Living in Teddington: area guide to homes, schools and transport

Families are heading upstream and downstream to settle in Teddington, the west London family hotspot with good schools and a 33-minute commute to London Waterloo.
Anthea Masey27 January 2017

The rout of the Liberal Democrats in the west London borough of Richmond was completed in May when the popular former coalition business secretary Vince Cable lost his Twickenham parliamentary seat to conservative candidate Dr Tania Mathias.

In recent years the borough of Richmond once a Liberal Democrat stronghold has shifted to the right. In 2010 the party lost control of the council and the Richmond Park parliamentary seat was won by the Conservative, and London mayor hopeful, Zac Goldsmith.


The pretty riverside town of Teddington, however, remains staunchly Liberal Democrat being one of only two Richmond wards to return three Liberal Democrats to the council at last year’s council elections. The three councillors are currently campaigning to stop Imperial College from selling its sport ground in Udney Park Road for development and for locally controversial plans to build a small hydro-electric plant at Teddington weir.


Teddington is the point at which the Thames ceases to be tidal with the downstream river controlled by the Port of London Authority and the upstream river the responsibility of the Environment Agency. At Teddington only pedestrians and cyclist can cross the river making this a peaceful place to contemplate the locks and weirs that characterise this stretch of the Thames.


Teddington’s other big attraction is Bushy Park, the second largest of London’s royal parks. Famous for its herds of red and fallow deer this historic park has a chestnut avenue designed by Sir Christopher Wren, a 17th century fountain topped with a golden statue of Diana and a baroque water garden that had virtually disappeared until it was restored following the discovery, by Sir Roy Strong, of an 18th century painting depicting the garden’s cascades, pools and basins.

What there is to buy
Teddington has mainly Victorian houses ranging from flat-fronted cottages to larger detached houses although there are also homes from every era since. There are a number of conservation areas. Broom Water has large late Victorian houses which were built backing on to a small inlet in the Thames and were promoted by the builder as “Homes for Boating Men”.

Fieldend is a development of 51 1960s houses in five acres of well-maintained grounds, designed by architects Eric Lyons and Geoffrey Townsend for builders Span. There is a smaller enclave of Span houses off Adelaide Road close to the station.

According to Mark Thompson from the local branch of Hamptons two-bedroom cottages sell for around £750,000, three-bedroom houses can reach £900,00 and larger four-bedroom houses start at £1.25 million rising to over £3 million. The average price per square foot is £685, though for exceptional houses Hamptons has been able to achieve £850 a square foot.

Renting

Young professionals, especially those working for the big oil companies based in and around Sunbury, provide a ready market for rented flats.

Postcodes

TW11, the Teddington postcode, merges with TW12, the Hampton postcode, on its western edge.

Best roads

Double-fronted Victorian houses in Clarence Road, Kingston Lane and Broom Water West are particularly sought after.

What’s new

Haymarket Media Group recently sold its site in Broom Road, which includes the former Teddington Studios, to Singapore-based City Developments, and planning permission is in place for a £250 million project of 213 riverside flats and six houses.


A number of smaller schemes are currently for sale. Developer London Square is building a new square, set back from Waldegrave Road, of eight one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, plus 18 four-bedroom houses. There is one penthouse remaining at £1.05 million, and the houses start at £1,325,000. The development is due to be completed by autumn. Visit londonsquare.co.uk or call 0333 6662434.


Cambridge House, in Hampton Hill High Street, is a development of 15 flats and two coach houses overlooking Bushy Park. Prices start at £750,000 for a two-bedroom flat. Call Hamptons on 020 8970 7902.

The area attracts

Mark Thompson says many buyers are coming from the SW postcodes and are driven by the excellent choice of schools both state and private; the lively high street and sense of community.

Staying power

Some families move further out to Surrey in search of lower house prices and for a change of lifestyle. However those that can afford to stay in Teddington tend to trade up to larger homes

Up and coming

Fulwell has long been overlooked. It has a station, while house prices are cheaper and the high street recently had a makeover.

Travel

Teddington is close to the M3, M4 and M25. The train from Teddington Station takes a little over half an hour to Waterloo passing through Clapham Junction for trains to Victoria and Vauxhall for the Victoria Line. Teddington is in Zone 6 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £2,344.

Council

Richmond (Conservative-controlled); Band D council tax for the 2015/2016 year: £1,582.39.


Photographs by Daniel Lynch

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants

Teddington’s main shopping street is in two halves along Broad Street and High Street and apart from branches of Tesco Metro, Morrisons Local, Budgen, M&S Simply Food, Carluccio’s, Pizza Express and Starbucks, it is dominated by independent shops, cafés and restaurants.


In Broad Street look out for Astrora coffee roasters and Urban Suburban for gifts and homewares. In the High Street, La Bottega is an Italian café and delicatessen; Ted’s specialises in children’s clothes; The Fallow Deer is a café that stays open on Friday nights for cocktails and Retro Bistrot is a popular French restaurant, while The King’s Head belongs to Raymond Blanc’s pub-brasserie chain. Mitzi B sells gifts, homewares and furniture in a restricted palette of whites, beiges and greys, and TCS is a stylish women’s boutique.

There are three branches of the local seven-branch Cavan Bakery. The Anglers gastropub in Broom Road has a large riverside garden.


