Hampton, London

About

Hampton is a suburb of Greater London on the north bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, and the historic county of Middlesex. Hampton is bounded by Bushy Park to the east (and to the north of St Albans Riverside facing Tagg's Island), the suburbs of Hampton Hill and Fulwell to the north, green belt to the west, and the Thames to the south.

Historically, the manor of Hampton included Hampton Court Palace (and Bushy Park), Hampton Hill, and Hampton Wick (which are now known collectively as "The Hamptons"). Originally settled in Saxon times, the manor was awarded to the Norman lord Walter of Saint-Valéry following the 1066 Norman Conquest, passed by his heirs to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in 1237, and acquired by Henry VIII following the Act of Supremacy 1534 (26 Hen. 8. c. 1). The enclosure of common land in 1811 and rapid growth of 19th-century London saw agricultural fields converted to market gardens, and later nurseries. The construction of the Hampton Water Treatment Works in the late 1850s and early 1860s, and the opening of the Shepperton Branch Line to London Waterloo in 1864, led to a steady growth in the population of Hampton, and fields in south Hampton near the station being converted to suburban housing in the late 19th century and interwar period. Refrigeration, air freight and cheaper overseas labour ultimately rendered the market gardens and nurseries uncompetitive and derelict, and after a lengthy planning process the Nurserylands estate was established in north Hampton in the 1980s.