1.
Greater London
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London, or Greater London, is a region of England which forms the administrative boundaries of London. It is organised into 33 local government districts, the 32 London boroughs, the Greater London Authority, based in Southwark, is responsible for strategic local government across the region and consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The county of Greater London was created on 1 April 1965 through the London Government Act 1963, administratively, Greater London was first established as a sui generis council area under the Greater London Council between 1963 and 1986. The area was re-established as a region in 1994, and the Greater London Authority formed in 2000, the region covers 1,572 km2 and had a population of 8,174,000 at the 2011 census. In 2012, it had the highest GVA per capita in the United Kingdom at £37,232, the Greater London Built-up Area—used in some national statistics—is a measure of the continuous urban area of London, and therefore includes areas outside of the administrative region. The term Greater London has been and still is used to different areas in governance, statistics, history. In terms of ceremonial counties, London is divided into the small City of London, outside the limited boundaries of the City, a variety of arrangements has governed the wider area since 1855, culminating in the creation of the Greater London administrative area in 1965. The Greater London Arterial Road Programme was devised between 1913 and 1916, one of the larger early forms was the Greater London Planning Region, devised in 1927, which occupied 1,856 square miles and included 9 million people. The LCC pressed for an alteration in its boundaries soon after the end of the First World War, noting that within the Metropolitan, a Royal Commission on London Government was set up to consider the issue. The LCC proposed a vast new area for Greater London, with a boundary somewhere between the Metropolitan Police District and the home counties, protests were made at the possibility of including Windsor, Slough and Eton in the authority. The Commission made its report in 1923, rejecting the LCCs scheme, two minority reports favoured change beyond the amalgamation of smaller urban districts, including both smaller borough councils and a central authority for strategic functions. The London Traffic Act 1924 was a result of the Commission, Greater London originally had a two-tier system of local government, with the Greater London Council sharing power with the City of London Corporation and the 32 London Borough councils. The GLC was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its functions were devolved to the City Corporation and the London Boroughs, with some functions transferred to central government and joint boards. Greater London was used to form the London region of England in 1994, a referendum held in 1998 established a public will to recreate an upper tier of government to cover the region. The Greater London Authority, London Assembly and the directly elected Mayor of London were created in 2000 by the Greater London Authority Act 1999, in 2000, the outer boundary of the Metropolitan Police District was re-aligned to the Greater London boundary. The 2000 and 2004 mayoral elections were won by Ken Livingstone, the 2008 and 2012 elections were won by Boris Johnson. The 2016 election was won by Sadiq Khan, Greater London continues to include the most closely associated parts of the Greater London Urban Area and their historic buffers. Thus it includes, in five boroughs, significant parts of the Metropolitan Green Belt which protects designated greenfield land in a way to the citys parks
2.
Hampton Court Palace
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Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the town of East Molesey, Richmond upon Thames, Greater London, England,11.7 miles south west and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Redevelopment began to be carried out in 1515 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, in 1529, as Wolsey fell from favour, the King seized the palace for himself and later enlarged it. Along with St Jamess Palace, it is one of two surviving palaces out of the many owned by King Henry VIII. In the following century, King William IIIs massive rebuilding and expansion project, work ceased in 1694, leaving the palace in two distinct contrasting architectural styles, domestic Tudor and Baroque. While the palaces styles are an accident of fate, a unity exists due to the use of pink bricks, King George II was the last monarch to reside in the palace. In addition, London Buses routes 111,216,411, the structure and grounds are cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown. In addition the palace continues to display a number of works of art from the Royal Collection. The palaces Home Park is the site of the annual Hampton Court Palace Festival, Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York, Chief Minister and favourite of Henry VIII, took over the site of Hampton Court Palace in 1514. It had previously been a property of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, over the following seven years, Wolsey spent lavishly to build the finest palace in England at Hampton Court. Wolsey rebuilt the manor house to form the nucleus of the present palace. Today, little of Wolseys building work remains unchanged, the first courtyard, the Base Court, was his creation, as was the second, inner gatehouse which leads to the Clock Court which contained his private rooms. The Base Court contained forty-four lodgings reserved for guests, while the court contained the very best rooms – the state apartments – reserved for the King. Henry VIII stayed in the apartments as Wolseys guest immediately after their completion in 1525. Perpendicular Gothic owed nothing historically to the Renaissance style, yet harmonised well with it and this blending of styles was realised by a small group of Italian craftsmen working at the English court in the second and third decades of the sixteenth century. They specialised in the adding of Renaissance ornament to otherwise straightforward Tudor buildings and it was one of these, Giovanni da Maiano who was responsible for the set of eight relief busts of Roman emperors which were set in the Tudor brickwork. Wolsey was only to enjoy his palace for a few years, in 1528, knowing that his enemies and the King were engineering his downfall, he passed the palace to the King as a gift. Wolsey died two years later in 1530, within six months of coming into ownership, the King began his own rebuilding and expansion. Henry VIIIs court consisted of one thousand people, while the King owned over sixty houses and palaces
3.
