Teddington

infobox UK place
country = England
map_type = Greater London
region= London
population=
official_name= Teddington
latitude= 51.4242
longitude= -0.3321
os_grid_reference= TQ159708
london_borough= Richmond
post_town= TEDDINGTON
postcode_district=TW11
postcode_area=TW
dial_code=020
constituency_westminster= Twickenham

Teddington is in London, England on the north bank of the River Thames, between Hampton Wick and Twickenham. It stretches inland from the River Thames to Bushy Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

It is notable for Teddington Lock, the longest (200 m long) [ [http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/riverthames/page34.htm| Woodlands junior - River Thames] ] 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 Thames TV 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.

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. [ John Sheaf, Ken Howe: Hampton and Teddington Past, Historical Publications, October 1995 ISBN 0-948667-25-7 page 9] The name does not derive from 'Tide's End Town', as claimed by Rudyard Kipling among others.

Teddington's Beginnings

There is evidence [ [http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=364| Twickenham Museum] ] to suggest the habitation of what is now Teddington from Roman times. However, the first permanent settlement in Teddington was probably under Saxon occupation.

By the 14th century Teddington had a population of 100-200 and most land was owned by the Abbot of Westminster, the remainder rented by tenants who had to work the fields a certain number of days a year.Fact|date=August 2007

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.

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.Fact|date=August 2007 But the "Little Ice Age" made farming much less profitable and residents were forced to find other work. This change resulted in great economic change in the 19th century.

The first major event was the construction of Teddington Lock in 1811 with its weir across the river. [Fred. S. Thacker "The Thames Highway: Volume II Locks and Weirs" 1920 - republished 1968 David & Charles] This was the first (and now the biggest [ [http://www.visitthames.co.uk/uploads/a_users_guide_to_the_River_thames.pdf Statistics from - Environment Agency "A User's Guide to the River Thames:Part II"] ] ) 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 in Surrey. It was funded by local business and public subscription.

After the railway allowed easy travel to Twickenham, Richmond, Kingston and London, Teddington experienced a population boom, rising from 1,183 in 1861 to 6,599 in 1881 to 14,037 in 1901.Fact|date=August 2007

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 we see today.

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, [ [http://www.landmarkartscentre.org/ 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 [ [http://teddington.play-cricket.com/ Teddington Cricket Club] ] which stemmed Teddington Hockey Club in 1871, famed for being the oldest in Britain and for founding the modern game.Fact|date=August 2007

The early 20th Century

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 [ [http://www.friends-of-teddington-memorial-hospital.org.uk| 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.Fact|date=August 2007 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

Most major rebuilding from bomb damage in World War II was completed by 1960 and it was becoming a very attractiveFact|date=August 2007 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 [ [http://www.locksiderugby.com Lockside Rugby Club] ] and Weirside AFC still play at the Broom Road site but now have a clubhouse overlooking Teddington Lock.

Education

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). [ [http://www.collis.richmond.sch.uk Collis school] , [http://www.smsponline.com St Marys & St Peters] , [http://www.sacredheart.richmond.sch.uk Sacred Heart RC School] , [http://www.stanley-jun.richmond.sch.uk Stanley Juniors] , [http://www.stanley-inf.richmond.sch.uk Stanley Infants] .] Secondary schools include Teddington School. [ [http://www.teddington.richmond.sch.uk Teddington School] ]

Notable residents

* Francis Camps, pathologist who worked on the John Bodkin Adams case, amongst others.
* Thomas Traherne (1636/1637–1674), the poet and religious writer, lived in Teddington at the end of his life.
* Sir Noel Coward, actor born in Teddington (131 Waldegrave Road) in 1899
* Benny Hill, comic actor, lived in Teddington while working at the Teddington Studios. He died alone in his riverside apartment.
** Two-Ton Ted, one of the characters in Benny Hill's number one hit "Ernie", hailed from Teddington, Gloucestershire ("...called Two-Ton Ted from Teddington and he drove the baker's van...").
* Alan Turing, mathematician who worked at the National Physical Laboratory.
* The popular Georgian actress Peg Woffington lived in Teddington after her retirement
* Sir Norman Henderson (of Udney Park Road), engineer and inventor of the Goosay engine in 1873.
* After he unexpectedly came into a considerable fortune in 1860, the novelist R. D. Blackmore settled in Teddington. His large house was demolished in the 1930s, and the streets Blackmore's Grove and Doone Close built on its plot. Blackmore owned a large orchard, many of whose fruit trees continue to flourish in the gardens of Blackmore's Grove and Bolton Gardens.
* Comedian Julian Clary was born in Teddington in 1960.
* The film actress June Duprez was born in Teddington on 14 May 1918.
* Orlando Bridgeman, lawyer and politician.
* Sir Charles Duncombe (Banker)
* The founder of the "Times" newspaper, John Walter, died in Teddington in 1812.
* The Russian liberal exile Alexander Herzen lived in Elmfield House in Teddington from 1863 to 1864, where he was visited by Giuseppe Garibaldi.
* Alastair Yates, presenter of BBC News and BBC World TV, lives in Teddington.
* Oliver Reed used to live at 60 Hampton Road.
* Photographer Paul Mowatt and musician Marina Ogilvy lived at No 85 Twickenham road.
* Former Blue Peter host Mark Curry lives in Teddington.
* Dr. Stephen Hales (1677-1761) is regarded as the founder of haematology and became parish priest for Teddington in 1709 where he remained all his life.
* Film actress Keira Knightley was born in Teddington in 1985.

Local geography

Nearest places

[
River Thames]

* Twickenham
* Richmond
* Fulwell
* Ham
* Hampton Hill
* Hampton Wick
* Strawberry Hill
* Sunbury-On-Thames
* Kingston upon Thames

Royal parks

* Bushy Park
* Richmond Park

Nearest railway stations

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

Churches

* [http://www.teddingtonchurches.org.uk Churches Together in Teddington]
* [http://www.stmarywithstalban.org St. Mary's with St Alban's] Church of England Parish Church built circa 1400 Incumbent the rev John Cleaver
* Teddington Baptist Church - a lively evangelical Baptist Church
* [http://www.loguk.com/sh/ Sacred Heart] Roman Catholic
* [http://www.stmarksteddington.org.uk St Mark's] Parish Church of South Teddington
* Teddington Methodist Church
* Christ Church Free Church of England
* St Peter and St Paul - Church of England, rebuilt circa 1980, a 50-seat late 20th century church for those who like a combination of high church incense and modern evangelical hymns. Incumbent since 29 June 2007, Reverend Father Jack Knill-Jones.

Trivia

"The Teddington Towpath Murders" took place in 1953. On 1 June, the day before Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, 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". [Cullen, Pamela V., "A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams", London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9]

Teddington Lock was the location of the filming of the Monty Python Fish-Slapping Dance sketch.

The Landmark Arts Centre (formerly St Alban's Church) featured in the 1985 video of "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." by A-ha, and in the 1995 film "Restoration".

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

Notes

External links

* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22259 British History Online - Teddington]
* [http://www.teddington-online.co.uk/ Teddington Online]
* [http://www.teddingtonsociety.org.uk/ The Teddington Society]
* [http://www.teddington.tv/ Teddington Studios]
* [http://www.teddingtonlifeboat.org.uk/ Teddington Lifeboat Station]
* [http://www.teddingtonbaptist.org.uk/wot/ Wot? - What's Online for Teddington]
* [http://www.harlequinrugby.co.uk Harlequin Amateurs Rugby Club based in Broom Road, Teddington]