Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, in the Elmbridge borough of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. Apart from a large inhabited

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

in central London. Thames Ditton is just outside

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

but within the

Greater London Urban Area The Greater London Built-up Area, or Greater London Urban Area, is a conurbation in south-east England that constitutes the continuous urban sprawl of London, and includes surrounding adjacent urban towns as defined by the Office for National Sta ...

as defined by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for th ...

. Its clustered village centre and shopping area on a winding

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

is surrounded by housing, schools and sports areas. Its riverside faces the

Thames Path The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from its source near Kemble, Gloucestershire, Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel, south east London. It is about long. A path was first proposed in 1948 but it onl ...

and Hampton Court Palace Gardens and golf course in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

. Its most commercial area is spread throughout its conservation area and contains restaurants, cafés, shops and businesses. Its

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, one of two on the Hampton Court branch line, is from the riverside end of the village centre and the village of

Weston Green Weston Green is a small suburban village and a ward in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey. This area was, until 1901, a part of Thames Ditton with which it remains contiguous and associated. Weston Green is also contiguous with Esher, which provi ...

that hived off from it in 1939. Thames Ditton joins

Long Ditton Long Ditton is a residential suburb in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England on the boundary with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. In medieval times it was a village, occupying a narrow strip of land. Neighbouring settlem ...

and

in occupying the land between Surbiton,

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up ...

and

East Molesey Molesey is a district of two twin towns, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames. East and West Molesey share a high street, and there is a second retai ...

. Although reduced to less than , it formerly covered more than .

History

Pre–1800

The first written record of Thames Ditton is in a charter dated 983 when King

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...

granted to Æthelmær, his minister, nine hides (''cassati'') at Thames Ditton, Surrey. In ''The Cartulary of the Abbey of Eynsham Transaction'', King Æthelred sent to

Eynsham Abbey Eynsham Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, in England between 1005 and 1538. King Æthelred allowed Æthelmær the Stout to found the abbey in 1005. There is some evidence that the abbey was built on the site of an ea ...

confirmation of the foundation (in 1005) by Æthelmær, the endowment including 20 hides at Esher, Surrey (granted by Beorhthelm, bishop, to Æthelweard, and bequeathed by Æthelweard to his son, Æthelmær); and land at Thames Ditton, Surrey, among several other items. Two Dittons appear in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as ''Ditone'' and ''Ditune''. Under the Normans, the one now identified with Thames Ditton was held by

Wadard Wadard was an 11th century Norman nobleman who is mentioned in Domesday Book, and is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. Wadard was a noble who travelled to England in 1066 with Duke William of Normandy. He is depicted and named in the Bayeux Tap ...

from the Bishop of Bayeux. Its Domesday assets were: 2½ hides; part of a

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

worth 1s 3d, 1½

plough A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

s, of

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

worth 20 hogs. It rendered £4. There were four households. Other manors that came to form part of Thames Ditton were those of Weston, Imworth (or Imber), and for a while, Claigate (Claygate). From Domesday, the combined population of Thames Ditton (4), Long Ditton (11), Immeworth (2) and Weston (9) was some 26 households of villagers and smallholders. Later, the manors of both Dittons were reunited when Anne Gould inherited the manor of Thames Ditton and married Thomas Evelyn, who had inherited the manor of (Long) Ditton. By that time the manor of Thames Ditton amounted to little by way of land and, to all effects, Thames Ditton comprised mainly the manors of Imworth and of Weston, with some lands from Claygate, Long Ditton and even Kingston extending into the present-day boundaries of Thames Ditton and Weston Green. Thus it remained still in 1848, comprising "about ". Under Eynsham Abbey, Thames Ditton had been parcelled with Esher. It was in the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

's Elmbridge

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

, where its local aristocracy would convene for strategic and administrative purposes. Salter's introduction to the ''Cartulary'' notes that along with Esher, Eynsham appears to have lost Thames Ditton by the time of the Norman Conquest. The Domesday survey recorded that (before the Conquest) Ditton had been held by Earl Harald (subsequently King until 1066). In Domesday, Thames Ditton (as well as adjacent Long Ditton and 'Ember' or Immeworth, later Imber Court) is listed within Kingston Hundred; in Speed's map of Surrey (1611) it is said to be in Kingston Hundred. Subsequent records assert not only Thames Ditton was in Kingston Hundred but remained part of its parish as a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...