Kingston upon Thames
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Kingston upon Thames, also known as Kingston, is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned, Kingston is situated 10 miles southwest of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Kingston lies approximately 33 feet above sea level, Kingston was part of a large ancient parish in the county of Surrey and the town was an ancient borough, reformed in 1835. It has been the location of Surrey County Hall from 1893, most of the town centre is part of the KT1 postcode area, but some areas north of Kingston railway station have the postcode KT2 instead. The population of the town itself, comprising the four wards of Canbury, Grove, Norbiton, Kingston was called Cyninges tun in 838, Chingestune in 1086, Kingeston in 1164, Kyngeston super Tamisiam in 1321 and Kingestowne upon Thames in 1589. The name means the manor or estate from the Old English words cyning. It belonged to the king in Saxon times and was the earliest royal borough and it was first mentioned in 838 as the site of a meeting between King Egbert of Wessex and Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury. Kingston lay on the boundary between the ancient kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, until in the tenth century when King Athelstan united both to create the kingdom of England. Probably because of the symbolic location, several tenth-century kings were crowned in Kingston, Æthelstan in 925, Eadred in 946. Other kings who may have been crowned there are Edward the Elder in 902, Edmund in 939, Eadwig in 956, Edgar in about 960 and Edward the Martyr in 975. It was initially used as a block, but in 1850 it was moved to a more dignified place in the market before finally being moved to its current location in the grounds of the guildhall. Well known aviation personalities Sydney Camm, Harry Hawker and Tommy Sopwith were responsible for much of Kingstons achievements in aviation. British Aerospace finally closed its Lower Ham Road factory in 1992, part of the site was redeveloped for housing but the riverside part houses a community centre. The growth and development of Kingston Polytechnic and its transformation into Kingston University has made Kingston a university town, Kingston upon Thames formed an ancient parish in the Kingston hundred of Surrey. The parish of Kingston upon Thames covered an area including Hook, Kew, New Malden, Petersham, Richmond, Surbiton, Thames Ditton. The town of Kingston was granted a charter by King John in 1200, but the oldest one to survive is from 1208, other charters were issued by later kings, including Edward IVs charter that gave the town the status of a borough in 1481. The borough covered a smaller area than the ancient parish, although as new parishes were split off the borough. The borough was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, becoming the Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames and it had been known as a Royal borough through custom and the right to the title was confirmed by George V in 1927
4.
Surbiton
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Surbiton is a suburban area of south-west London within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated next to the River Thames,11.0 miles south west of central London, Surbiton possesses a mixture of Art-Deco courts, more recent residential blocks and grand 19th century townhouses blending into a sea of semi-detached 20th century housing estates. See the article on Thomas Pooley for his rôle in the establishment of the town of Surbiton. See also the article on the Municipal Borough of Surbiton for the period 1855–1965 and this resulted in the line being routed further south, through a cutting in the hill south of Surbiton. Surbiton railway station opened in 1838, and was originally named Kingston-upon-Railway and it was only renamed Surbiton to distinguish it from the new Kingston railway station on the Shepperton branch line, which opened on 1 January 1869. The present station has an art deco façade and it was once home to Surbiton Studios which were owned by Stoll Pictures, before the company shifted its main production to Cricklewood Studios. The Pre-Raphaelite painters John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt came to Surbiton in 1851,26 years before Richard Jefferies, Millais used the Hogsmill River, in Six Acre Meadow, Tolworth, as the background for his painting Ophelia. Holman Hunt used the fields just south of this spot as the background to The Hireling Shepherd, in the mid-1870s the novelist Thomas Hardy lived in a house called St. Davids Villa in Hook Road, Surbiton for a year after his marriage to Emma Gifford. H. G. Wells, in his comic novel The Wheels of Chance, describes the cycle collision of Mr Hoopdriver and a Young Lady in Grey, the young lady approaching along an affluent from the villas of Surbiton. The writer Enid Blyton was governess to a Surbiton family for four years from 1920, at a house called Southernhay, middelton, who broadcast on gardening during the Second World War, lived in Surbiton, where he died suddenly outside his home. The artist who brought Rupert the Bear to life for a whole generation Alfred Bestall sketched out his cartoons from his home in Cranes Park, other names for the town include the Surbs and the Tron in reference to 80s movies The Burbs and Tron. Surbiton station features in the 2009 film version of Harry Potter, filming took place in November 2007. The station also appears in Agatha Christies Poirot, The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, a TV adaptation of the story by Agatha Christie. Surbiton receives a mention in the seventh chapter of the James Bond novel On Her Majestys Secret Service by Ian Fleming. The guitarist and singer-songwriter Eric Clapton purchased one of his first guitars from a shop in Surbiton called Bells, Surbiton is served by a number of regular bus services. London Buses routes 71,281,406,418,465, K1, K2, K3, Surbiton railway station provides rail links with London, Surrey and Hampshire. For education in Surbiton see the main Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames article, until the early 19th century, Surbiton, like Norbiton, lay in the parish of All Saints, Kingston upon Thames. As a result, Surbitons three parish churches all date back to the Victorian era, the two Anglican ones, Saint Marks and Saint Andrews, are located in the town centre
5.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
6.
