Park Lane 22, "The Old Cottage"
Road: Park Lane, Teddington
Property: 22, "The Old Cottage"
The following information comes from 'The Houses in Teddington 1800 to 2000 AD' by Paddy Ching and Members of the Teddington Society History Research Group published in Dec 1999 and from the previous owners.
It is not known when the house was built but it was certainly standing in 1766 when William Cook, a carpenter, mortgaged his "messuage or tenement with yard, garden, outhouses, buildings and appurtenances" for £80. He died the following year and satisfaction of the mortgage was by his son Richard and his wife Ann. They continued living in the house until 1795 when they sold the property in 1795 to Thomas Stevens, a miller of Kingston. In the Enclosure Award the property was described as a house and garden. The house was sold in 1857 by the then owner for £150 to John Bowyer, a corn merchant of Twickenham. By 1868 the house was occupied by Thomas Ellum Jnr and the premises were used as a beer shop which was known as The Prince of Wales. Documents indicate Isleworth Brewery took an interest in 1892 and it continued as a beerhouse until the Great War started in 1914 when it reverted back to a private dwelling. It is not known when the name The Old Cottage was first used.
Richardson & Martin, latter day estate agents of no. 21 High Street, advertised the house in 1938 for £850 - "situated within 3 minutes walk of Teddington Station - whence Waterloo may be reached by Southern Electric in thirty two minutes" - it takes as long today! The house was bought by John and Mary Holmes. John worked as a sub-editor for the Daily Telegraph and Mary as a local art teacher at St Catherines School. Mrs Holmes continued to live in the cottage until 2000 when she was 99.
Structure
The original cottage consisted of 2 rooms upstairs and downstairs made from a light timber frame structure with weather boarding and was likely thatched. Several of the structural timbers show signs of preuse suggesting they had been salvaged. Early improvements (or repairs) saw many of the walls replaced by Georgian brick and a tile roof added. Extensions to the back and the side of the cottage over the years have provided a kitchen and extra bedrooms but the cottage has retained many old if not original windows, doors and other features. Practically all rooms still have a fireplace and some of the original weatherboarding has been preserved internally.
This house is dominated by a very large Horse Chestnut tree in the front garden (2013).
This page is part of the Directory of Buildings of Townscape Merit (BTMs) and Listed Buildings in Teddington assembled by the Planning and History Groups of The Teddington Society. Click on any photo for a higher resolution version. Copyright for the material on this page rests with the contributor.