. Following the Normon Conquest, part of the land was granted to the monks of Merton Priory by Gilbert the Norman. A chapel – now the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

– was built, the first recorded incumbent being in 1179. The chapelry of Thames Ditton was subordinate to Kingston Rectory until the late 1700s. By Act of Parliament in 1769, Thames Ditton, which had from the early 1600s assumed the civilian vestry responsibilities of a parish, became a separate curacy and an ecclesiastical parish in its own right, subsuming Hinchley Wood, Claygate and Weston Green. (Long Ditton remained a separate parish, not within the Kingston Rectory, despite attempts during Cromwell's time to fuse the two). But, the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...

remained in the hands of the Hardinge family of Kingston until Nicholas Hardinge sold it, along with the advowson of Kingston and other subordinate chapelries, to

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

in 1781, subject to a long lease otherwise disposed of. The Hardinges retained the right of presentation for a period (then subsequently leased that too). Rev Henry Hardinge, Rector of Kingston, was also the incumbent at St Nicholas for a brief and ill-starred time. Isolated on marshy wetlands, the village seems to have avoided the travails of Kingston (a strategic garrison town often pillaged). It remained a relatively insignificant settlement of farming Manors. The Chancery Rolls of 1212 do note that King John was entertained at Ditton by Geoffrey Fitz Pierre, the Chief Justice. This was most likely on the site of Imber Court. Another substantial house was on the site close to the chapel of ease, now the Church. Thames Ditton became more significant after Hampton Court Palace was built by

Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...

in the early 16th century. Once the palace was claimed by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

in 1525, palace officials and other workers took up residence in Thames Ditton. With

Thames Ditton Island Three river islands (aits) form a linear group, close to the junction of the two main old streets of Thames Ditton village, in the River Thames in a corner of modern Surrey, on the Kingston reach above Teddington Lock. Thames Ditton Island, the ...

, it was a useful crossing point across the

from

to the

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, before the bridge at Hampton Court was built in 1752–1753. Development in the village suffered greatly when Henry VIII acquired most of the lands and enclosed them within the deer Chase in the Honour of Hampton Court. Following his death, residents of the area successfully petitioned for it to be de-Chased, and normal activities resumed. From that time the convenience of Thames Ditton to London – two or three hours by horse or carriage; the cachet of nearby Hampton Court, Claremont and Esher Place, Royal Kingston with its market and coach service, and the still rural aspect of the village prompted many to make their main or second homes there. A richly diverse crop of residents both notable and less so resulted. During the 18th century, lawlessness grew in the region, and the roads around the village were plagued with

highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...

, in particular the turnpike to Portsmouth. Influential men began to band together to deal with crime. Following a meeting at the Harrow Inn on 26 January 1792, a group of some 80 local men (a significant percentage of the sparse population) formed a group for "the protection of persons and property". They made a list of crimes, fines and rewards (transcript of document in the T. S. Mercer Collection of parish records, Dittons Library). An Act of Parliament of 1769 enabled the parish to be formally established and to secede from the parish of All Saints', Kingston. Many significant residents of Thames Ditton were also senior figures in the administration of Kingston, and the courts of Kingston held jurisdiction over both Kingston and Elmbridge Hundreds. Thames Ditton came under the Metropolitan Police rather than the Surrey Police until the present millennium. Most other aspects of local administration in the Victorian era: roads, drains, gas, electricity, the Poor Union, were managed by Kingston until reform of local government led to the establishment of the Esher and the Dittons Urban District Council in 1894. But, Thames Ditton was always clearly outside the area governed by the Corporation of Kingston. In 1965 the government had difficulty drawing the boundaries of

satisfactorily to please various interests.

Post–1800

In 1801, the population of Thames Ditton parish, which at that stage included

Hinchley Wood Hinchley Wood is a suburb in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England, approximately 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Charing Cross in central London, and within the Greater London Urban Area. It developed largely around its railway station at ...

and

Claygate Claygate is an affluent suburban village in Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It is the only civil parish in the borough of Elmbridge. Surrounded by green belt, it lies inside the Greater London Built-up Area. Claygate was once in t ...

, was still small: 1,288 people living in 265 houses; 167 of the workers were occupied in agriculture and 87 in trade, manufacture and handicraft. Due to the large number of mansions and estates in the area, there would have been many domestic and ancillary employees living in the village, some working at Hampton Court Palace. During the 19th century, the village continued to grow, with the arrival of the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

in 1849 and the building of the first school. Market gardens were established in the fields around the Church to supply the metropolis. By the end of the century, the population had almost doubled but was still fairly sparse. In 1913 a booklet of 'The Suburban and Provincial Development Association' noted: "the population of the district is only about two to the acre" and "some of the trains perform the journey to Waterloo in as little as 24 minutes." And another local booklet of that period commented that "Thames Ditton.....may be said generally to abound in pretty villas whose inhabitants seem to vie with each other in friendly rivugalry to beautify them." Either side of 1900 the convenience to London and boating attractions of the Thames helped to make Thames Ditton a destination of choice for weekenders including a sizeable community from the world of popular entertainment in London. Local life was completely changed by the expansion of London's

