Twickenham War Memorial
Twickenham War Memorial, in Radnor Gardens, Twickenham, London, commemorates the men of the district of Twickenham who died in the First World War. After 1945, the memorial was updated to recognise casualties from the Second World War. The memorial was commissioned by Twickenham Urban District Council in 1921. It was designed by the sculptor Mortimer Brown, and is Brown's only significant public work. The memorial is unusual for its representation of a jubilant soldier returning home. It became a Grade II* listed structure in 2017. Site The area around Richmond had been a favoured site for wealthy Londoners to construct country houses since medieval times. Cherry and Pevsner note that, after Westminster, "no other London borough has a greater wealth of major palaces and mansions than Richmond upon Thames". Edward III died at his palace at Sheen in 1377. Henry VII replaced that building with Richmond Palace, which was further developed by his son Henry VIII until the latter gained possession of the even grander Hampton Court Palace in 1525. In the 18th century the area saw the development of more modest riverside retreats for the aristocracy and the upper classes. Among the earliest, dating from 1724, was Marble Hill