Local Picture Gallery
Petersham Chapel by Van Gogh
A sketch made on a visit to Ham & Petersham in November 1876.
In his formative years , Van Gogh intended to become a minister. During his stay in England in 1876, he journeyed to Ham and Petersham in November to give a sermon at the Wesleyan Chapel which at that time was found between what are now numbers 287 and 289 Petersham Road. The chapel has been long since demolished. Van Gogh recorded the visit and the service in a letter to his brother Theo. At the foot of the letter are sketches of the chapel in the Petersham Road with another sketch of one in Twickenham. At the time of his visit to Ham, Vincent was just 23 years old.
The Coronation Stone
An ancient stone upon which it is believed seven successive Saxon kings were crowned at Kingston.
The name Kingston may have derived from its location of the "Kings Stone", - the coronation stone on which it is thought seven successive Saxon kings were crowned in Kingston beginning with Edward, the son of Alfred the Great in 902 AD and ending with Ethelred the Unready. The Stone may have originally been kept in the Saxon Chapel of St Mary, which used to abut All Saints Parish Church on the Market Place side but collapsed in 1730. For a while the stone was apparently rather degradingly used as a mounting block for horseman in the Market Place. However a ceremony in 1850 saw it mounted on a special base with the seven kings names engraved. It was moved to its present position near the Clattern Bridge after the building of the Guildhall in 1935.
Ham Common
A classic village common with pond, cricket pitch and avenue of lime trees leading towards Ham House.
Ham Common technically straddles both sides of the main road but it is the larger triangular area which most people think of as the common. Fringed by mature trees and with its cricket pitch and pond, it looks like a large scale traditional village green. Properties on Ham Common comprise a variety of shapes and sizes from relatively modest cottages to large detached houses. Ormerly Lodge on the Ham Gate Avenue side of the Common is the home of the Goldsmith family. More modern properties have thankfully been built in a classical style, including the classically proportioned Forbes House built in the 1990s. The Common has been part of a Conservation Area since 1969 and many of the buildings are listed. Even the smallest properties facing the Common will carry a high premium due to their location.
St Peters Church
Recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 & containing elements from across the ensuing centuries, including authentic Georgian box pews.
The church was probably originally dedicated to St Peter because the lands were originally endowed in the year AD666 from the Benedictine Abbey of St Peter in Chertsey. A Norman style church was built in 1266 of which only part of the Chancel remains. The rest of the Church was rebuilt in 1505 with various later additions, including a music gallery circa 1800. The church bell was cast in 1620. St. Peter's Georgian box pews have survived in very few other churches. Families used to pay a fee to reserve their pew and at one time there were as many as seven duchesses in the congregation. The churchyard is the resting place of the explorer George Vancouver and the city named after him in Canada has contributed to the upkeep of St Peters.
North Kingston Riverside
A beautiful stretch of accessible riverside at Lower Ham Road.
Lower Ham Road sweeps down to the riverside in North Kingston. Now protected as a conservation area, it is home to rowing and sailing clubs. The riverside walk continues towards Kingston through Canbury Park Gardens past The Boaters pub.
Ham House
An authentically preserved Stuart mansion by the Thames, - reputedly one of the most haunted houses in England.
Originally built in 1610 for Sir Thomas Vavasour, Knight Marshall to James 1st but soon after acquired by the Earl of Dysart. In 1672 Ham House was enlarged and remodeled and during the Restoration of Charles 11, the house was a centre for political intrigue as a meeting point for the infamous CABAL. The Great South Avenue was formed by 1679. The house was presented to the National Trust in 1948 and today the house and gardens is a tourist attraction with many events including ghost tours.
The Village Lock-Up
The original Petersham village watchman's hut built in 1787
This little building with its white clapperboarding and slate roof once sheltered the local watchman, probably armed with musket or pistols to guard against highwaymen and deal with vagrancy and drunkenness. In 1787, the Petersham watchman was paid 11 shillings a week to guard the village from 9 o'clock at night to 3 o'clock in the morning. After the Metropolitan Police were formed in 1829, most lock-ups became redundant but the Petersham lock-up survived because the council used it as a storeroom for tools. In 1955, some villagers wanted it to be demolished but the Ancient Monuments Committee decided it should be preserved. It is now a Grade II listed building and due to representations by the Environment Trust, it is on the English Heritage list of important buildings at risk.
Kingston Bridge
The renovated bridge linking the Surrey and Middlesex banks.
Until Westminster Bridge was built in the mid eighteenth centiury, Kingston Bridge was the first major crossing point over the Thames after London Bridge. The bridge has been renovated in recent years and makes an attractive spectacle with its hanging baskets and super views both upstream and downstream.
