Teddington

For the village in Gloucestershire, see Teddington, Gloucestershire.

Teddington
OS grid reference	TQ159708
London borough	Richmond
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	TEDDINGTON
Postcode district	TW11
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Twickenham
London Assembly	South West

Teddington is a suburban area in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, on the north bank of the River Thames, between Hampton Wick and Twickenham. It stretches inland from the River Thames to Bushy Park. Formerly it was in the county of Middlesex, which was formerly also its postal county.

It is notable for Teddington Lock, the longest (200 m) lock on the River Thames, which marks the upstream limit of tides. Teddington is mostly residential but is bisected by an almost continuous road of shops, offices and other facilities running from the river to Bushy Park. There are three clusters of offices on this route: at the lock Teddington Studios and Haymarket Group form a media hub whilst on the edge of Bushy Park the NPL, NWML and LGC form a scientific centre. Around Teddington Station and the town centre are a number of offices in industries such as Direct Marketing and IT, and offices outside this axis include Tearfund. Several riverside businesses and houses were redeveloped in the last quarter of the twentieth century as blocks of riverside flats. The area has been described in the national press as "leafy".

In 2001 the RNLI opened the Teddington Lifeboat Station, one of the four Thames lifeboat stations. The station became operational in January 2002 and is the only volunteer station on the river.

History

Etymology

The name 'Teddington' derives from an Old English tribal leader, and it was known in Saxon and Norman times as Todyngton and Tutington. The name does not derive from 'Tide's End Town', as claimed by Rudyard Kipling among others. The "ton" ending simply means settlement.

Teddington's beginnings

There have been isolated findings of flint and bone tools from the mesolithic and neolithic periods in Bushy Park and some unauthenticated evidence of Roman occupation. However, the first permanent settlement in Teddington was probably in Saxon times. Teddington was not mentioned in the Domesday book as it was included under the Hampton entry.

Teddington Manor was first owned by Benedictine monks in Staines and it is believed they built a chapel dedicated to St. Mary on the same site as today's St. Mary's Church. In 971, a charter gave the land in Teddington to the Abbey of Westminster. By the 14th century Teddington had a population of 100-200 and with most land was owned by the Abbot of Westminster, the remainder was rented by tenants who had to work the fields a certain number of days a year.

The Hampton Court gardens were erected in 1500 in preparation for the planned rebuilding of a 14th century manor to form Hampton Court Palace in 1521 and were to serve as hunting grounds for Cardinal Wolsey and later Henry VIII and his family. In 1540 some common land of Teddington was enclosed to form Bushy Park and acted as more hunting grounds.

Bushy House was built in 1663, and its notable residents included UK prime minister Lord North who lived there for over twenty years. Shortly afterwards, the future William IV of the United Kingdom lived there with his mistress Dorothy Jordan before acceding to the throne, and later with his Queen Consort, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. The facilities were later converted into the NPL.

Economic change

In subsequent centuries, Teddington enjoyed a prosperous life due to the proximity of royalty and by 1800 had grown significantly, with a population of over 700. But the "Little Ice Age" had made farming much less profitable and residents were forced to find other work. This change resulted in great economic change in the 19th century.

Sluice gates on the River Thames

The first major event was the construction of Teddington Lock in 1811 with its weir across the river. This was the first (and now the biggest) of five locks built at the time by the City of London Corporation. In 1889 Teddington Lock Footbridge consisting of a suspension bridge section and a girder bridge section was completed, linking Teddington to Ham (then in Surrey, now in London). It was funded by local business and public subscription.

After the railway was built in 1863, easy travel to Twickenham, Richmond, Kingston and London was possible and Teddington experienced a population boom, rising from 1,183 in 1861 to 6,599 in 1881 to 14,037 in 1901.

To account for this, many roads and houses were built, continuing into the 20th century, forming the close-knit network of Victorian and Edwardian streets present today. In 1867, a local board was established and an Urban District Council in 1895.

The Victorians attempted to build a massive church, St. Alban's, based on the Notre Dame de Paris; however, funds ran out and only the nave of what was to be the "Cathedral of the Thames Valley" was completed. It opened in 1889 with a "temporary" wall at one end where the tower was going to be. In 1967 the church congregation reverted back across the road to the historic but much smaller church of St Mary's. In 1993 the temporary wall was replaced with a permanent one as part of a refurbishment that converted St Alban's Church into The Landmark Centre, a venue for concerts and exhibitions.

Several schools were built in Teddington in the late 1800s in response to the 1870 Education Act, putting over 2,000 children in schools by 1899, transforming the previously illiterate village.

Bushy Park became home to Teddington Cricket Club which stemmed Teddington Hockey Club in 1871, famed for being the oldest in Britain and for founding the modern game.

