A Day In West London – Marble Hill, Ham House, Richmond Park

Saturday day trips are one of my favourite things in life. I love visiting new towns, but I also like to explore new places in London. Although I’ve lived in the British capital for over 6 years now, there are still many places I haven’t been to. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to spend a day in west London. Living on the east side of the city, I don’t often go all the way to the other end. I decided to visit two beautiful estates: Marble Hill and Ham House, and then had a walk around one of my favourite parks in London: Richmond Park. If you’re looking for things to do in west London, here’s how I spent a day there.

Getting to Twickenham

First things first, I had to get to west London. It’s a bit of a journey from where I live! I took the Jubilee underground line to London Waterloo and then a South Western Railway train to Twickenham. From there, I walked to Marble Hill – it took me about 10-15 minutes to get there. I believe it’s possible to take a bus from Twickenham station to shorten the walking time by a few minutes. Overall, the journey took me over an hour between my home in east London and Marble Hill.

Marble Hill

The first item on my agenda was Marble Hill – an 18th century estate, managed by English Heritage. The site is free to visit, and there were a few volunteers eager to tell the visitors stories about the building and its original inhabitants. The house isn’t huge, but there were a few interesting rooms open to the public.

The original owner of Marble Hill, Henrietta Howard, was a strong woman who managed to escape an abusive relationship, separate from her husband – a rare occurrence in her times – and build an estate. The building was renovated in modern times, but there are a few original items too. For example, there was a beautiful stone table with a peacock sculpture that was sold and transported all the way to Australia after Henrietta’s death, but recovered and transported back to the UK in recent times. What a story!

Marble Hill is located in a park, and there’s a cafe nearby too if you want to enjoy a coffee after visiting the house. In the park, there is also an enclosed area with neat pathways and a grotto – the area was originally designed by influential figures in garden design, and Henrietta herself. It seems like a nice, quiet place to sit down and enjoy the sunshine.

The front of Marble Hill, London — A Day In West London – Marble Hill

The dining room with a Chinese wallpaper at Marble Hill, London — A Day In West London – Marble Hill – Dining Room

A grotto in the garden of Marble Hill — A Day In West London – Marble Hill – Grotto

Crossing the Thames

After leaving Marble Hill, I headed towards the second place on my agenda – Ham House. Technically, Marble Hill and Ham House are located very close to each other, but there’s a river between them, and no bridge. Luckily, there’s a ferry service! Apparently, it’s a family-run service that has been in operation for over 100 years! The Thames isn’t wide at that location, and Hammerton’s ferry is just a small electric boat running back and forth between the two banks. The journey takes about a minute and costs £2. To be honest, it was one of the highlights of the day for me and felt like a little adventure.

A view of River Thames from a boat ferry service — A Day In West London – Hammerton’s Ferry

Ham House

Once I got off the boat, it was just a short walk to get to Ham House. It’s a large 17th century estate with vast gardens, looked after by the National Trust. Unlike Marble Hill, it’s not free to visit. A standard adult ticket cost me £17.

I decided to start my visit with exploring the interiors. The house was much bigger than Marble Hill, and had more rooms open to visitors. There was a chapel, a library, a dining room, bedrooms, a kitchen, and more. I particularly liked seeing the kitchen. I’ve been told that occasionally, for example at Easter, volunteers bake traditional old English recipes in that kitchen. I’d love to see (and taste) that!

The main hall of Ham House, London — A Day In West London – Ham House

An elegant small room of Ham House, London. There is a green wallpaper on the wall, lots of small, framed paintings and gilded details. — A Day In West London – Ham House

The kitchen in Ham House, London — A Day In West London – Ham House – Kitchen

Next, it was time to explore the gardens. I particularly loved the Cherry Garden… which doesn’t have any cherries. Instead, it has cone-shaped trimmed hedges and lavender. Apparently, this garden is particularly stunning earlier in the summer, when the lavender is in bloom. During my visit at the start of September, the bushes were already trimmed back for winter, but the garden still looked incredible. It’s probably my favourite garden I’ve seen in London, tied with Hampton Court Palace.

Facing the back of the house, there is a large open space from which you can admire the building. On the side, there’s the kitchen garden, with flowering plants and various fruit and vegetables.

There’s a cafe in the kitchen garden and I decided to have a short break there. I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a slice of banana bread, sitting outside in the sunshine.

Beautiful lavender garden with trimmed hedges next to Ham House, London — A Day In West London – Ham House

A coffee and cake in the kitchen garden of Ham House, London — A Day In West London – Ham House – Kitchen Garden Cafe

I then explored the gift shop. I didn’t buy anything, but it gave me some inspiration for Christmas gifts – it’s that time of the year again!

I also had a chance to enjoy a guided garden tour at Ham House. It was included in the ticket, and lasted around 45 minutes. There were around 15-20 people who joined the tour. Our guide, a volunteer, walked us around the gardens and told us the history of various parts of the site. I learnt some interesting fun facts and thoroughly enjoyed that short tour!

You can learn more about Ham House on the official website.

The front of Ham House, London — A Day In West London – Ham House

A flower, fruit and vegetable garden at Ham House, London — A Day In West London – Ham House – Kitchen Garden

The back of Ham House, London, seen from the garden — A Day In West London – Ham House – Garden

Richmond Park

I spent around 3 hours at Ham House. You could probably spend more time there, but I had one more thing left in my itinerary. I wanted to have a walk around Richmond Park – one of my favourite places in London, which I hadn’t visited in ages. Richmond Park is relatively close to Ham House, at least on paper… it felt like a very long walk! It took me around 20 minutes to reach the gates of the park, but from that entrance, it’s a long way to the main section of Richmond Park. I was a bit tired at that point, having been on my feet for several hours. I instantly forgot about the fatigue when I saw the first group of majestic deer chilling under a tree, just metres away from crowds of people on walks and cyclists.

I continued strolling through the park, which, by the way, is huge. I spotted several groups of deer. One of them included a really smart individual – he kept jumping to poke the branches with his antlers to make delicious acorns fall down. Genius!

A group of deer sitting in the grass in Richmond Park, London — A Day In West London – Richmond Park

A deer caught mid-jump in Richmond Park, London — A Day In West London – Richmond Park

A large deer with stunning antlers in Richmond Park — A Day In West London – Richmond Park

Over a dozen deer grazing in Richmond Park — A Day In West London – Richmond Park

Another memorable day trip

Finally, I left Richmond Park and walked to Richmond station. It’s a bit of a walk, so if you’re visiting Richmond Park and need to get to the station, consider taking a bus.

I thoroughly enjoyed my little day trip to west London. It was great to finally visit my favourite park and admire dozens of majestic deer. I also loved Ham House and will definitely visit it again early in summer, to see the lavender garden in bloom. Taking the ferry to cross the Thames was also fun, I’ve never taken a boat to cross a river before.

If you’re looking for things to do in west London, I highly recommend both Marble Hill and Ham House, as well as having a long walk in Richmond Park!

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