Ham Pond
A peaceful sanctuary for wildfowl on Ham Common.
The Pond is on the western point of the Common where for hundreds of years it was a watering place for cattle and other animals. At times, such as in the nineteenth century, maps show more than one Pond and at times the Pond might not have been as scenic as it is today. In 2002 the Ham Pond Project started improving the Pond as a wildlife habitat including the restoration of a central island to aid breeding. The Pond now attracts swans, herons, cormorants and a variety of ducks.
Petersham Meadows
A haven for grazing cattle by the Thames
The meadows were formerly part of the lands of Ham House and became protected from development by the 1902 Richmond Petersham and Ham Open Spaces Act of Parliament. A dairy herd supplied the Hornby and Clarke Dairy from 1880 till the 1960s and then Express Dairies until changes in farming practice and regulations made dairy farming impractical. The Petersham Trust was formed in 1998 to protect grazing and they acquired the lease and management in 2001 and look after a small herd of beef cattle.
The Thames Boundary Mark
Marking the extent of the Port of Londons jursidiction over the Thames.
This obelisk on the Ham Bank just north of Teddington Lock signifies the point where the Port of London jursidiction over the tidal Thames ends and where responsibility for the upstream section passes over to the Environment Agency.
'Out of Order'
A distinctive contemporary sculpture by David Mach in central Kingston.
One of the more unusual sights in Kingston is several disused red telephone boxes that have been tipped up to lean against one another in an arrangement resembling dominoes. Its actually a sculpture by David Mach which was commissioned in 1988, and its called 'Out of Order'.
Langham House Close
Grade II* listed modernist development at the side of Ham Common.
The first mature work of Sir James Stirling, now commemorated by the Stirling Prize for Architecture, in conjunction with James Gowan. A mixture of brutalist style after Le Corbusier and the De Stjly movement , mixed in with vernacular elements. Formed in the former long but narrow garden of a Georgian House on the Common, the development offers 30 apartments in 1, 2 and 3 bedroom configurations, some with balconies. Their distinctive layout around a central stack and fireplace in stock brick has made them a sought after purchase for buyers particularly interested in twentienth centiry style. A grade II* listed development of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments to the side of Ham Common in the former long narrow garden of a Georgian house facing the Common...
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Vancouvers Grave
The grave of explorer George Vancouver in St Peters churchyard.
A notable resident of Petersham in the late eighteenth century was Captain George Vancouver who sailed on two of Captain Cooks voyages and later himself surveyed the coasts of New Zealand, South West Australia and the Pacific Northwest of America, where he established that Vancouver Island was indeed an island. The island, the city of Vancouver in Canada and Fort Vancouver in Washington State, USA are all named after him. He settled in Glen Cottage (now the Navigators House) in River Lane upon his return to England in 1795 and it was here in Petersham that he wrote his "Voyage of Discovery". He is buried in St Peters churchyard and the grave is cared for by the Petersham and Ham Sea Scout Group. A commemorative service is held each year on "Vancouver Day" when a wreath from the City of Vancouver is laid on the grave.
The Market House
The former Town Hall of Kingston in the Market Place.
A market has been held in the market place at Kingston for centuries and a Tudor Town Hall stood here in the sixteenth century which was refurbished during the reign of Elizabeth 1st. The statue of Queen Anne at the front dates from 1706 when the hall was restored again. That building was demolished and the present one built in 1840 and it served as the town hall until 1935 when the Guildhall was built. It has since been known as the Market House.
Richmond Park
The largest Royal Park in London and home to around 650 free roaming deer.
Enclosed as a hunting park by Charles 1st, - amid much opposition, - but today offering a pastoral haven close to London with views to the City and St Pauls. Comprising nearly 2500 acres, the Park is designated as a National Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation. It also includes the buildings of the Royal Ballet School and Pembroke Lodge, former home of prime minister John Russell and philosopher Bertrand Russell.
The Tollemache Almshouses
A redbrick & terracotta terrace in Ham Street largely retaining its original 1892 appearance.
Hams first almshouses were 2 cottages by the Common gates but the pictured terrace was endowed by the Hon Mrs Tollemache of Ham House as a memorial to her late husband Algernon. The endowment provided 7 shillings per week to each occupant. The terrace comprised three houses for married couples and three for single persons.
Douglas House
Grade 11 listed mansion now the hub of the Deutsche Schule.
A Stuart mansion built originally in 1680 for the Cole family who had lost their former residence in Petersham Park when it became enclosed to form part of Charles 1st hunting park. The house acquired the name Douglas House when it was inherited in 1725 by Kitty Hyde, the wife of Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensbury. The Duchess patronized the arts and especially John Gay, who wrote and rehearsed the Beggars Opera here. In 1969, the German Government purchased Douglas House and it now forms the hub of the main German School in the UK and has been added to with numerous further buildings around it. The "London" (DSL) has provided a primary and secondary German education in Britain for more than 30 years...
