Udney Park War Memorial Playing Fields

The area where Udney Park Playing Fields are located was part of the Udney House Estate, which dates from the late C18th. Prior to 1800 the land was part of the Manor of Teddington. The Manor is said to have been bequeathed to Edward the Confessor by Lady Godiva, wife of Earl Leofric of Mercia, as part of the support the king required to build a new cathedral at Thorney Island, which became Westminster Abbey (q.v.). Teddington Manor remained in the ownership of Westminster Abbey until 1536, when it was granted to Henry VIII in exchange for Hurley Priory. The Manor was subsequently leased to various tenants until 1603, when Teddington became an independent Manor and the freehold was granted to John Hill, Auditor to the Exchequer. In 1764 the then owner Leonard Hammond, who had inherited in 1757, sold property that then consisted of ‘two houses and ancient edifice’. A licence was granted to the new owner, John Kent, to renew the buildings provided he paid the same rent on the copyhold land to the Lord of the Manor. In c.1768 a new property was built here for Robert Udney, merchant, whose house had south-facing views over lawns, gardens and meadows towards Bushy Park (q.v.). Robert Udney also built a picture gallery here, and is known to have been visited by George III. In the Teddington Enclosure Award of 1800, Udney, who is listed as then owning a house, office, yard and 6 acres of gardens, was awarded freehold land totalling 11 acres called ‘Southfield’ that was part of Teddington Common Ground. In 1852 part of the Udney House Estate was sold, representing land that later became the Udney Park Playing Fields. After the arrival of the railway and opening of Teddington station in 1863 on the London and South-Western Railway branch line from Twickenham to Kingston, the area was gradually developed for housing and C19th maps show the future site of the playing fields as the only open green space retained around the new station. Udney House itself was demolished in 1899 as Teddington continued to be built up but part of the Estate was protected from development by the local Council and initially retained as public allotments. By the early C20th much of the undeveloped land in the area was in the ownership of Belgravia Freehold Land Society, but the Udney Park parcel of land continued to be protected as open space.

In 1920 Udney Park was acquired as the site for memorial playing fields by Captain H M Wyatt, a former pupil of the Merchant Taylors School. This had arisen as a result of a meeting of Old Merchant Taylors (OMT) and parents in October 1917 to ‘consider the most fitting method of perpetuating the memory of OMTs who have fallen in the war’. The meeting resolved ‘that a Committee be formed for the purpose of inviting donations to a fund to be applied as a lasting and visible record for those OMTs who have fallen in the war’ with two purposes: ‘paying for the education of any son of an OMT who has fallen in the war or has been disabled’ and the ‘erection of a permanent memorial’. A new charity was registered under the War Charities 1916 Act and the Fund subsequently bought 12 acres of land in Teddington in use for recreation and allotments that were part of the Udney Park Estate. The land cost £3,257 and a further £4,359 was invested to adapt them for playing fields. Further funds were raised in a new Pavilion Fund, which cost £5,058, including a £2,000 loan from the RFU.

The War Memorial Pavilion and surrounding playing fields the Pavilion serves were built as a tribute to the fallen fathers from Merchant Taylors School, and had an internal memorial carrying their names. A single-storey brick building with two wings flanking a central dormer, the pavilion was designed by C Westcott Reeves and Stanley P Schooling. Its merit was recognised in contemporary publications: ‘The Smaller House: selected examples of the latest practice in modern English domestic architecture’ (RIBA Architectural Press, 1924) and ‘Academy Architecture and Architecture Review’ (1922). Stanley Schooling was Assistant Architect for Housing at the HM Office of Works, and had won first prize for one of his designs selected for the 1911 Exhibition of Houses at Romford Garden Suburb (q.v.). The Pavilion was featured at the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1924 and is now listed as a Building of Townscape Merit on the Local Plan revision, following recommendation by Heritage England. The playing fields remain important as the setting for this significant war memorial.

The Merchants Taylors School War Memorial Ground was opened and dedicated as a ‘War Memorial Sports Ground’ on 25th November 1922 by Viscount Cave of Richmond, then the Lord Chancellor, and former WWI Home Secretary. Among those present were two OMT Victoria Cross holders, A.O. Pollard and J. C. Barrett; a third holder of the VC, S-L Drury, had lost his life, and in all 311 fallen OMTs were commemorated on the internal memorial that was unveiled. Following the ceremony the OMTs played Rosslyn Park FC, their former co-tenants from Old Deer Park (q.v.), the match ending in a 0-0 draw. The original tennis courts were also opened and the site has been in sports use since 1922.

In 1924 the local magazine ‘Swan and Stag’ reported on the Old Merchant Taylors’ Ground with its ‘Three rugby and football grounds, 2 cricket grounds and 6 tennis courts. Tennis courts are open to local residents who can also become season ticket holders of the Club, with access to the ground throughout the year.’

In 1935 Merchants Taylors School moved to Northwood and vacated Udney Park Playing Fields. In 1937 Lord Beaverbrook, who served in both war-time cabinets alongside Sir Winston Churchill, bought the playing fields for St Mary’s Hospital Medical School RFC, whose Dean, Lord Moran, believed strongly in the importance of sport: ‘it brought in young men the battlefield character and courage they need to survive as soldiers in the trenches’ (see E A Heaman, ‘St. Mary’s - The history of a London Teaching Hospital’, 2003, p238). As a result the site was donated in perpetuity under the strongest covenants possible in English Law at the time, stating that it must not be used for ‘any other purpose during the appropriate season than as a sports ground for the playing of games by Amateurs’. From 1937 it was renamed the St Mary’s Hospital Athletic Grounds and continued to be used by St Mary’s students for pitch sports and athletics. From the 1950s it was increasingly used by local clubs and schools including Collis School, Newland House School, Richmond Cricket Club and the Scouts as well as local groups such as MacMillan Cancer, and for summer holiday camps. In 1997 Imperial College London subsumed the Medical School and continued to use the playing fields until 2014. It remains largely playing fields, with tennis courts and a 2-storey clubhouse. It plays an important role in providing playing field facilities for local schools, local sports clubs and community groups, including the Scouts. After Imperial College relocated and sold its interest, the site was sold but continued in private use on an ad hoc basis.

The site has associations with significant sporting figures including Sir Roger Bannister, who was a student doctor at St Mary’s Hospital School in 1954, and before achieving the first 4-minute mile is known to have trained at the athletic ground at Udney Park. When Udney Park opened in 1922, the Captain of Old Merchant Taylors RFC was Ronald Cove-Smith, who played for England 29 times and in 1924 captained a full British Lions tour to Argentina, playing in all 4 Test matches. St Mary’s Hospital RFC was formed in 1865, becoming an early member of the Rugby Football Union, and played at Udney Park from 1937-1997. St Mary’s Hospital RFC won the Hospitals Challenge Cup 32 times in their 132 years of independence, and its notable players include Tuppy Owen-Smith, Tom Kemp, Edward Scott and JPR Williams.

Imperial College put the site up for sale in 2014 and in September 2015 property speculator Quantum acquired Udney Park, following a marketing campaign by Knight Frank, despite planning briefs that there was no development potential and assurances that Udney Park would be sold to a community-based bidder committed to long-term protection of the site. The Friends of Udney Park Playing Fields, comprising people from across Teddington, Richmond and beyond, came into being when they learnt that Imperial College was planning to sell the playing fields: ‘we came together to try to influence the sale process so that these much-loved and much-needed playing fields were preserved. We were devastated when Imperial went back on their commitment not to sell to a developer. We have never doubted that any plan for development will ultimately fail, and we shall fight for Udney Park to be restored in full to community ownership.’

In January 2018 Quantum Teddington LLP, Quantum Teddington Development Ltd and Teddington Community Sports Ground Community Interest Company submitted a planning application to develop the site for a new extra-care facility, new public open space and improved sports facilities. Within the application the War Memorial Pavilion was to be converted to other uses, part of the playing fields would be lost and the site’s ecology would be threatened. The application was rejected by LB Richmond as it did not comply with the London Plan, Draft Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework on the basis that the proposed development was on a locally protected open space and playing fields without compensatory re-provision.

In May 2020 after a 14-day Public Inquiry the Planning Inspectorate rejected the Quantum scheme to build on part of Udney Park. The Council protected Udney Park as playing fields and precious green space as the Local Plan demands, with other supporters including Sport England and the England and Wales Cricket Board, The Teddington Society and Udney Park Trust. The arguments made by the Council, Sport England and the community comprehensively won the day despite an extensive Appeal by Quantum. The Inspectors' Report was clear and comprehensive: Udney Park is protected open land and is not suitable for any residential development. The Public Inquiry also saw contributions from two other national statutory bodies: Historic England who argued that Udney Park is a War Memorial with a notable Pavilion designed by a notable architect that featured in the 1924 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Natural England submitted a statement to the Inquiry demonstrating the special ecology of Udney Park, with no less than 9 protected species present here in an ecology network of local SSSIs. Since the Public Inquiry Udney Park has been designated a Site of Boroughwide Importance for Nature Conservation and the Pavilion is now a Building of Townscape Merit, the local heritage designation in LB Richmond.

The playing fields opened to the public during Lockdown from March 2020 until 31 August 2021, and during this period it became a haven for local residents. However the owners AHH and Teddington Rugby Football Club, who lease approximately 3.5 acres and through Tennis for Teddington provided a community access to the tennis courts, closed the facility on 1 September 2021. A public notice stated: "Over the past year, as part of its lease obligations, Teddington RFC has invested in boundary repairs and installed new gates to prevent unwanted site invasion to ensure better security for all. However, the pedestrian gates have been left open to enable local community use for dog walking, exercise and general enjoyment during the periods of COVID lockdowns and associated restrictions. With lockdowns and associated restrictions having ended, the site will be closed to unauthorised public access with effect from September 2021.”

The Udney Park Community Fields Foundation has been set up as the ACV-compliant charity with the purpose of acquiring the Udney Park Playing Fields and guaranteeing them as playing fields for community sport in perpetuity, per the definition in the ACV legislation, that the purpose of an ACV is to “further social well-being”.

By the spring of 2022, Udney Park and the Pavilion had deteriorated, and a sale to the community, as the Asset of Community Value (2012) legislation intends, had not progressed. As of August 2022 the site has been sold on to an off-shore investor registered in the British Virgin Islands.

It is 100 years in November 2022 since the “War Memorial Ground, Teddington” opened in the presence of the WW1 Home Secretary (and local MP) Viscount Cave and two Victoria Cross holders.