The neighbouring land is semi-rural Petersham, Richmond Park, and the town of Kingston. On the opposite side of the river is Teddington and Twickenham (including Strawberry Hill).[3]
Ham is bounded on the west, along the bank of the River Thames, by ancient communal river meadows forming a Local Nature Reserve called Ham Lands.[4] Part of this former pasture land was used for gravel extraction. The last remnant of these gravel pits now forms an artificial lake, connected to the river by a lock. In this area is the Thames Young Mariners10 acres (0.04km2) site, operated as a water activity centre by Surrey County Council.[5] The area along the riverside is preserved as a public amenity and nature reserve.
Mostly on low-lying river terrace, Ham today is bounded to the east by Richmond Park, where the land rises at the escarpment of the Richmond and Kingston hills. Small streams that drain this higher ground flow into a watercourse that flows south–north along the foot of the hill, known as Latchmere Stream[6] to the south and Sudbrook to the north. Now subterranean for most of its course, it emerges in Ham Common, near Ham Gate and flows briefly through Richmond Park and exits into Sudbrook Park Golf Course, returning underground before discharging into the Thames at Petersham.[7]
Geology
Ham lies within the London Basin and its London claybedrock. The low-lying flood plains to the west consist of fluvial gravels, sands and clay. To the east, within Richmond Park, a more erosion-resistant fluvio-glacial deposit of gravels laid down in the interglacial period between 240,000 and 400,000 years ago forms the escarpment ridge that runs north–south between the Richmond and Kingston hills.[8][9]
Toponymy
The name derives from the Old English word Hamme meaning "place in the bend of a river".[10]
Archaeology
The Thames Valley has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic period and finds of Palaeolithic flints near White Lodge, Richmond Park show that Ham was part of early human territory. Later, Mesolithic, flints found at Ham dip, Dann's Pond and Pen Ponds within the park are also evidence of early habitation as are Neolithicbarrows on the ridge of the hill overlooking Petersham, Ham and Kingston. These have not been excavated, so it is impossible to date them precisely, but barrows are known to span the period from 3500BC to 900BC.[11] Several surface finds of flint tools, axes, adzes, scrapers, awls chisels and knives as well as arrowheads, hammer stones and flint shards were made during gravel workings in Ham Fields at Coldharbour, near the present day Thames Young Mariners site (51°26′19″N0°19′32″W / 51.438655°N 0.325586°W / 51.438655; -0.325586) and further east in maize fields now covered by housing.[9] These finds are made from high quality flint from the North Downs rather than local river-borne flints from the Thames Valley, implying human transportation and a settled rather than nomadic lifestyle in the area. Many of these artifacts are part of the Edwards Collection and housed in the Museum of Richmond. Other finds from Ham are held at the Museum of London including an early Bronze Age collared urn, also from the Edwards Collection.[12][13]
A few finds of Romano-British pottery from the late Iron Age, mid 1st and early 2nd centuries AD show that the area remained inhabited to some extent, though the closest indications of modest Roman settlements are further south in the Canbury area of North Kingston.[12]
The first early Saxon settlement found in the Greater London area was a pit-house, or Grubenhaus, excavated at Ham in the early 1950s. Along with pottery finds dated to the 5th century AD, this suggests the area was amongst the first colonised by Saxon settlers.[12][14]
History
Tollemache Almshouses, Ham Street, erected in memory of Algernon Gray Tollemache in 1892 by his wife
Historically, Ham covered a larger area. The boundaries shown in the tithe map of 1843 are believed to have changed little, if at all, for centuries. The southern boundary between Ham and Kingston spanned the width of the hundred, from near present-day Canbury Gardens on the Thames, about 2.5 miles (4.0km) eastwards crossing Richmond Park to Beverley Brook. The northern boundary returned through Richmond Park from Beverley Brook, south of White Lodge through the northern Pen Pond, across Sudbrook Park westwards towards Ham Street then veering north back to the Thames.[16]
The earliest known written record of Ham as a separate village dates from the 12th century when Hamma was included in the royal demesne as a member of Kingston, contributing 43s. 4d. in 1168 towards the marriage of Matilda, the eldest daughter of Henry II.[note 1][19]
Between the royal courts at Richmond and Hampton Court, Ham's predominantly agricultural area developed from the beginning of the 17th century, with the construction of Ham House in 1610, the best-preserved survivor of the period. The related history of the Earls of Dysart dominated the development of Ham and Petersham for the following four centuries.
