Twelve years later, Richard was so distraught at the death of his wife Anne of Bohemia at the age of 28 that, according to Raphael Holinshed, the 16th-century English chronicler, he "caused it [the manor] to be thrown down and defaced; whereas the former kings of this land, being wearie of the citie, used customarily thither to resort as to a place of pleasure, and serving highly to their recreation".

[23] Richmond 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.

The river is still tidal at Richmond, so, to allow major passenger and goods traffic to continue to operate during low tide, a half-tide lock was opened in 1894 and is used when the adjacent weir is in position.

This weir ensures that there is always a minimum depth of water of 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) toward the middle of the river between Richmond and Teddington, whatever the state of the tide.

The Green is surrounded by well-used metalled roads that provide a fair amount of vehicle parking for both residents and visitors.

The park is a 360-acre (1.5 km2) Crown Estate landscape extending from the town along the riverside as far as the boundary with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This contains wide green lawns and sports facilities, and the Grade I listed former King's Observatory erected for George III in 1769.

The park has a number of traffic and pedestrian gates leading to the surrounding areas of Sheen, Roehampton, Putney, Kingston and Ham.

It comprises almost exclusively high street chains, the largest of which are Marks & Spencer, Boots, Tesco Metro and Waitrose.

Richmond has one large stand-alone supermarket, Sainsbury's, with parking for 420 cars, to the east of the town near North Sheen railway station.

The Thames-side walkway provides access to residences, pubs (including the White Cross) and terraces, and various greens, lanes and footpaths through Richmond.

The view from the top westward to Windsor has long been famous, inspiring paintings by masters such as J. M. W. Turner and Sir Joshua Reynolds[8] and also poetry.

[45] Apart from the great rugby stadium at Twickenham and the aircraft landing and taking off from Heathrow, the scene has changed little in two hundred years.

The view from Richmond Hill now forms part of the Thames Landscape Strategy which aims to protect and enhance this section of the river corridor into London.

[46] A broad, gravelled walk runs along the crest of the hill and is set back off the road, lined with benches, allowing pedestrians an uninterrupted view across the Thames valley with visitors' information boards describing points of interest.

During World War I an old hotel on this site, the Star and Garter, which had been a popular place of entertainment in the 18th and 19th centuries but had closed in 1906, was taken over and used as a military hospital.

This was sold in 2013 after the charitable trust running the home concluded that the building no longer met modern requirements and could not be easily or economically upgraded.

The trust opened an additional home in Solihull, West Midlands, and the remaining residents in Richmond moved in 2013 to a new purpose-built building in Surbiton.

[51] However, there is no evidence to support the legend that Henry VIII stood on the mound to watch for the sign from St Paul's that Anne Boleyn had been executed at the Tower and that he was then free to marry Jane Seymour.

[52] In 1847 this house became the home of the then Prime Minister, Lord John Russell,[53] who conducted much government business there and entertained Queen Victoria, foreign royalty, aristocrats, writers (Dickens, Thackeray, Longfellow, Tennyson) and other notable people of the time, including Giuseppe Garibaldi.

The Riverside Gallery, also at the Old Town Hall, features temporary exhibitions by local artists including paintings, prints and photographs.

Richmond Theatre on Little Green is a late Victorian structure designed by Frank Matcham and restored and extended by Carl Toms in 1990.

[60] As audience numbers increased, there was pressure to find a more accommodating space and, in 1991, the company moved to its current premises within a converted primary school.

[62] Numerous public houses and bars scattered throughout Richmond's town centre, and along the river and up the hill, with enough variety to cater to most tastes.

There are also plenty of privately owned restaurants with culinary offerings from around the world, including French, German, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Richmond resident Sir Max Waechter, a German-born businessman and advocate of a federal Europe, donated Glover's Island to the local council in 1900.

This figure is well above the borough average of 24%, which may be related to the excellent transport links in the area and the lower proportion of families as reported in the 2001 census.

The nearest acute hospitals, both of which include accident and emergency departments and maternity units, are: Richmond has nine groups of almshouses and a tenth is scheduled to open in March 2025.

[108] Richmond Theatre ranks as a major film location; it has featured in The Naked Truth (1957),[110] Bugsy Malone (1976), The Krays (1990), Evita (1996), Bedazzled (2000), The Hours (2002), Finding Neverland (2004)[111] and The Wolfman (2010).

As well as a location for films, Richmond Park is regularly featured in television programmes, corporate videos and fashion shoots.