Twickenham, The River Thames 1899

Photo ref: 43058

More about this scene

The local population in the Middle Ages made a living from agriculture, fishing, boat-building, and ferrying traffic up and down the river. There was even a local vineyard, which produced 'two tuns and one pipe' in 1297. This seems to have been planted with cherry-trees later. There is little detailed evidence on the number of people living at Twickenham during the Middle Ages but the manor of Isleworth, including Twickenham, seems to have expanded slowly during this period. In the 14th century there are accounts of crops of oats, wheat, and barley being grown locally, and local livestock included cows and sheep. The rolls also list a ploughman, a shepherd, a cowman, and a dairymaid in this period. By 1547 the people of Isleworth were said to number 400, and the figure relating to Twickenham apart from the rest of Isleworth Manor is estimated at 210. The River Thames has been an important means of transport since before the Romans arrived in England. As there was no bridge across the Thames from Twickenham on the Middlesex bank over to the Surrey bank until the 18th century, residents who wanted to cross to the opposite bank of the river did so by ferry. The first evidence of a ferry at Twickenham occurs in 1443.