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

, and in the period between the World Wars most of the farming fields were sold off for housing development, and the big landowners, now richer, decamped. Around 1812, a school for girls was started thanks to wealthy people such as

Baroness de Ros Baron de Ros (; ) of Helmsley is the premier baron in the Peerage of England, created in 1288/89 for William de Ros, with precedence to 24 December 1264. (The spelling of the title and of the surname of the original holders has been rendered di ...

. Some form of National School for girls operated from September 1812, and boys were taught from 1818. At least 60 girls were being educated in 1816–17, some coming from

Molesey Molesey is a district of two twin towns, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames. East and West Molesey share a high street, and there is a second retai ...

and

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wood, ...

. In the 1840s, there was a National School housed near St Nicholas' churchyard. In 1860, the Rev EH Rogers laid the first stone of the schools at the end of Church Walk where generations of Thames Ditton children were educated. It was expanded in 1877. There had long been a wharf near the Swan Inn on the river and this became a site for local industry. A 'Melting House' between the churchyard and the river became the Thames Ditton Foundry, a skilled bronze foundry in 1874, and successively as Cox & Son (1874–1880), Drew & Sons (1880–1883), Moore & Co (1883–1897), Hollinshead & Burton (1897–1902) and A.B. Burton (1902–1939); the foundry was supreme in its field. It produced fine bronze statues exported worldwide, including the statue commonly known as Eros Piccadilly Circus,

Victoria Memorial (London) The Victoria Memorial is a monument to Queen Victoria, located at the end of The Mall in London, and designed and executed by the sculptor (Sir) Thomas Brock. Designed in 1901, it was unveiled on 16 May 1911, though it was not completed until ...

and the giant Quadriga (

Wellington Arch Wellington Arch, also known as Constitution Arch or (originally) as the Green Park Arch, is a Grade I-listed triumphal arch by Decimus Burton that forms a centrepiece of Hyde Park Corner in central London, between corners of Hyde Park and ...

) at

Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the junc ...

. and the Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

statue in

Hyde Park, Sydney Hyde Park, Sydney, is an urban park, of , located in the central business district of Sydney, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest public parkland in Australia. Hyde Park is on the east ...

. Nearby, at Ferry Works on the river bank, was the factory of

Willans & Robinson Willans & Robinson Limited manufacturing engineers of Thames Ditton, Surrey. Later, from 1896, at Victoria Works, Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were manufacturers of stationary reciprocating steam engines then steam turbines, Diesel motors and ...

who in the late 19th century made a high-speed steam engine (the

Willans engine The Willans engine or central valve engine was a high-speed stationary steam engine used mainly for electricity generation around the start of the 20th century. Willans' engine was one of the best-known examples of the steeple compound engine. T ...

) used for early generation of electric power in places such as the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

. The works is preserved and in use by a number of commercial companies including a broadcast software developer, an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets, a company specialising in numerically controlled machines and a leading architectural practice. During 1901 and 1908, John Ernest Hutton of J. E. Hutton Ltd the Northampton makers of the Hutton light car and agents for

Panhard Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense, was formed ...

Panhard-Levassor Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense, was formed ...

and

Mercedes (car) Mercedes () is a brand originally created by the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) and used for first time in the 35 hp model released by the company in 1901. DMG began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler. A ...

produced a motorcycle called Princeps. Between 1911 and 1984, the village was home to the

AC Cars AC Cars, originally incorporated as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. As a result of bad financial conditions over the years, the company was re ...

factory, first at Ferry Works and later in the High Street at a site since developed into a residential and office complex. Celestion manufactured for some years at Ferry Works and adjacent buildings, producing the "Ditton" range of loudspeakers. British Rola bought Celestion in 1947 and moved production to Thames Ditton a year later. The name of the company changed to Rola Celestion; with its products sold under the brand name "Celestion". (MPP, later a camera maker, was formed as a subsidiary during the war.) From its creation in 1933 to its dissolution in 1994 the

Milk Marketing Board The Milk Marketing Board was a producer-run product marketing board, established by the Agricultural Marketing Act 1933, to control milk production and distribution in the United Kingdom. It functioned as buyer of last resort in the milk market in ...

