TEDDINGTON

TEDDINGTON, a parish and suburban village in the hundred of Spelthorne, county Middlesex, 12 miles S.W. of London, and 2½ from Kingston. It has stations on the North London and South-Western railways. The village is situated on the western bank of the Thames, about 19 miles above London Bridge, and on the high road from Richmond to Hampton Court, through Bushey Park.

It was anciently called Todynton and Tuddington, and is the site of the first lock on the river, which has recently been rebuilt in masonry, with a subsidiary lock for the passage of pleasure boats. The river is at this point scarcely affected by the tides, which are two hours later than at London Bridge, and the low and high water levels are respectively 16½ and 1½ feet higher, the bed of the river rising about one foot per mile. The population of the village, which is included within the south-western postal district, was in 1861 1,183. Many villa residences have lately been erected on the banks of the Thames, and here are the wax bleaching-grounds and candle manufactory of Messrs. Barclay. There is an old house which tradition styles Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Box. The living is a donative curacy* in the diocese of London, value £100. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a comparatively modern structure, the earliest portion being of the time of the Reformation. It occupies the site of an ancient chapel belonging to Staines' Abbey, and has tombs of Lord Keeper Bridgman, Whitehead the poet, Dr. Stephen Hales, and Mrs. Woffington, the celebrated actress. The parochial charities produce about £23 per annum, of which £20 belong to Dame Bridgman's school. There are also schools for boys, girls, and infants, erected through the aid of voluntary contributions, and £100 contributed by the late Queen Dowager. The principal seats are, Teddington House, Teddington Place, and Broom House, the first celebrated for its ceiling by Verrio, and some wood carvings by G. Gibbons.

[Description(s) from "The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland" (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]
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