The early 20th century

Carnegie Library built 1906 in the Edwardian Baroque style

Great change took place around the turn of the century in Teddington. Many new establishments were springing up, including Sim's Opticians and Dowsett's newsagents, which still exist today. In 1902 the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) started in Bushy House (primarily working in industry and metrology and where the first accurate atomic clock was built) and the Teddington Carnegie Library was built in 1906. Electricity was also now supplied to Teddington allowing for more development.

Until this point, the only hospital had been the very small Cottage Hospital, but it could not manage the growing population especially during the First World War. Money was raised over the next decade to build Teddington Memorial Hospital in 1929.

By the beginning of the Second World War, by far the greatest source of employment in Teddington was in the NPL. Its main focus in the war was military research and its most famous invention, the "bouncing bomb", was developed. During the war General Dwight D. Eisenhower planned the D-Day landings at his Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in Bushy Park.

Modern times

Thames Television and ABC Weekend TV studios

This had been a Warner Bros film studio which was heavily bombed during the war.Most major rebuilding from bomb damage in World War II was completed by 1960 and it was becoming a very attractive place to live. Chain stores began to open up, including Tesco in 1971.

Teddington Studios (a digital widescreen television studio complex and one of the former homes of Thames Television) opened in 1958.

Teddington is home to Teddington Rugby Football Club and the Lensbury sports and social club of Royal Dutch Shell. The Lensbury is now run as a private members club with membership available to non-Shell employees and the sports teams previously associated with it have become independent: Lockside Rugby Club and Weirside AFC still play at the Broom Road site but now have a clubhouse overlooking Teddington Lock.

Lloyds Bank

The "towpath murders" took place in 1953. On 1 June, Barbara Songhurst was discovered floating in the river Thames. She had been stabbed four times and her friend, Christine Reed, was also missing. The investigation was led by Chief Inspector Herbert Hannam and Reed's body was found on 6 June. On 28 June Alfred Whiteway was arrested for their murder, and the sexual assault of three other women that same year. Whiteway was hanged at Wandsworth prison on 22 November 1953. The case was described as "one of Scotland Yard's most notable triumphs in a century".

Education

Main article: List of schools in Richmond upon Thames

The education authority for Teddington is the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames.

Primary schools in Teddington include Collis (Fairfax Rd), St Marys & St Peters (Church Rd), Sacred Heart RC School (St.Marks Rd) Stanley Juniors and Infants (Strathmore Rd). Secondary schools include Teddington School.

Transport

Teddington railway station is on the Kingston Loop Line and served by South West Trains. Trains run both ways to London Waterloo, one way via Kingston upon Thames and Wimbledon, London every fifteen minutes, the other via Richmond, London and Putney every 30 minutes. Trains also run to Shepperton every 30 minutes.

Teddington is also served by a number of buses. These are 285 (to Kingston via Hampton Wick, and London Heathrow via Hampton Hill, Hampton, Hanworth, Feltham and Hatton), 281 (To Tolworth via Hampton Wick, Kingston and Surbiton, and Hounslow via Fulwell, Twickenham and Whitton), 33 (to Hammersmith via Twickenham, Richmond, East Sheen, Barnes and Castelnau, and Fulwell), R68 (to Hampton Court via Hampton Hill and Hampton, and Kew via Twickenham and Richmond), 481 (to Kingston via Hampton Wick, and West Middlesex Hospital via Fulwell and Whitton and X26 (To West Croydon via Kingston, New Malden, Worcester Park, Cheam, Sutton, Carshalton, Wallington Green and East Croydon, and London Heathrow via Hatton).

Local geography

Royal parks

• Bushy Park
• Richmond Park

Nearest railway stations

• Teddington railway station
• Hampton Wick railway station
• Fulwell railway station
• Strawberry Hill railway station

Churches

• Churches Together in Teddington
• St. Mary's with St Alban's Church of England Parish Church built circa 1400.
• Teddington Baptist Church - evangelical Baptist Church
• Sacred Heart Roman Catholic
• St Mark's Parish Church of South Teddington
• Teddington Methodist Church
• Christ Church - an independent Church of England style congregation [2]
• St Peter and St Paul - Church of England, rebuilt circa 1980, a 50-seat late 20th century church. Incumbent since 29 June 2007, Reverend Father Jack Knill-Jones.

Literature

• John Sheaf, Ken Howe: Hampton and Teddington Past, Historical Publications, October 1995 ISBN 0-948667-25-7
• K. Howe, M. Cherry: Twickenham, Teddington and Hampton (Britain in Old Photographs), Sutton Publishing, October 29, 1998

External links

• TeddingtonTown - Teddington news & info
• British History Online - Teddington
• The Teddington Society
• Teddington Studios
• Teddington Lifeboat Station
• Wot? - What's Online for Teddington
• Harlequin Amateurs Rugby Club based in Broom Road, Teddington
• Base One Group, B2B marketing agency and local employer based in Teddington