When the park was enclosed by Charles I in 1637, Ham parish lost the use of most of the affected land, over 800 acres (3.2km2) stretching towards Robin Hood Gate and Kingston Hill, almost half of which was common land. In return for this, a deed was struck which has effectively protected most of the remaining common land, Ham Common, to the present day. The enclosed land, whilst lost to agriculture, remained within Ham's administrative boundaries.
The whole area was referred to as Ham cum Hatch, or Ham with Hatch, until late Victorian times.[20] The enclosure of Richmond Park disrupted the former common land link between the settlements near the present Upper Ham Road and an ancient small settlement near the park's Robin Hood Gate and A3, London road. Local historian, Evelyn Pritchard, assumed that the Robin Hood lands settlement was the location of Hatch, but more detailed examination of Petersham, Ham and Canbury manorial land records by John Cloake provides evidence that Hatch was a hamlet centred around the north-east area of Ham Common, whilst Ham itself lay to the west and north-west of the present common, on the Ham Street approach to the Thames.[21]
Between 1838 and 1848, Ham Common was the site of a Utopian spiritual community and free school called Alcott House (or the "Ham Common Concordium"), founded by educational reformer and "sacred socialist" James Pierrepont Greaves and his followers. Hesba Stretton (real name Sarah Smith), the evangelical children's writer, retired to Ivycroft, Ham Common in 1892 and died there in 1912.[22]
There is a memorial bench outside the Sainsbury's store (formerly Barclays Bank) at Ham Parade to commemorate Angela Woolliscroft, who was murdered in 1976 during a bank robbery. There is also a memorial bench (installed 2024) for Malcolm Singleton (died 2022) who ran M&J Hardware since 1988 and had worked for the previous owner, Dorling’s, starting at age 16.[23][24][25]
As the system of hundreds and manors declined, Ham from 1786 was administered by a local "vestry", but as Ham lacked a church of its own until 1832 (and a true vestry until it was enlarged in 1890), it met in the New Inn.[27]
The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 established a Board of Guardians, comprising 21 elected guardians for Kingston and its surrounding parishes. Ham always had one or two representatives, but sent very few of its poor to the workhouse, mainly assisting them locally in almshouses.[28]Ham Common Local Government District was formed under the Local Government Act 1858 and was governed by a local board of eight members.[29] However, the vestry system continued in practice until the formation of a local government board in 1871.[30] The Local Government Act 1894 reconstituted the area as Ham Urban District, with an elected urban district council of ten members replacing the local board. It consisted of the civil parish of Ham with Hatch, which was renamed "Ham" in 1897.[31]
The urban district was abolished in 1933, when a county review order included it in an enlarged Municipal Borough of Richmond.[32] The main impact on Ham was that the northern area was linked with Petersham to create a Sudbrook ward, whilst the boundary with Kingston was moved further north to more or less its present limit with Ham "losing" the factories and surrounding land and housing. This substantial boundary change makes meaningful demographic analysis very difficult. The ward itself is now Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside. This contains the largest proportion of Richmond Park and of all six main wards which adjoin it.[33]
Economy
Agriculture
Ham was an agricultural community for centuries, with meadow and pasture land mostly along the river, and common grazing. The tithe map of 1842 showed a total area of 1,920 acres (780ha), but when adjusted for the land in Richmond Park, 449 acres (182ha) were arable, 290 acres (120ha) meadow or pasture, 216 acres (87ha) was common land, and only 1 acre (0.40ha) woodland. The crops were mainly wheat, barley and oats. with some flax, potatoes, turnips and mangel wurzels. Livestock included cows, sheep, pigs, goats, ducks and chickens as well as horses and donkeys– many of which grazed the common land.[34] Ham had three farms at the time, all on land owned by the Earl of Dysart. Unusually, these remained very little enclosed and the open field system survived in use until the late 19th century.[35] Improvement in transport and the growth of London led to a shift from general mixed agriculture to market gardening by the early 20th century.[36] Ultimately, the same growth fuelled demand for housing land, and this factor along with the greater profitability of gravel extraction on land that could not be used for housing, meant that agriculture in Ham had ceased by the mid-1950s.[37]