Bushy Park
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Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of Londons Royal Parks, at 445 hectares in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is north of Hampton Court Palace. It is surrounded by Teddington, Hampton, Hampton Hill and Hampton Wick, the parks acid grasslands are mostly just above the 25-foot contour. In September 2014 most of it was designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest together with Hampton Court Park and Hampton Court Golf Course as Bushy Park, the park is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The area now known as Bushy Park has been settled for at least the past 4,000 years, there is also evidence that the area was used in the medieval period for agricultural purposes. A keen hunter, he established them as deer-hunting grounds and this period also saw the construction of the main thoroughfare, Chestnut Avenue, which runs from Park Road in Teddington to the Lion Gate entrance to Hampton Court Palace in Hampton Court Road. This avenue and the Arethusa Diana Fountain were designed by Sir Christopher Wren as an approach to Hampton Court Palace. The park has long been popular with locals, but also visitors from further afield. From the mid-19th century until World War II, Londoners came here to celebrate Chestnut Sunday, the customs were discovered and resurrected in 1993 by Colin and Mu Pain. Among those who served as ranger was King William IV, while Duke of Clarence, to ensure his consort Queen Adelaide, could remain at their long-time home after his death, he immediately appointed her as his successor as ranger. During World War I, Bushy Park housed the Kings Canadian Hospital, during World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower planned the D-Day landings from Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force at Camp Griffiss in the Park. A memorial by Carlos Rey dedicated to the Allied troops who fell on D-Day now marks the spot where General Eisenhowers tent stood, the nearby Eisenhower House is named in the Generals honour. Spaatz went on to command the US Army Air Forces throughout the European Theatre of Operations, also known by its US Army code, AAF-586, Camp Griffiss/Widewing was often confused with the wartime headquarters of Eighth Air Force Fighter Command at Bushey Hall, near Watford, Hertfordshire. It also has fishing and model boating ponds, horse rides, formal plantations of trees and other plants, wildlife conservation areas and herds of both red deer and fallow deer. As part of an upgrade of the facilities, the new Pheasantry Café was added. The work was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the closest railway stations are Hampton Court in East Molesey to the south, Hampton Wick to the east, Teddington and Fulwell to the north, and Hampton to the west. All are within a 10- to 20-minute walk, transport for London bus routes 111,216 and 411 pass the Hampton Court Gate on Hampton Court Road. R70, R68 and 285 buses stop near the two Hampton Hill Gates off the High Street, while the R68 also serves the Blandford Road Gate before continuing to Hampton Court Green via Hampton Hill
7.
River Thames
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The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It is believed that Tamesubugus name was derived from that of the river, tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
8.