, a government agency to support milk production and distribution in the United Kingdom was headquartered at Giggs Hill Green in Thames Ditton where it played a significant role in providing local employment and in supporting the Cricket Club and other aspects of village life. Its large site, already licensed for commercial use, was targeted by

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

for a supermarket and garage in the early 1990s but local action secured it for a housing development with public tennis courts, a recreational area and two acres for community health purposes.

Historical figures

Lord Henry FitzGerald Lord Henry FitzGerald PC (Ire) (30 July 1761 – 9 July 1829) was the fourth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster (née Lady Emily Lennox). A younger brother was the revolutionary Lord Edward FitzGerald. Life Fitzgerald ...

(1761–1829) * Charlotte FitzGerald-de Ros, 21st Baroness de Ros (1769–1831) * Colonel Sidney Godolphin (1652–1732) *

Maundy Gregory Arthur John Maundy Gregory, who later used the name Arthur John Peter Michael Maundy Gregory (1 July 1877 – 28 September 1941) was a British theatre producer and political fixer who is best remembered for selling honours for Prime Minister David ...

(1 July 1877 – 28 September 1941) *

Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester (10 March 1573 – 15 February 1632) was an English art collector, diplomat and Secretary of State. Early life He was the second son of Anthony Carleton of Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire, and of Joyc ...

(1573–1632), lived at Imber Court *

Cesar Picton Cesar Picton (c. 1755 – 1836) was presumably enslaved in Africa by the time he was about six years old. He was bought and brought to England by an English army officer who had been in Senegal, and in 1761 was "presented" as a servant to Sir Jo ...

(1755–1836) – a successful businessman, who owned a wharf and a malt house * Reverend George Harvest (1728–1789) *

Arthur Onslow Arthur Onslow (1 October 169117 February 1768) was an English politician. He set a record for length of service when repeatedly elected to serve as Speaker of the House of Commons, where he was known for his integrity. Early life and educat ...

(1691–1768) *

George Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow George Onslow, 1st Earl of Onslow Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (13 September 1731 – 17 May 1814), known as Lord Onslow from 1776 until 1801, was a British peer and politician. Background He was the only son of Arthur Onslow, ...

(1731–1814) *

Edward Sugden, 1st Baron St Leonards Edward Burtenshaw Sugden, 1st Baron Saint Leonards, (12 February 178129 January 1875) was a British lawyer, judge and Conservative politician. Background Sugden was the son of a high-class hairdresser and wig-maker in Westminster, London. Detai ...

(1781–1875) * Hewett Watson 9 May 1804, and died at Thames Ditton, Surrey, on 27 July 1881 * Julian Stafford Corbett 12 November 1854 – 21 September 1922 (Brought up at Imber Court Weston Green) *

Christian de Duve Christian René Marie Joseph, Viscount de Duve (2 October 1917 – 4 May 2013) was a Nobel Prize-winning Belgian cytologist and biochemist. He made serendipitous discoveries of two cell organelles, peroxisome and lysosome, for which he shared ...

, Belgian, Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine 1974, born in Thames-Ditton in 1917. *

Marie Lloyd Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as " T ...

Amenities

Thames Ditton Railway Bridge, United Kingdom

Thames Ditton railway station Thames Ditton railway station serves Thames Ditton in the Elmbridge district of Surrey, England. It is the only intermediate station on the Hampton Court branch line, down the line from . It is served by South Western Railway, and for the p ...

links Thames Ditton to

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...

, serving the large commuter population, local workforce and Esher college student population. Its

is a conservation area that has a mixture of residential housing, office and retail shops in about equal proportion. The village High Street retains a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

, greengrocery, florist, coffee/

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

shop, four restaurants (Chinese, Indian, Italian and Thai), sandwich/coffee shops, a photographers and a post-office/convenience store. There are also a hairdressers, estate agents, two gift shops, a

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary great ...

and jewellers, tennis and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

equipment shop (the latter run by an Olympic gold-medallist), a small modern art gallery, two beauty salons and an undertaker. In nearby Summer Road there is a newsagents, convenience store, dry cleaners and a high end interior designer. There are six

pubs A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

in the village, two with riverside frontages. The George and Dragon on the corner of High Street and Station Road hosts Thames Ditton Farmers' Market every 4 th Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. At Winters Bridge on the Portsmouth Road there is a small parade of shops that includes a nationally recognised patisserie and

chocolatier A chocolatier is a person or company who makes confectionery from chocolate. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other ingredients. Education and training Traditionally, chocolatiers, e ...

. There is another off-licence, a pharmacy and newsagent on Thorkhill Road, formerly Workhouse Lane. The village has a Residents' Association, which was formed in 1934. The Residents' Association as at 2012 holds all three seats for the ward on Elmbridge Borough Council, and the Surrey County Council seat for the Dittons. A small

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

was added in the 19th century.

Giggs Hill Green Giggs Hill Green is a triangular park in Thames Ditton bordered on one side by the Portsmouth Road which has, since 1833, contained as a major part of it, the village's cricket green. Previously part of the waste (unproductive land) with a high ...

, and the Vera Fletcher Hall. The Vera Fletcher Hall "The Theatre in Thames Ditton" is on Embercourt Road, near

. The old Victorian Village Hall was built in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee as a gift to the community from local benefactor Hannibal Speer (born Hannibal Sandys) Lord of the Manor of Weston. Over the years the village hall has been able to attract stars such as

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

(who opened the hall),

Dorothy Tutin Dame Dorothy Tutin, (8 April 19306 August 2001) was an English actress of stage, film and television. For her work in the theatre, she won two Olivier Awards and two ''Evening Standard'' Awards for Best Actress. She was made a CBE in 1967 and ...

Denis Quilley Denis Clifford Quilley, OBE (26 December 1927 – 5 October 2003) was an English actor and singer. From a family with no theatrical connections, Quilley was determined from an early age to become an actor. He was taken on by the Birmingham Re ...

Janet Suzman Dame Janet Suzman, (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress who enjoyed a successful early career in the Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles, among others, on TV. In her first film, ''Nichol ...

John Julius Norwich John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich, (15 September 1929 – 1 June 2018), known as John Julius Norwich, was an English popular historian, travel writer, and television personality. Background Norwich was born at the Alfred House Nursing ...

, Susannah York, the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

and the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

with their "Shakespeare Revue". Local drama and music groups present performances at the hall on a regular basis. The Rythe is a small river that bisected the southwest of the old parish in running almost along the Portsmouth Road and turns north near Ferry Road to drain into the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

at which point it formed the old border with

, which had a narrow riverside. Ye Olde Harrow, an historic inn was a base for the local militia in the days of

(see above) and subsequently hosted one of the oldest bowling greens in the county. It is to be demolished and several houses are to be built on the site.

Localities

Further churches and facilities in the arguably independent,

contiguous Contiguity or contiguous may refer to: *Contiguous data storage, in computer science *Contiguity (probability theory) *Contiguity (psychology) *Contiguous distribution of species, in biogeography *Geographic contiguity of territorial land *Contigu ...

and inchoate locality of

which is termed by its residents association a 'village' but retains a strong association with Thames Ditton, with three residential roads indistinct as to at which point along them the boundary between the two lies, while other parts of the former parish of Thames Ditton, such as Hinchley Wood and Claygate, have taken on separate identities, and have become part of the

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in the address increases ...

. The Giggs Hill area takes its name from

Landmarks

Boyle Farm

Boyle Farm was the earlier name of the Home of Compassion, a wide

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

mansion care home by the

formerly set among fields rather than private houses. The country house replaced the farmhouse of Forde's Farm in 1786 when built by

the Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Charlotte Boyle Walsingham. Although the estate has been sold and divided into expensive building plots over the past century, some of the farm buildings and outhouses remain. It has river frontage and used to own a small island in the Thames, which the frontage (mooring) overlooks, called Boyle Farm Island. The building is currently a nursing home run by a board of trustees. Home of Compassion

St Nicholas Church

The

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...

church (since the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

, implying

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

) was built almost wholly in the early medieval period demonstrates fine architecture and is

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

in the highest category of building.

Giggs Hill Green

This triangular village green adjoins Portsmouth Road and gives its name to a locality of the village marked on some maps, but within any official status such as wards, the main secondary parade of shops of the village is here, which also serves that part of

on the riverside part of the Portsmouth Road. There is no hill here and its were purchased in 1901 by the

and Dittons

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

for its cricket green and remainder for its park benches and to allow picnics and informal sport.

Transport links

Rail

is on the Hampton Court branch line from

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...

is within a ten-minute walk. Rail services are provided by South Western Railway. Journey time to London Waterloo is 33 minutes (it is also possible to connect with faster trains at Surbiton). Trains run every half hour from 05:56 to 23:26 to London Waterloo.

Bus

Various buses run through Thames Ditton, including the 515 (Mon-Sat, hourly, Kingston-Surbiton-Thames Ditton-Esher-Hersham-Weybridge), 513 (Mon-Fri, twice daily, Kingston-Thames Ditton-Esher-Okshott-Cobham), 514 (Mon-Sat, twice daily, Kingston-Surbiton-Thames Ditton-East and West Molesey-Fieldcommon-Hersham-Weybridge- Brooklands) and services 458 and 715 which run via the Portsmouth Road to serve Walton, Staines, Cobham and Guildford. The 715 is diverted via Thames Ditton village on Sundays.