In 1904 William Tollemache, 9th Earl of Dysart leased part of the farmland to the Ham River Grit Company Ltd to extract sand and ballast. A dock was constructed in 1913 and a lock in 1921, parts of which remain as the Thames Young Mariners water activity centre. A narrow-gauge railway linked the site to the main road. During the Second World War the flooded pits were reputed to have been used to store sections of the Mulberry harbour. After the war, most of the pits were filled with bomb-damage rubble from London. The pits operated until 1952, after which some of the land was used for subsequent housing development. Local resistance to further development led to the area being designated Metropolitan Open Land, preserving Ham Riverside Lands as a nature reserve. It has notably unusual vegetation due to the underlying alkaline rubble instead of the more acidic fluvial deposits.[38][39]
Towards the end of World War I, Lord Dysart sold some land south of Ham Common to the Ministry of Munitions for the construction of an aircraft factory on land adjoining what was then still called Upper Ham Road. National Aircraft Factory No. 2 was built in 26 weeks during the winter of 1917. The factory was leased to the Sopwith Aviation Company, based a mile to the south in Canbury Park Road, Kingston, and the company were able to increase greatly its production of Snipe, Dolphin and Salamander fighter planes as a result. At the end of the war, demand ceased. Sopwith tried to buy the factory outright but the government refused. Sopwith Aviation went into voluntary liquidation and reformed in 1920 as H. G. Hawker Engineering at their original Kingston base.[40]
The remaining Ham Factory lease was sold to Leyland Motors, which initially used it to recondition ex-War Department lorries for civilian use. It was then used to produce under licence the Trojan Utility Car between 1922 and 1928.[41] During the 1930s, the factory produced Leyland Cub trucks. World War II shifted production to military vehicles, fire engines, other equipment and munitions. After the war the site produced the chassis for Leyland's trolleybus.[42]
In 1948 the site was sold back to Hawker Aircraft Ltd and it became the main base for Kingston's aviation industry. The Hawker Hunter was produced there in large numbers, driven by cold war demand. The profits allowed the site to be redeveloped as Hawker's UK headquarters and the factory gained an imposing frontage by 1958 in a building that closely linked design and production.[40] The Ham factory played an integral part in the development of the Hawker Kestrel and Hawker Harrier planes. Following the nationalisation of the aircraft industry in 1977. British Aerospace continued to build Harriers and missile kits at the site. Following privatisation in 1985, the site's closure was announced in 1991. It was demolished in 1993 and replaced by further housing development.[42]
Paint and varnish
In 1929 the site on the opposite side of the road to the Leyland factory was developed for the Cellon Doping Company, originally producing Cellonaircraft dope, a synthetic varnish used to waterproof aircraft fabric.[43] The company became part of Pinchin Johnson and was acquired by Courtaulds in 1960, continuing under the International Paint group banner from 1968.[44][45] The factory closed in the 1980s[when?] and the site was redeveloped as a small industrial estate.
Today
Apart from one plant nursery, local community, retail and small scale offices, Ham today is predominately a commuter residential area dependent on employment outside the immediate area.
Landmarks
Ham Pond, Ham Common
The main feature in Ham is Ham Common which has a cricket pitch, a pond and a woodland.
A straight tree-lined path leads from Ham Common to Ham House, the most significant house in Ham. The section of the path from Ham Common to Sandy Lane is called Great South Avenue and the section from Sandy Lane to Ham House is called Melancholy Walk.
The Ham Polo Club is at the end of a driveway off the Petersham Road. Though the club has been in existence since 1926 it was in 1954 that the old orchard of Ham House was converted into a polo ground for the club.
The Ham and Petersham Lawn Tennis Club has courts on the south avenue to Ham House in conjunction with Grey Court School.[49]
The former meadow land along the Thames near Ham House became the location of a King George's Field in the 1930s. Covering 10 acres (4.0ha), it provides cricket, football and tennis facilities. Several sports clubs and activities are based on and nearby.[50][51]
The Ham and Petersham Rifle and Pistol Club, dating from 1907 or perhaps earlier, is near Ham House, with both indoor and outdoor ranges and caters for archery, pistol and rifle shooting.[52]
The Kew and Ham Sports Association provides football and baseball facilities on the playing fields between Ham House and Thames Young Mariners.[53]
Nigel Dempster (1941–2007), British journalist, author and broadcaster, lived at Ensleigh Lodge, Ham Common.[61][62]
George Gale (1929–2003), cartoonist, lived in Ham and on Little Green, Richmond.[63]
James Goldsmith (1933–1997), billionaire financier, and his family lived at Ormeley Lodge.[56]
Emily Hornby (1833–1906), mountaineer and travel writer, died at the Manor House in 1906.
