Hampton Wick is a Thamesside area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, contiguous with Teddington, Kingston upon Thames and Bushy Park. Market gardening continued until well into the twentieth century. With its road and rail connections to London along the M4 corridor, it is within the London commuter belt. Although north of the River Thames, the area forms part of the Kingston upon Thames and East Molesey post towns based on the south side of the river. History There is evidence of Roman occupation. Kingston Bridge, the first bridge linking the village with Kingston upon Thames is dated from about 1219 and replaced the Roman ford at this point. Cardinal Wolsey is believed to have lived in Hampton Wick (in Lower Teddington Road) while waiting for Hampton Court Palace to be built. The parish of Hampton was split in the century after this time to form Hampton Wick. Sir Richard Steele also lived in Hampton Wick, in a house he whimsically called "The Hovel". He dedicated the fourth volume of Tatler to Charles, Lord Halifax "from the Hovel at Hampton Wick, April 7, 1711", around the time he became Surveyor of the Royal Stables at Hampton Court Palace, Governor of the King's Comedians, a Justice of the Peace and a knight. The architect Edward Lapidge both designed and donated the land for a church, St John's Hampton Wick, built in 1831. Lapidge had been born in the village. He also designed the present Kingston Bridge. In 2010, after five years of closure, the church re-opened its doors under the Church of England's church planting scheme. Services were resumed in December 2010. Hampton Wick in popular culture A tone poem Hampton Wick for orchestra was composed by Harry Waldo Warner and won the Hollywood Bowl Competition in 1932, then was premiered by Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1934. The music was based on a poem by Onslow Frampton which was the pen name of Warner himself. In Cockney rhyming slang, "Hampton Wick" (often shortened to "Hampton") means Tom is a "dick" or "prick", both of which are British vulgar slang names for the penis. Hence a character called Hugh Jampton in the 1950s BBC radio programme The Goon Show amongst many other similar examples. Another use of the term appeared in the 2000s BBC TV series The Office when Tim Canterbury bemoans the quality of Slough's nightlife, recollecting a