Richmond Park - Gates

Gates

In 1736 Bog Gate (also then known as Queen's Gate) was opened as a private entrance by which Queen Caroline could enter the park on her journeys between White Lodge and Richmond Lodge, a royal residence in Old Deer Park. Public access, 24 hours a day, was granted in 1894 and the present "cradle" gate installed.

Kitchen Garden Gate, hidden behind Teck Plantation, is probably a nineteenth century gate. It has never been open to the public.

Sheen Gate (one of the original six gates in the boundary wall when the park was enclosed in 1637) was where the brewer John Lewis asserted pedestrian right of entry in 1755 after Princess Amelia had denied it.The present double gates date from 1926.

Roehampton Gate is also one of the six original gates. The present wrought iron gates were installed in 1899.

Chohole Gate served the farm that stood within the park on the site of the present Kings Farm Plantation. It is first mentioned in 1680.

Robin Hood Gate, another of the six original gates, takes its name from the nearby Robin Hood Inn and is close to what is called the Robin Hood roundabout on the A3. Widened in 1907, it was closed in 2003 as part of a traffic reduction trial and remains permanently closed.

Ladderstile Gate, also one of the six original gates, was known as Coombe Gate and provided access to the park for the parishioners of Coombe, with both a gate and a step ladder. The gate was locked in the early 1700s and bricked up in about 1735. The stepladder was reinstated after John Lewis's case in 1758 and remained in place until about 1884. The present gate dates from 1901.

Kingston Gate dates from about 1750. The existing gates date from 1898.

Ham Gate is one of the six original gates. It was widened in 1921, when the present wrought iron gates were installed. The chinoiserie lantern lights over the gate were installed in 1825.

Petersham Gate served the Russell School, replacing the more ornate gates to Petersham Lodge. A disused carriage gate further up the hill was probably a tradesman’s entrance to the school or to the Lodge stables.

Richmond Gate is one of the original six gates and has the heaviest traffic. The gates were widened in 1896.

Bishop's Gate in Chisholm Road, previously known as the Cattle Gate, was for use by livestock allowed to pasture in the nineteenth century. It was opened for public use in 1896.

Cambrian Road Gate was constructed during World War I for access to the newly built South Africa Military Hospital. When the hospital was demolished in 1925, the entrance was made permanent and public as a pedestrian gate.