Friends of Richmond Park was founded in 1961 to conserve and protect the park. In 1960 the speed limit in the park had been raised from 20 to 30 miles an hour and there were concerns that the park's roads would be assigned to the main highway system, as had recently happened in Hyde Park. In 1969, the Friends revealed plans by the then Greater London Council to assign the park's roads to the national highway; the plan was withdrawn. The speed limit was reduced to 20 miles an hour in 2004. The Friends has been a charitable organisation since 2009. It has 3,700 members, is run by approximately 300 volunteers and has no staff. Its patrons are broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough, former Richmond Park MP Baroness Susan Kramer, broadcaster Clare Balding and radio and TV presenter Annabel Croft. The chairman, since 2021, is Roger Hillyer.

In 2011, the Friends successfully campaigned for the withdrawal of plans for open-air screenings of films in the park. In 2012, the Friends contributed towards the cost of a new Jubilee Pond, and launched a public appeal for a Ponds and Streams Conservation Programme. The Friends organise a programme of walks and education activities for young people, produce a quarterly newsletter, and run a visitor centre near Pembroke Lodge. Profits from sales of the Friends' books and other publications contribute towards its conservation work.

History

Stuart origins

In 1625 Charles I brought his court to Richmond Palace to escape an outbreak of plague in London and turned the area on the hill above Richmond into a park for the hunting of red and fallow deer. It was originally called the King's "New Park" to distinguish it from an existing park nearby, now known as Old Deer Park. In 1637 he appointed Jerome Weston, 2nd Earl of Portland as keeper for life, with a fee of 12 (old) pence a day, pasture for four horses, and the use of the brushwood – later holders of that office were known as "Ranger". Charles's decision, also in 1637, to enclose the land was not popular with local residents, but he did allow pedestrians the right of way. The walls remain, partially rebuilt and reinforced. Following Charles I's execution, custodianship of the park passed to the Corporation of the City of London. It was returned to the restored monarch, Charles II, on his return to London in 1660.

Georgian alterations

In 1719, Caroline of Ansbach and her husband, the future King George II, bought Richmond Lodge as a country residence. This building had first been built as a hunting lodge for James I in 1619 and had been occupied by William III. As shown in a map of 1734, Richmond Park and Richmond Gardens then formed a single unit – the latter was merged with Kew Gardens by George III in the early 19th century. In 1736 the Queen's Ride was cut through existing woodland to create a grand avenue through the park and Bog Gate or Queen's Gate was opened as a private entrance for Queen Caroline to enter the park on her journeys between White Lodge and Richmond Lodge. The same map shows the two Pen Ponds, dug in 1746 and initially named the Canals. Richmond Lodge fell out of use on Caroline's death in 1737 but was brought back into use by her grandson George III as his summer residence from 1764 to 1772, when he switched his summer residence to Kew Palace and had Richmond Lodge demolished.

Source and attribution

Adapted from “Richmond Park” by English Wikipedia contributors. Main paragraphs and sections are retained; tables, reference markers and technical markup are omitted. This is an encyclopedic adaptation, not a personal review. Original revision and contributor history ↗. Text is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗. Check current visitor access, tickets and transport with the relevant operator.