Alexander Marshal (c.1620–1682), a botanical artist, gardener and entomologist, who is recorded living in Ham about 1650. He is known for four albums of botanical paintings, including the florilegium, and his painting of Katherine Bruce from 1649 is on loan to Ham House.[64]
John Henry Newman, later Cardinal Newman (1801–1890), spent some of his early years at Grey Court, Ham Street, Ham. The site is marked by a blue plaque.[66]
Hesba Stretton (real name Sarah Smith; 1832–1911), the evangelical children's writer, retired to Ivycroft, Ham Common in 1892 and died there in 1911.[22]
↑ Lysons attributed a grant of land in 931 by Æthelstan to his minister, Wulfgar, as relating to Ham, London.[17] This is now believed to relate to Ham, Wiltshire.[18]
Related Research Articles
Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as the place where some Saxon kings were crowned.
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden, Surbiton and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in England. The others are Windsor and Maidenhead, the site of Windsor Castle, and the London boroughs of Greenwich, and Kensington and Chelsea. The local authority is Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council.
Petersham is a village in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the east of the bend in the River Thames south of Richmond, which it shares with neighbouring Ham. It provides the foreground of the scenic view from Richmond Hill across Petersham Meadows, with Ham House further along the river. Other nearby places include Twickenham, Isleworth, Teddington, Mortlake, and Roehampton.
The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in southwest London, England, 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 Government Act 1963. It is governed by Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council. The population is 198,019 and the major communities are Barnes, East Sheen, Mortlake, Kew, Richmond, Twickenham, Teddington and Hampton.
Richmond is a town in south-west London, 8.2 miles (13.2 km) west-southwest of Charing Cross. It stands on the River Thames, and features many parks and open spaces, including Richmond Park, and many protected conservation areas, which include much of Richmond Hill. A specific Act of Parliament protects the scenic view of the River Thames from Richmond.
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The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is located along a stretch of the River Thames where the Hogsmill River joins the former at the town of Kingston. The Borough contains over 30 parks, 24 playgrounds, sports grounds and open spaces. There are also over 20 allotments sites which are either self-managed or run by the local council. An assessment conducted in 2006 identified 165 hectares of park and 340 hectares of other open spaces in the borough.
Richmond Hill in Richmond and Petersham, London, is a hill that begins gently in the north and north-east side of Richmond town and through its former fields, orchards and vineyard to a point just within Richmond Park, the deer park emparked and enclosed by Charles I.
William John Manners Tollemache, 9th Earl of Dysart, DL was an English peer and judicial officer.
Latchmere House is a building and grounds southeast of Ham Common in Ham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in south west London, England. The southern part of the site lies in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
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Ham Common is an area of common land in Ham, London. It is a conservation area in, and managed by, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It comprises 48.69 hectares, the second largest area of common land in the borough, 2 acres (0.81 ha) smaller than Barnes Common. It is divided into two distinct habitats, grassland and woodland, separated by the A307, Upper Ham Road. It is an area of ecological, historical and recreational interest, designated a Local Nature Reserve.
Sir Lyonel Felix Carteret Eugene Tollemache, 4th Baronet was an English landowner.
Latchmere Recreation Ground is a public open space with playing fields and a children's playground in the north of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
↑ Wilkie, Kim; Battaggia, Marco; Batey, Mavis; Lambert, David; Buttery, Henrietta; Pearce, Jenny; Goode, David; Bentley, David (1994). Landscape Character Reach No 8: Ham. Thames Landscape Strategy Document. Thames Landscape Strategy. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
↑ Lysons, Daniel (1792). "Kingston upon Thames". The Environs of London: volume 1: County of Surrey. Institute of Historical Research. pp.212–256. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
↑ Cloake, John (2006). "The Robin Hood Lands, the Hamlet of Hatch and the Manor of Kingston Canbury". Richmond History: Journal of Richmond Local History Society (27): 74–76.
↑ Youngs, Frederic A Jr (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. Vol.I: Southern England. London. ISBN978-0-86193-127-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Fison, Vanessa (2009). The Matchless Vale: the story of Ham and Petersham and their people. Ham and Petersham Association. pp.53, 54, 112–117. ISBN978-0-9563244-0-5.
Pritchard, Evelyn (1999). A Portrait of Ham in Early Victorian times 1840–1860 (2nded.). Alma Books. ISBN978-0-9517497-5-3.
Pritchard, Evelyn (2000). "The historical background". In Chave, Leonard (ed.). Ham and Petersham at 2000. Ham Amenities Group. pp.2–28. ISBN0-9522099-4-2.
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