Deer park (England)
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In medieval and Early Modern England, a deer park was an enclosed area containing deer. It was bounded by a ditch and bank with a park pale on top of the bank. The ditch was on the increasing the effective height. Some parks had deer leaps, where there was an external ramp, some deer parks were established in the Anglo-Saxon era and are mentioned in Anglo-Saxon Charters, these were often called hays. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066 William the Conqueror seized existing game reserves, Deer parks flourished and proliferated under the Normans, forming a forerunner of the deer parks that became popular among Englands landed gentry. The Domesday Book of 1086 records thirty-six of them, initially the Norman kings maintained an exclusive right to keep and hunt deer and established forest law for this purpose. In due course they also allowed members of the nobility and senior clergy to maintain deer parks, at their peak at the turn of the 14th century, deer parks may have covered 2% of the land area of England. James I was an enthusiast for hunting but it became less fashionable, the number of deer parks then declined, contemporary books document other more profitable uses for such an estate. Deer parks are notable features in their own right. To establish a park a royal licence was required, known as a licence to empark—especially if the park was in or near a royal forest. Because of their cost and exclusivity, deer parks became status symbols, thus the ability to eat venison or give it to others was also a status symbol. Consequently, many parks were maintained for the supply of venison. Small deer parks which functioned primarily as household larders were attached to many smaller manors, such grants acted as common features of the mediaeval social machinery. King Henry VIII appointed Sir William Denys an Esquire of the Body at some date before 5 June 1511. This grant is witnessed by a charter on parchment, to which is affixed a rare example of a great seal of Henry VIII. It clearly was handed down with the deeds of the manor on the termination of the Denys era at Dyrham. The charter is of exceptional interest as it is signed as witnesses by men of the greatest importance in the state, also that they may have free warren in all their demesne lands within the said manor. Thomas Surrey, Treasurer of England and George Shrewsbury, steward of our household, Charles Somerset Lord Herbert, our chamberlain and George Neville of Abergavenny, barons
9.
Fallow deer
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The fallow deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. Some taxonomers include the rarer Persian fallow deer as a subspecies, the male fallow deer is known as a buck, the female is a doe, and the young a fawn. Adult bucks are 140–160 cm long, 85–95 cm in height, and typically 60–100 kg in weight, does are 130–150 cm long, 75–85 cm in shoulder height. The largest bucks may measure 190 cm long and weigh 150 kg, Fawns are born in spring around 30 cm and weigh around 4.5 kg. Their lifespan is around 12–16 years, much variation occurs in the coat colour of the species, with four main variants, common, menil, melanistic, and leucistic – a genuine colour variety, not albinistic. The white is the lightest coloured, almost white, common and menil are darker, common, Chestnut coat with white mottles, it is most pronounced in summer with a much darker, unspotted coat in the winter. The light-coloured area around the tail is edged with black, the tail is light with a black stripe. Menil, Spots are more distinct than common in summer and no black is seen around the patch or on the tail. In winter, spots are still clear on a brown coat. Melanistic, All-year the coat is black shading to greyish brown, no light-coloured tail patch or spots are seen. Leucistic, Fawns are cream-coloured, adults become pure white, especially in winter, dark eyes and nose are seen, with no spots. Most herds consist of the common coat variation, yet animals of the menil coat variation are not rare, the melanistic variation is generally rarer, and white is very much rarer still, although wild New Zealand herds often have a high melanistic percentage. Only bucks have antlers, which are broad and shovel-shaped from three years, in the first two years, the antler is a single spike. They are grazing animals, their habitat is mixed woodland. Agile and fast in case of danger, fallow deer can run at a speed of 30 mph over short distances. Fallow deer can also make jumps up to 1.75 m high, the fallow deer is a Eurasian deer that was a native to most of Europe during the last interglacial. The fallow deer was introduced to the Victoria Island in the Province of Neuquén by billionaire Aaron Anchorena and he freed wildlife of European and Asian origin, making them common inhabitants of the island and competing for land and food with the native huemul and pudu deer. The fallow deer was spread across central Europe by the Romans, until recently, the Normans were thought to have introduced them to Great Britain for hunting in the royal forests
10.
Henry VIII of England
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Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII, Henry is best known for his six marriages and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. Despite his resulting excommunication, Henry remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, domestically, Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings to England. Besides asserting the supremacy over the Church of England, he greatly expanded royal power during his reign. Charges of treason and heresy were commonly used to quash dissent, and he achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich and his contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be an attractive, educated, and accomplished king, and he has been described as one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne. He was an author and composer, as he aged, Henry became severely obese and his health suffered, contributing to his death in 1547. He is frequently characterised in his life as a lustful, egotistical, harsh. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI, born 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of the young Henrys six siblings, only three – Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret, and Mary – survived infancy and he was baptised by Richard Fox, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, and was inducted into the Order of the Bath soon after. The day after the ceremony he was created Duke of York, in May 1495, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. Henry was given an education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French. Not much is known about his early life – save for his appointments – because he was not expected to become king, as Duke of York, Henry used the arms of his father as king, differenced by a label of three points ermine. In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15 of sweating sickness, Arthurs death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother, the 10-year-old Henry. After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1502, Henry VII gave the boy few tasks. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public, as a result, the young Henry would later ascend the throne untrained in the exacting art of kingship
11.