Road

From Thames Ditton, it is approximately five minutes by road to the A3 (eastbound) or ten minutes to A3 (both ways). It is some 15 minutes to the M3 and M25 and some 35 minutes to Heathrow – these times can be severely affected by racing at

Kempton Park Racecourse Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track together with a licensed entertainment and conference venue in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, 16 miles south-west of Charing Cross, London and on a border of Greater London. The site has of ...

and/or

Sandown Park Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse rac ...

Education

*Thames Ditton Infant School * Thames Ditton Junior School *St Paul's RC Primary School For senior education this is outside of the boundaries but nearby, at Secondary School and Sixth Form College and

Esher College Esher Sixth Form College is an open access, non-selective 16-19 Academy located in Thames Ditton, Surrey, England. Rated as "outstanding" in September 2022 by Ofsted, it now has around 2100 students enrolled, with a catchment drawn from north ...

. Preparatory and independent schools (private sector junior to 13 years and at senior levels) are outside of the boundaries but relatively nearby, including one in Weston Green.

Flooding

The village was partly hit by the

Great Flood of 1968 The Great Flood of 1968 was a flood caused by a pronounced trough of low pressure which brought exceptionally heavy rain and thunderstorms to South East England and France in mid-September 1968, with the worst on Sunday 15 September 1968, and fol ...

when the rivers

Ember An ember, also called a hot coal, is a hot lump of smouldering solid fuel, typically glowing, composed of greatly heated wood, coal, or other carbon-based material. Embers (hot coals) can exist within, remain after, or sometimes precede, a ...

and

Mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

burst their banks. The extent of the flooding reached from the western points of the Portsmouth Road to the

and caused flood damage to many homes including some in the west of Weston Green, the floodwaters did not subside for a number of days. On 30 November 2006 a diameter water pipe, said to be over 150 years old, in a garden near the rail station burst causing flooding, mainly in two suburban streets. The floods reached the Infants' School grounds and high street such as shops and two houses close to the Thames.

Sports activities

Thames Ditton Cricket Club is the oldest sports club in Thames Ditton. The first recorded match on

was in 1833, and the club remains with hundreds of members and a recently built brand new pavilion. They have three Saturday XI's, and one Sunday team. The club celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2008, and in 2009 contracted former West Indies cricket captain Richie Richardson to coach and play for the team for the following four years. The cricket club has enjoyed success in recent seasons, and in 2019 completed a "treble" of promotions, with the 1st XI (captained by Chris Dixon), the 2nd XI (captained by Amrik Natt) and the 3rd XI (captained by Chris Harding) all achieving promotion for their relevant divisions. Weston Green Road is the location of Thames Ditton Lawn Tennis Club (TDLTC). The club was ravaged in the 1990s by a protracted legal battle with the owner of the site freehold, who wished to build executive homes on the site. Though TDLTC eventually won the case, it lost the rights to use three courts on the adjoining

site, which were themselves subsequently sold to developers. However, the club still owns six grass and four hard courts, along with one short tennis court. It also has access to a three new hard courts at Esher College, and a weekend arrangement with

Kingston Grammar School Kingston Grammar School is an independent co-educational day school in Kingston upon Thames, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter in 1561 but can trace its roots back to at least the 13th century.

to use its courts as an overflow for the junior section. The Thames Ditton Squash Club is now housed at Colets' Health and Fitness Club. It is the strongest club in England, with several national club championships to its name as well as a strong record in the European championships. The same fitness club is also the headquarters of a number of rugby and football teams of the Old Paulines ( St. Paul's School alumni) who own the grounds. In Weston Green there is the Old Cranleighan Rugby Football Club, as well as the Old Cranleighan Hockey Club. Having been formed in 1919 and 1921 respectively, the OCRFC and the OCHC moved to their new clubhouse in a secluded position off Portsmouth Road in 1928. The clubhouse was substantially renovated and enlarged in 1993 and the club now has some of the best facilities for rugby and hockey in Surrey. OC Rugby started a Mini Rugby section in September 2011, which has been very successful in providing a fun and controlled introduction to rugby for local children on Sunday mornings.

Metropolitan Police F.C. Metropolitan Police Football Club is a football club based in East Molesey, Surrey, England. Originally made up of players from the Metropolitan Police, the rule requiring players to be employees of the service was removed when the Commissio ...

of the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

are based in Thames Ditton.