What the locals say on Twitter

@FayeBarker
My absolute favourite family restaurant is @RedPeppersTed Amazing service, food and über-kid friendly.

@FayeBarker
Lovely friendly Italian deli for coffee and chats @BottegaTedd

@MaryAF
Best restaurant by a mile is shambles Italian with its garden. Fallow Deer Café also fab.

@laurenegarvey
@Visit_Richmond1 Retro Bistro is an amazing restaurant. Delicious food, wonderful service, great set menu and prices.

@hoofmoer
The @flying_cafe must be included. Probably the best place in #teddington for coffee and a slice of cake

@DoEventsuk
@1of1DesignUK for beautiful individual designed pieces @MarysLGShopTW11 for bargain designer buys #Teddington

@DoEventsuk
@DPS_Comedy for great nights out @FallowDeerCafe for cocktails & brunch @flying_cafe for cakes with a river view #Teddington

@Lorse72
@hubrichmond Coffee Mill for best fry-ups. Bushy Park is the jewel in the crown. King's Head seems popular w/rugby corporates

@Dogaerobics
We love @Shamblesbar as they have great food & allow dogs in the garden.

@ParkLaneStables
The best jewellery and clothing is @1of1design, friendly service too! Best friendly, tasty cafe is @mougin in Church Road.

@EmmaDPhotos
#Teddington is one of the few places on the #Thames to have its own Lifeboat @rnli_teddington and also independent pubs

Open space

Bushy Park, the second largest Royal Park, where herds of red and fallow deer roam, sits south of the town centre. The Thames Path is on the north bank at Ham but is accessible to Teddington residents via a footbridge. Richmond Park is not far.


Leisure and the arts

Landmark Arts Centre, in listed, deconsecrated St Alban’s Church in Ferry Road, puts on music and comedy - comedian Andy Hamilton is appearing in October - along with art and craft exhibitions and classes for adults and children. The church is a late 19th-century copy of Notre Dame in Paris but the tower was never built. It is often called the cathedral of the Thames Valley.


Teddington Theatre is a leading amateur company based at its own playhouse in Hampton Hill.


The Lensbury in Broom Road is a premium hotel, leisure and conference centre that is set to host a number of teams during the forthcoming Rugby World Cup in neighbouring Twickenham. The nearest council-owned swimming pool is the Teddington Pools and Fitness Centre in Vicarage Road, and in nearby Hampton there is a heated open-air pool that is open 365 days a year.

Three things you may not know about Teddington
Where did Teddington stand in for Slough?
Scenes for Ricky Gervais’s TV series The Office, set in the Berkshire town of Slough, were filmed in an office block next door to Teddington Studios. The block was subsequently occupied by Haymarket Media Group and visitors to the fourth-floor office where parts of the mockumentary-style sitcom were shot — including Gervais’s famous “dad dance” — would often get a feeling of déjà vu...

Where did a pioneering doctor leave a theatrical legacy in Teddington?
John Haydon Langdon Down ran a private hospital for people with learning difficulties at Normansfield, a house in Kingston Road, Teddington. He built a theatre there for the residents that has recently been restored by a trust. The condition Down’s Syndrome is named after Langdon Down, the doctor who first fully recognised the condition.


Why can Teddington claim to be home to The Dam Busters?
The Second World War “bouncing bomb”, used by the RAF’s 617 Squadron to breach German dams, was tested by its inventor, Sir Barnes Neville Wallis, at the National Physical Laboratory — still Teddington’s largest employer — in a 670ft-long water tank that has only recently been demolished.

Schools

Primary School

The local schools are one of the main reasons families settle in Teddington. All the state primary schools get good results at Key Stage 2 (age 11). Collis in Fairfax Road; St Mary’s and St Peter’s CofE in Somerset Road and Hampton Wick Infants in Normansfield Avenue (ages three to seven) are all judged “outstanding” by Ofsted.

Comprehensive and grammar
Teddington School, the local state comprehensive in Broom Road, gets above-average results at GCSE and is judged “good” by the government education watchdog. Waldegrave School (girls, ages 11 to 16) in Fifth Cross Road, Twickenham is judged “outstanding”. There are two highly competitive grammar schools in Kingston upon Thames: Tiffin (boys, ages 11 to 18) in Queen Elizabeth Road and The Tiffin Girls’ (ages,11 to 18) in Richmond Road.

Private
There is also a choice of private schools. The private primary and preparatory schools are: Newland House (co-ed, ages three to 13) in Waldegrave Park; The Mall (boys, ages four to 13) in Hampton Road, Twickenham; Twickenham Preparatory (co-ed, ages four to 13) in High Street, Hampton; Park Hill (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Queen’s Road, Kingston; and Athelstan House (co-ed, ages two to seven) in Percy Road, Hampton.


Kingston Grammar (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) is a private secondary school and there are also a number of all-through schools. These are: Radnor House (co-ed, ages seven to 18) in Pope’s Villa, Twickenham; St Catherine’s (girls, ages three to 18) in Cross Deep, Twickenham; Hampton Court House (co-ed, ages three to 16) in East Molesey; The Lady Eleanor Holles (girls, ages seven to 18) in Hanwell Road, Hampton; Hampton (boys, ages two to 18), also in Hanwell Road, Hampton, and Surbiton High (co-ed, ages four to 18) in Surbiton Crescent, Surbiton.

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