Milbourne House

Milbourne House is believed to be the oldest surviving private dwelling in Barnes. Standing on Station Road facing Barnes Green and the pond, the Grade II* listed building dates in its current form principally from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, though a house has occupied this site since at least the fifteenth century. The novelist Henry Fielding lived here around 1750, and a blue plaque on the facade commemorates his residence.

History

The name derives from the Milbourne (or Melbourne) family, an old Surrey family who held the manor of Esher Wateville. A memorial brass to Sir William de Milbourne, who died in 1415, was recorded in the parish church of St Mary’s but disappeared from the church in 1787. A house on this site facing the Green has been documented since the fifteenth century, though the structure has been substantially rebuilt over the intervening centuries.

Architecture

Milbourne House is listed at Grade II* by Historic England (list entry 1252850), placing it among approximately 5.8 per cent of all listed buildings in England. The house has an L-shaped plan with an early-eighteenth-century facade of rough-cast render over brick. The roof is mansarded and covered with large graduated slate. Prominent chimneystacks are a distinguishing feature.

Inside, the house retains several notable period features:

• An Elizabethan fireplace in the entrance hall — a surviving element from the Tudor era
• A seventeenth-century staircase with balustrade
• An old chimney piece dating from the seventeenth century

Part of the building, known as Ratcliff House, resembles a small fifteenth-century hall house with a solar (upper-floor private chamber), though there is no documentary proof of this attribution.

Notable Residents

Henry Fielding (c. 1750)

The novelist Henry Fielding (1707–1754) lived at Milbourne House around 1750, during the period when he was also serving as a magistrate at Bow Street in Westminster. He is thought to have worked on his final novel Amelia (published December 1751) while in residence here. A blue plaque was installed on the facade in 1978 by the Greater London Council, reading: “HENRY FIELDING 1707–1754 Novelist lived here.”

Fielding’s earlier masterpiece Tom Jones was published in February 1749, before his documented residence at Milbourne House.

Robert Beale (d. 1601)

Robert Beale (1541–1601), diplomat and Clerk of the Privy Council for twenty-nine years, is recorded as having died at a house in Barnes on 25 May 1601. Some sources attribute this to Milbourne House, though others place his residence at nearby Barn Elms. Beale served as secretary to Sir Francis Walsingham and was present at the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots at Fotheringhay in 1587, having delivered the warrant. DISPUTED — The attribution of Beale to Milbourne House rather than Barn Elms requires further verification.

Field Marshal Lord Tyrawley (1770–1774)

James O’Hara, 2nd Baron Tyrawley (c. 1682–1774), a British field marshal and diplomat who had served as ambassador to Lisbon, moved to Milbourne House in 1770 and lived there until shortly before his death in Twickenham on 14 July 1774.

Wartime Damage and Restoration

The house suffered serious bomb damage during the Second World War. It was restored in 1955 and divided into two separate dwellings. The extensive rear gardens were lost to new building on the site during the post-war period.

Conservation

Milbourne House stands within the Barnes Green Conservation Area — one of the first conservation areas designated in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, established on 14 January 1969. It is recognised as one of the most significant historic buildings within the conservation area, which received its latest appraisal in February 2024.

Practical Information

• Address: 18 Station Road, Barnes, London SW13 0LW
• Listing: Grade II* (Historic England list entry 1252850)
• Access: Private residence; the blue plaque is visible from the pavement

Sources

1. Historic England — List Entry 1252850
2. Milbourne House — Barnes & Mortlake History Society
3. 18 Station Road, Barnes — Wikipedia
4. Henry Fielding Blue Plaque — English Heritage
5. Parishes: Barnes — British History Online (Victoria County History)