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Thames Young Mariners
A sheltered inlet off the Thames providing watersports education.
Thames Young Mariners is a well equipped outdoor watersports education centre established over forty years ago and located on a 25 acre site which includes a 10 acre lake fed by a lock gate off the Thames. The centre is under the auspices of Surrey County Council and there are courses for canoing, kayaking and sailing. It also has a climbing wall.
The Parkleys Conservation Area
The first 'Span' development by architect Eric Lyons, now Grade 11 listed by English Heritage.
Richmond Borough Conservation Area 67, designated in 2003, comprises the modern residential development of Parkleys and Ham Farm Road which were built in tandem in 1955-6 on the former site of Ham Farm Nursery. The flats at Parkleys were the first residential project by the pioneering Span Developments and the architect Eric Lyons. It was originally conceived as a new model of low rise modern housing for first time buyers set within a planned landscape. It had an innovative resident controlled company which still operates today, and also seems to have been the first instance of endowment mortgages being offered in the UK. Eric Lyons was later President of RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and a retrospective of his work was held there in 2006. Parkleys is Grade 11 listed by English Heritage... read more
Teddington Lock
The upper extent of the tidal Thames with pedestrian access over the river from Ham to Teddington.
Teddington Lock is manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is the upper extent of the tidal Thames. The lock keepers house is on the Ham bank. The first lock at Teddington was built in 1810 but was replaced in 1856/7 with essentially the launch lock as it looks today -though it was refurbished in 1950. In 1904 the barge lock was added and its the longest lock on the river at 650, - originally designed to get a steam tug and 6 barges through in a single locking. At the other extreme the smallest lock, - the skiff lock - is so narrow it's known as the coffin lock. A late 19th century footbridge crosses from Ham Bank over to a small island in the river from where a second footbridge continues across to the Teddington side... read more
Ham & Petersham from Richmond Hill
An iconic listed view, painted by both Reynolds and Turner, and protected by a 1902 Act of Parliament.
The meadows and the renowned view across them from Richmond Hill had been guaranteed by the 1902 Richmond, Petersham and Ham Open Spaces Act. .Lord Dysart granted the meadows and lands along the riverside to remain undeveloped in exchange for the end of common grazing rights and the right to extract gravel on the Ham bank
Pembroke Lodge
Former home of Prime Minister John Russell and later his grandson, the philosopher Bertrand Russell.
In 1847 Queen Victoria granted Pembroke Lodge in the Petersham part of Richmond Park to one of her prime ministers, John Russell. It became the Russell family home. His grandson, the philosopher Bertrand Russell, also lived at Pembroke Lodge. The first Earl and Countess Russell endowed the Russell School in Petersham in 1849.Today Pembroke Lodge is available for weddings, conferences and other functions. Refreshments are also served daily on the terrace, which enjoys sweeping views across Ham and Petersham and beyond to the Middlesex bank.
The Ian Dury Bench
An interactive bench with a Q code which plays songs in memory of singer Ian Dury.
The Ian Dury Bench, donated by his family and Warner Chappell Music, can be found in Poets Corner in the grounds of Pembroke Lodge. On the Ian Dury website, daughter Jemima says 'Dad used to visit the park a few times a week and it was very special to him... He would have loved the idea of a bench where people could listen to his songs and enjoy the view.' Designer Mil Stricevic designed the 'talking bench' to play 8 of Ian's songs, including million selling 'Hit Me with your Rhythm Stick' - through headphones powered by solar energy. Unfortunately the system didn't cope with the British climate , so today theres a Q code on the bench to let your smartphone play the songs. Ian Dury also raised huge amounts of money through Unicef to eradicate polio, from which he suffered himself. The bench is inscribed with another of his best known song titles - 'Reasons to be Cheerful'.
Ham Village Green and mosaic
A vibrant communal open space with mosaic feature unveiled by Sir David Attenborough.
Awarded Green Flag status in 2014, this well used communal green space between Ham Street and Ham Close includes an open 'fitpoint' and childrens playground, picnic benches and a wildflower area tended by the Friends of Ham Green and Richmond Parks Department. The main grassed area is also used for sports and there are Tai Chi classes every Friday morning (10.30 - 11.30). Along the side wall of the local shops are mosaic features. The Friends of Ham Village Green community mosaic celebrates the wildflowers and wildlife of the green and was created by over 200 local contributors aged from one and a half to eighty-three. The mosaic was formally unveiled by Sir David Attenborough on the day of his 88th birthday on May 8th 2014.
