History of the Estate

With the estate Management Company having now completed its 50 years of existence (as of 2019), we thought it would be interesting to trace back some of the past history of the part of Teddington in which Harrowdene Gardens is situated.

Over 100 years ago Teddington remained a small village west of London. There were only a few houses in Park Road. In 1863 the railway line was completed to link Kingston with Twickenham and the track was laid across the former site of the village pond which lay to the Twickenham side of the present Railway Bridge in Broad Street. At that time the present site of Harrowdene Gardens was either open fields or common land.

A right of way existed linking the High Street with Bushy Park, and to maintain this path the railway authorities had to erect and maintain a footbridge over the track. This bridge remains today in Railway Passage. Not surprisingly, the coming of the railway led to increased development in Teddington, and a large number of houses were built in the period from 1870 to 1910. The site where Harrowdene Gardens would eventually be built, however, remained much as it was, although maps in 1934 indicates that there was a pond on part of the site, and older residents of Teddington remember it being a useful fishing ground!

During the Second World War surplus land alongside railway tracks was often used as sidings. It is understood that it was initially used for the dumping of rubble brought from the bomb damaged parts of East London.

Later American Forces were encamped in part of Bushy Park, forming Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces, and part of the overall planning for the Normandy Landings.

Rumour has it that General Eisenhower kept a private railway coach on one of the sidings, which then lay on the site. A small plaque can be found in Bushy Park marking the site of the former military camp.


The first building development on the site was the maisonettes in Shaef Way - the road being named from the initials of the former military base. In the late 1960s the rest of the site was purchased by Wates Built Homes Ltd, who constructed the present Harrowdene Gardens development. The highly successful design by Mr Andreas Zevgopoulos won a civic commendation in 1970.


Lincoln Grange was built slightly later hence the odd numbering for this estate.

And finally if you would like to know more about the history of our local area we can recommend the following books: