Map - Hampton, London (Hampton)

Hampton is a suburban area on the north bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, and historically in the County of Middlesex. which includes Hampton Court Palace. Hampton is served by two railway stations, including one immediately south of Hampton Court Bridge in East Molesey.

Hampton adjoins Bushy Park on two sides and is west of Hampton Wick and Kingston upon Thames. There are long strips of public riverside in Hampton and the Hampton Heated Open Air Pool is one of the few such swimming pools in Greater London. The riverside, on the reach above Molesey Lock, has residential islands, a park named St Albans Riverside and grand or decorative buildings including Garrick's House and the Temple to Shakespeare; also on the river is the Astoria Houseboat recording studio. Hampton Ferry provides access across the Thames to the main park of Molesey and the Thames Path National Trail. The Thames Water Hampton Water Treatment Works covers a large expanse of the town in the south west along the river Thames. The site is one of the largest capacity water treatment facilities in Europe producing one-third of London's daily drinking water supply (approximately 650Ml/d).

The most common type of housing in the north of the district is terraced homes; in the south is it semi-detached. At the western edge of London, many workers commute to adjacent counties, or to Central London; education, health and social work, retail, transport and catering businesses are also significant local employers.

The Anglo-Saxon parish of Hampton converted to secular use in the 19th century included present-day Hampton, Hampton Hill, Hampton Wick and hamlet of Hampton Court surrounding Hampton Court Palace which together are called The Hamptons. The combined population of the Hamptons was 37,131 at the 2001 census. The name Hampton may come from the Anglo-Saxon words hamm meaning an enclosure in the bend of a river and ton meaning farmstead or settlement.

The ten years to 1911 saw the highest percentage of population increase, the figures for 1851, 1871 and every 10 years to 1911 being: 3,134; 3,915; 4,776; 5,822, 6,813 and 9,220 respectively. A further 25% rise took place in the 1920s. In his national gazetteer written between 1870 and 1872, John Marius Wilson described Hampton Wick as being technically a hamlet; the real property of which was worth almost as much as the main settlement. He furthered that the total area was 3190 acres and the exact respective figures were £14,445 excluding Hampton Wick, of which £300 was in gas works; inclusive of Hampton-Wick: £25,037,. Both halves had developed Urban Sanitary Districts recorded in the 1891 census Hampton and Hampton Wick were Urban Districts from 1894 to 1937, preceding the creation of the Borough of Twickenham, which Hampton joined.

At the edge of London, from time immemorial (before the Norman Conquest) until 1965 Hampton was in Middlesex, a former postal county also and this designation is still common in this part of the former county among residents and businesses.

Tagg's Island and much of Hampton's riverside by association became known as Thames Riviera from the 1920s: the island was leased to Fred Karno, an entertainment impresario, who opened an elevated, three-storey rambling mansard roof hotel, the Karsino in 1913, which was demolished in 1971. World War I impacted the business, which rebranded as The Thames Riviera, rivalling the hotel in Maidenhead for the name, followed by The Palm Beach and The Casino. The Riviera aspect is sometimes described in literature by the Council however is controversial among dissenters to the land use, almost wholly private housing, where Hampton's riverside is not open parkland – it is no longer endorsed by London's bus operator with a stop of that name, in the 2010s named after instead a long public meadow known as St Albans Riverside.