Thames Ditton Regatta {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Thames Ditton Regatta is a rowing regatta, on the River Thames in England which takes place at Thames Ditton, Surrey opposite Hampton Court Palace. Thames Ditton Regatta was established in 1948, and is held annu ...

, founded in 1948, is a

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

regatta which takes place in May on a course which finishes just below the River Mole, opposite Hampton Court Palace. The traditional river sports of

skiffing Skiffing refers to the sporting and leisure activity of rowing (or more correctly sculling) a Thames skiff. The skiff is a traditional hand built clinker-built wooden craft of a design which has been seen on the River Thames and other waterways ...

and punting are possible at

Dittons Skiff and Punting Club Dittons Skiff and Punting Club (DSPC or Dittons) is an English skiff and punting club, which was founded in 1923. It is based on the River Thames with a club and boat house at Thames Ditton on the reach above Teddington Lock. As well as taking p ...

at the end of Queen's Road. The club was formed in 1923 and is involved in various water-based activities including the

Great River Race The Great River Race is an annual competition held on the River Thames for any traditional-style coxed boat propelled by oars or paddles. The date of the race for 2022 has been set for the 10th September The competition was started in 1988 ...

and

Thames meander Thames meander refers to a long-distance journey over all or part of the River Thames in England. Walking the Thames Path is itself a meander, but the term usually applies to journeys using other methods such as rowing, punting, running, or swimm ...

s. It hosts the

Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta Hampton Court and Dittons Regatta is a regatta on the River Thames in England which takes place at Thames Ditton, Surrey beside Hampton Court Palace. The regatta was inaugurated in 1887, being described as an "Aquatic Sports and Venetian Fete ...

and has its own annual

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

on the river opposite Hampton Court Palace.

Cultural references

;Literature – non-fiction

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

in his

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

of 19 October 1810 writes about the place: :''A very striking instance of your position might be found in the churchyard of Ditton-upon-Thames, if you know such a place. Ditton-upon-Thames has been blessed by the residence of a poet who, for love or money, I do not well know which, has dignified every gravestone for the last few years with brand new verses, all different and all ingenious, with the author's name at the bottom of each. This sweet Swan of Thames has so artfully diversified his strains and his rhymes that the same thought never occurs twice,--more justly, perhaps, as no thought ever occurs at all, there was a physical impossibility that the same thought should recur, It is long since I saw and read these inscriptions; but I remember the impression was of a smug usher at his desk in the intervals of instruction, levelling his pen. Of death, as it consists of dust and worms, and mourners and uncertainty, he had never thought; but the word "death" he had often seen separate and conjunct with other words, till he had learned to speak of all its attributes as glibly as Unitarian Belsham will discuss you the attributes of the word "God" in a pulpit, and will talk of infinity with a tongue that dangles from a skull that never reached in thought and thorough imagination two inches, or farther than from his hand to his mouth, or from the vestry to the sounding-board of the pulpit. But the epitaphs were trim and sprag, and patent, and pleased the survivors of Thames Ditton above the old

mumpsimus A mumpsimus ( ) is a "traditional custom obstinately adhered to however unreasonable it may be", or "someone who obstinately clings to an error, bad habit or prejudice, even after the foible has been exposed and the person humiliated; also, any er ...

of ''Afflictions sore''.'' ;Literature – fiction and verse In 1834, well after the lock below was built,

Theodore Hook Theodore Edward Hook (22 September 1788 – 24 August 1841) was an English man of letters and composer and briefly a civil servant in Mauritius. He is best known for his practical jokes, particularly the Berners Street hoax in 1809. The w ...

composed an ode or tribute, fishing from a punt here:

Here, in a placid waking dream I'm free from worldly troubles, Calm as the rippling silver stream That in the sunshine baubles; And when sweet Eden's blissful bowers Some abler bard has writ on, Despairing to transcend his powers, I'll ''ditto'' say for ''Ditton''

He also wrote verse about The Swan Inn that year. Eric Wilson Barker (1905–1973), poet, spent his childhood in the village, attended the old church school in Church Walk, then his family emigrated to California for health reasons. Barker became a celebrate and was offered the laureateship of California, which he declined. He revisited his birthplace in 1959 and wrote to a friend: 'I visited an ancient pub, The Old Harrow near Weston Green. I always remember the lines on the signboard of that inn when I was a kid.... There it was too and the old weatherworn sign with the letters a bit dim but still legible!' Barker wrote a poem "IN THAMES DITTON" under ''Looking for Water'', published 1964: "In Thames Ditton I remembered a clock....."

