Place Name
Directional, the road leading to Richmond. Henry VII took his title as Earl of Richmond, relating to the town in Yorkshire. The name comes from Old French meaning strong hill, which might equally apply to this area. It was originally called Sheen, meaning shelters from Saxon times, when it was recorded as Sceon sometime around AD950. After Sheen Palace, built by Edward I was razed to the ground in 1499, Henry VII decided to rebuild and renamed it after his Yorkshire earldom. And with it West Sheen, Westshenes as written in 1256, all but disappeared. First written as Shene otherwise called Richemount in 1502 and within 20 years as Richmond al. Shene.