Teddington Lock
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Teddington Lock is a complex of three locks and a weir on the River Thames in England at Ham in south west London. The lock is on the side of the river. The river downstream of the lock, known as the Tideway, is tidal, though Teddington marks the tidal limit, in periods of very high fluvial flow the tidal influence can be seen as far upstream as East Molesey, location of the second lock on the Thames. The Teddington lock complex consists of three locks, a launch lock, a very large barge lock and a small skiff lock. The barge lock has a set of gates in the middle so it can operate in two sizes. The large bow shaped weir stretches across to Teddington from an island upstream of the lock which also acts as the point for the two bridges making up Teddington Lock Footbridge. Stephen Leach took over the post of Clerk of Works for the First District in 1802, just before his retirement, Truss has proposed locks at Molesey and Teddington, each having a weir with long tumbling bays, similar to modern practice. John Rennie had suggested a series of cuts in 1794. Rennie and William Jessop again proposed four long cuts in 1805, each about 1.5 miles long, zacchary Allnutt, by then Surveyor for the Second and Third Districts, stretching from Staines to Mapledurham, suggested locks at Chertsey, Sunbury and Teddington in 1805. Rennie submitted new proposals in 1809, with nine locks between Staines and Twickenham, two would be without weirs, while the other seven would require large weirs to be built in the river. An Act of Parliament was obtained by the City of London Corporation in June 1810, each would be 150 by 20 feet with the associated weir having ample capacity for flood conditions. Rennie, Leach and the Navigation Committee visited the sites in July, Leach then took charge of the work, which was undertaken by contractors Joseph Kimber and John Dows who also built Sunbury Lock. Work at Teddington started in September 1810, but there were delays caused by flooding in November and December, the lock was finished and opened in June 1811, but the weir was incomplete. The lock was further upstream than the present lock complex at the point where the footbridge now crosses and it comprised three pairs of gates as stipulated in the act. Total cost for lock, cut, weir, ballast and ground was £22,035 10s, 7 1⁄2d. of which the land from Lord Dysarts estate cost £282 10s. The lock was, at first, highly unpopular with the fishermen and bargemen. After attempts to smash it, the keeper was granted permission to keep a blunderbuss with bayonet attached thereto to ward off attacks on the lock. By 1827 the timber lock needed considerable repair and in 1829 the weir was destroyed by an accumulation of ice and it is noted that in 1843 the lock-keeper prevented a steam vessel from coming through the lock
12.
Royal Mews
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A Royal Mews is a mews of the British Royal Family. In London the Royal Mews has occupied two sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace. The site is open to the public much of the year. The first set of stables to be referred to as a mews was at Charing Cross at the end of The Strand. The royal hawks were kept at this site from 1377 and the name derives from the fact that they were confined there at moulting time, the building was destroyed by fire in 1534 and rebuilt as a stables, keeping its former name when it acquired this new function. On old maps, such as the Woodcut map of London of the early 1560s, the Mews can be seen extending back towards the site of todays Leicester Square. This building was known as the Kings Mews, but was also sometimes referred to as the Royal Mews. It was rebuilt again in 1732 to the designs of William Kent, the present Royal Mews is in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, to the south of Buckingham Palace Gardens, near Grosvenor Place. However, when his son George IV had Buckingham Palace converted into the royal residence in the 1820s the whole stables establishment was moved. The old Mews at Charing Cross was demolished and Trafalgar Square was built on the site, the current Royal Mews was built to designs by John Nash and were completed in 1825. The buildings have been modified extensively since, the Royal Mews is regularly open to the public. The state coaches and other carriages are kept there, along with about 30 horses, together with their modern counterparts, coachmen, grooms, chauffeurs and other staff are accommodated in flats above the carriage houses and stables. A few of the carriages stored at the Mews are pictured here in action, vehicles in the care of the Royal Mews are listed below. A good number are on display though not all are kept in London. Most are in use, and some are driven on a daily basis. Others are only used on great and rare State occasions, the horses in the Royal Mews today are for the most part either Windsor Greys or Cleveland Bays, though this has not always been the case. The horses are regularly exercised in the art of pulling carriages, they are used for competitive, the manure that is produced by the horses is used by the adjacent garden at Buckingham Palace. The maintenance and provision of modern motor vehicles is as much a part of the work of the Royal Mews as that of carriages and horses, the State and semi-state Cars are all painted in claret and black, the five State Cars are without number plates
