Hampton Wick

History

There is evidence of Roman occupation. Kingston Bridge, the first bridge linking the village with Kingston upon Thames is dated from about 1219 and replaced the Roman ford at this point.

Cardinal Wolsey is believed to have lived in Hampton Wick (in Lower Teddington Road) while waiting for Hampton Court Palace to be built. The parish of Hampton was split in the century after this time to form Hampton Wick.

Sir Richard Steele also lived in Hampton Wick, in a house he whimsically called "The Hovel". He dedicated the fourth volume of Tatler to Charles, Lord Halifax "from the Hovel at Hampton Wick, April 7, 1711", around the time he became Surveyor of the Royal Stables at Hampton Court Palace, Governor of the King's Comedians, a Justice of the Peace and a knight.

The Hampton Wick Local Board was established in 1863 with headquarters at the "idiosyncratic, tall, Dutch gabled" Hampton Wick Local Board Office | access-date = 30 October 2024 located at 45A High Street. It was built in 1884 by local architect Richard T. Elsam | access-date = 30 September 2024 in an "exuberant" Jacobean style. The building presently serves as private housing.

Reverend Frederick Champion de Crespigny was a vicar of Hampton Wick who was also involved in many secular affairs, most notably at the Local Board where he was clerk. An excellent cricketer, he founded and presided the Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club in Bushy Park in 1863. De Crespigny resided at a now demolished Gothic Revival Vicarage formerly located on Park Road, directly across from the Hampton Wick entrance to Bushy Park at Cobbler's Walk. | access-date = 1 November 2024 | access-date = 2 November 2024

The architect Edward Lapidge both designed and donated the land for a church, St John's Hampton Wick, built in 1831. Lapidge had been born in the village. He also designed the present Kingston Bridge. In 2010, after five years of closure, the church re-opened its doors under the Church of England's church planting scheme. Services were resumed in December 2010.

Governance

Hampton Wick is part of the Twickenham constituency for elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Hampton Wick is part of the Hampton Wick and South Teddington ward for elections to Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council.

Hampton Wick in popular culture

A tone poem Hampton Wick for orchestra was composed by Harry Waldo Warner and won the Hollywood Bowl Competition in 1932, then was premiered by Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1934. The music was based on a poem by Onslow Frampton which was the pen name of Warner himself.

In Cockney rhyming slang, "Hampton Wick" (often shortened to "Hampton") means "dick" or "prick", both of which are British vulgar slang names for the penis. Hence a character called Hugh Jampton (a Cockney homophone of "huge Hampton") in the 1950s BBC radio programme The Goon Show. Another use of the term appeared in the 2000s BBC TV series The Office when Tim Canterbury bemoans the quality of Slough's nightlife, recollecting a Tudor-themed club memorably displaying a punning notice stating "Don't get your Hampton Court" in the men's toilets. The title of rocker Sammy Hagar's 1982 album Standing Hampton also relates to the same piece of rhyming slang. Ian Dury used the name, and the phrase "Hamptons don't leave fingerprints", in the song "Blackmail Man" on his 1977 album New Boots and Panties!!

Hampton Wick was the setting for the 1970s Thames Television situation comedy George and Mildred. The area is near the former Thames studios at Teddington and filming took place at Manor Road in Teddington. Hampton Wick was also the title of *The Two Ronnies''' first "classic serial" spoof drama in their first BBC series (1973). Hampton Wick is referenced by British singer-songwriter Jamie T in the title track of his 2009 EP *Sticks 'n' Stones''. The Two Ronnies also use the word to comic effect in their 1971 sketch "The Ministry of Pollution" where the Minister of Pollution (Barker) says, "North and Southampton will be joined together into one enormous hampton".

Hampton Wick (Station) also featured in the sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin as the first of his train-based excuses for arriving late for work: "Eleven minutes late, staff difficulties, Hampton Wick."

Sport and leisure

Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club, founded in 1863, is a cricket club at the Royal Cricket Grand Pavilion in Bushy Park. The team currently plays in division three of the Surrey Championship League. The club's first eleven finished the 2006 season as unbeaten champions of the Fullers League Division 2 1st-XI league and gained promotion to Division 1.

The Royal Paddocks Allotments are adjacent to Bushy Park and Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club. They were established following a lease made by King George V in 1921.

Demography and housing

Economy and transport

The main economic features here are transport. Kingston University has a large hall of residence in the town. Some professional offices are by Kingston Bridge and these include a major office of HSBC bank. The A308 splits the Royal Parks, leading nearby to the A309 and A312 roads, north–south. Equally, the A311 passes through the heart of the district forming its short, convenience High Street and provider further connections than another B road by the park to the larger commercial centre of Teddington, centred less than 1 mi from Hampton Wick's railway station which is another economic hub of the area.

Hampton Wick railway station has connections to London Waterloo.

References

References

1. [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] {{Webarchive. link. (11 February 2003 [[United Kingdom Census 2011]] ''[[Office for National Statistics]]'' The single [[wards of the United Kingdom). ward]] includes about one third of the two parks. Retrieved 21 November 2013
2. Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'' (2004).
3. Gibson, Anne. (11 July 2008). "A property career steeped in history". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
4. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/image.aspx?compid=22224&filename=fig01.gif&pubid=85 Map of S. Middlesex showing Ashford, East Bedfont, Feltham, Hampton, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury and Teddington] ''A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3'' Susan Reynolds (1962), pp. 1-12. Date accessed: 18 December 2013
5. "The Tatler, Volume 4 by Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele". Project Gutenberg.
6. "Former Hampton Wick Local Board offices and UDC office". The National Heritage List for England.
7. Ellie Brown. (5 November 2021). "Teddington REWIND: The fascinating history of Hampton Wick's old library". Teddington Nub News.
8. (1832). "Chapel of St John the Baptist at Hampton Wick". The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction.
9. "UK Parliament election results: Twickenham (13 April 2010 - 30 May 2024)".
10. (5 November 2020). "The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (Electoral Changes) Order 2020".
11. "Old Hampton Wick poem - fascinating new information revealed".
12. Partridge, Eric. (1972). "The Penguin Dictionary of Historical Slang". Penguin Books Ltd.
13. Farnes, Norma. (1997). "The Goons: the story". Virgin Publishing.
14. Hagar, Sammy, ''[[In The Studio]]'', show #305, original airdate: April 25, 1994
15. (30 October 2012). "Hallo Sausages: The Lyrics of Ian Dury". A&C Black.
16. (5 September 1976). "George & Mildred".
17. (1971). "Hampton Wick".
18. "Sticks 'n' Stones".
19. "LeonardRossiter.com: Reggie Online - Reginald Perrin's train excuses".
20. Buchanan, Clare. (17 June 2013). "Victorian match celebrates cricket club's 150th". [[Richmond and Twickenham Times]].
21. Cox, Richard Garner. (2003). "British sport: a bibliography to 2000". F. Cass.
22. (1984). "Padwick's Bibliography of Cricket". Library Assn Pub Ltd.
23. "Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club".