Teddington

Encyclopedia : T : TE : TED : Teddington

For the village in Gloucestershire, see Teddington, Gloucestershire

Teddington is a place in Middlesex, England in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The town is notable for Teddington Lock, which is the longest lock on the River Thames and marks the upstream limit of tides. The name 'Teddington' doesn't derive from 'Tide's End Town' (as claimed by Rudyard Kipling among others), but from an Old English tribal leader.

For many years a small vllage of farms and orchards, Teddington expanded greatly after the arrival of the railway service to Waterloo station in 1864. The town centre is surrounded by a close-knit network of Victorian and Edwardian streets, and boasts a fine Carnegie library. The Victorian residents attempted to build a massive church, St Alban's, modelled on the Notre Dame in Paris; however, funds ran out and only the knave of what was to be the "Cathedral of the Thames Valley" was ever completed. Today it is the Landmark Centre, a popular venue for concerts and exhibitions.

Shopping on the High Street and Broad Street is a mix of independent and chain stores. Aside from two office developments close to the railway station, the centre of Teddington is largely untouched by large, modern buildings; however, larger houses and ample gardens are frequently giving way to denser developments of flats and townhouses.

Teddington is also home to Bushy Park (one of the Royal Parks), Teddington Studios (a digital widescreen television studio complex and one of the former homes of Thames Television), the National Physical Laboratory (the United Kingdom's national standards laboratory, where the first accurate atomic clock was built and bouncing bomb designs tested during WWII), the Teddington Rugby Football Club, and the Teddington Hockey Club (the oldest hockey club of the world).

Contents

1 Famous residents
2 Local geography

2.1 Nearby places
2.2 Local Royal Parks
2.3 Nearest railway stations
2.4 Churches in Teddington

3 External links
4 Literature
5 Trivia

Famous residents

The actor Noel Coward was born in Teddington in 1899
The comic actor Benny Hill 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", also hailed from Teddington ("...called Two-Ton Ted from Teddington and he drove the baker's van...").
The mathematician Alan Turing worked at the National Physical Laboratory
The popular Georgian actress Peg Woffington lived in Teddington after her retirement
The actress Keira Knightley was born in Teddington on 26 March 1985 and went to local comprehensive Teddington School
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.
The camp comedian Julian Clary was born in Teddington in 1960
The film actress June Duprez was born in Teddington on 14 May 1918
Sir Orlando Bridgeman
Sir Charles Duncombe
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 24 & BBC World TV, lives in Teddington
Oliver Reed used to live at No. 60 Hampton Road.
Sir Daragh Conor lived in Teddington.
Musician, Rufus Ferrabee, lives and works in Teddington.
Former Blue Peter host Mark Curry (television presenter) lives in Teddington.

Local geography

Nearby places

Local Royal Parks

Nearest railway stations

Churches in Teddington

St. Mary's with St Alban's Church of England parish church
Teddington Methodist Church
Teddington Baptist Church
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic

External links

Literature

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

Trivia

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

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