Ernest William Hornung Ernest William Hornung (7 June 1866 – 22 March 1921) was an English author and poet known for writing the A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-century London. Hornung was educated at Uppingham School; as ...

penned a very brief local stay of the narrator-protagonist in ''The Amateur Cracksman'' (1899): ;Literature – biographic main references

Thomas Babington Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 1 ...

rented lodgings a year near Esher railway station (then still "Ditton Marsh") while writing some of his ''History of England''. His nephew and biographer Otto Trevelyan wrote in 1876: ''"His brother-in-law had taken a house in the village of Esher; and Macaulay accordingly settled himself, with infinite content, exactly in the middle of the only ugly square mile of country which can be found in that delightful neighbourhood. 'I am pretty well pleased,' he says, 'with my ... pleasant, small dwelling, surrounded by geraniums and roses... The only complaint I have to make is that the view from my front windows is blocked by a railway embankment.' Macaulay's cottage, which stood in Ditton Marsh, by the side of the high-road from Kingston to Esher, was called Greenwood Lodge." ;Television ''

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

'', regularly poking jibes at adjoining Esher, in the sketch, 'Blackmail' has a scene in "Thames Ditton" filmed in a west London residential road. Exterior scenes for the 1980s sitcom '' After Henry'' were shot on the village High Street. In Amazon's 2019 series '' Hanna'', the titular character's friend Sophie and her family live in Thames Ditton.

Notable residents

Dominic Raab Dominic Rennie Raab (; born 25 February 1974) is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice, and Lord Chancellor since October 2022, having previously served from 2021 to ...

– Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs *

, Nobel-Prize (1974), born Thames Ditton 1917 * Henry Smith – recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

Billy Merson Billy Merson (born William Henry Thompson; 29 March 1879 – 25 June 1947)Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.227-228 was an English music hall performer, comedian and songwriter. Biog ...

– lived on the

in a bungalow called Yakka Hickey Dooley * Hewett Watson – phrenologist, friend of Charles Darwin, evolutionary botanist *

Laurence Naismith Laurence Naismith (born Lawrence Johnson; 14 December 1908 – 5 June 1992) was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films '' Scrooge'' (1970) and the children's ghost fil ...

– actor, born Thames Ditton 1908 *

Dick Emery Richard Gilbert Emery (19 February 19152 January 1983) was an English comedian and actor. His broadcasting career began on radio in the 1950s, and his self-titled television series ran from 1963 to 1981. Life and career Richard Gilbert Emery was ...

– comedian, lived in Thames Ditton between 1958 and 1964 * Charles Heslop – actor, born Thames Ditton 8 June 1883 – 13 April 1966. * Sydney Camm – aircraft designer famous for having designed the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

lived in Thames Ditton * Jack Woolgar – actor, born Thames Ditton. *

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career start ...

– pop singer *

Haydn Tanner Haydn Tanner (9 January 1917 – 5 June 2009) was a Welsh international rugby union player who represented both Wales and the British and Irish Lions. At club level he played for several top-flight teams, including Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Lond ...

– Welsh international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who represented both

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

– a black servant from Senegal lived in Thames Ditton and ran a successful coal business from Kingston. His house is still visible and marked with a plaque and his house, by the river in Kingston, is also marked.

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

's dining hall tells Cesar Picton's story in murals. *

Trevor Bannister Trevor Gordon Bannister (14 August 193414 April 2011) was an English actor best known for having played the womanising junior salesman Mr Lucas in the sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith i ...

– actor, "Mr Lucas" in ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London ...

'' *

Lucy Alexander Lucy Alexander (born 3 April 1970) is an English television presenter, known for appearing on the BBC One property show ''Homes Under the Hammer''. Early life Alexander was born in East Dulwich, London. She graduated from the London Studio Cen ...

– television presenter *

Douglas Reeman Douglas Edward Reeman (15 October 1924 – 23 January 2017), who also used the pseudonym Alexander Kent, was a British author who wrote many historical novels about the Royal Navy, mainly set during either World War II or the Napoleonic Wars. He ...

– writer, born in Thames Ditton 1924

Demography and housing

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households in the settlement who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

References

External links

Residents' Association

Thames Ditton Cricket Club

Thames Ditton Lawn Tennis Club

Short Video of the Thames Ditton 2007 'Christmas Fayre'

Thames Ditton Virtual Village

Billy Merson "The Spaniard who blighted my life"

Billy Merson at home video

The Absent Man – George Harvest

(a Surrey historian)

of Thames Ditton and Giggs Hill Green, Autumn 2008 {{Authority control Borough of Elmbridge Villages in Surrey Populated places on the River Thames