Thursday 19 March 2026 8pm at All Saints Church

Richard White is giving a talk on Sheen House and the Barnes Home Guard Club to the Barnes and Mortlake History Society at All Saints Church East Sheen at 8.00pm. £5 for non-members.

The first Sheen House was built in 1617. It was said to have been rebuilt in 1786 but some doubt this date. It housed many eminent local residents during the 19th century, including French Royalty, bankers, politicians and philanthropists. From about 1830 to 1833 it was the home of the Prime Minister Earl Grey at the time of the Great Reform Bill, Poor Law and Abolition of Slavery.

It was demolished in 1907 to be replaced by existing homes in Sheen Lane, Richmond Park Road, Muirdown Avenue and Shrewsbury Avenue. The coach houses still exist in the last mentioned though substantially modified.

The Barnes Home Guard Club at 76a Richmond Park Road was founded in 1944 as a social club within the grounds of the former Sheen House for members of ‘B’ Company of the 27th County of London Battalion Home Guard. Its headquarters were then in the Larches in Sheen Lane. Today it is a thriving social club with some 800 members and provides a regular programme of entertainment open to members and non-members.