Built / Designed For: John and Anne Crofts

House & Family History: The house at Teddington was built for John Crofts, circa 1665. It later came into the ownership of the 5th Marquess of Winchester, who sold the estate in 1683 to Sir Charles Duncombe. Duncombe altered the house, which he named Teddington Place, installing Grinling Gibbons paneling and ceilings painted by Verrio. He extended his estate in 1683 by buying three more properties, to which he added seven further acres in 1689. In 1701 Duncombe added a further 32 acres to the Teddington Estate (some parcels of this land lay across the parish boundary with Twickenham and later came into the ownership of Horace Walpole when he was assembling his Strawberry Hill estate between 1749 and 1790). Sir Charles Duncombe was a noted English banker and politician who began his career as an apprentice to the London goldsmith Edward Backwell and later became a member of the Goldsmiths' Company. Duncombe founded a goldsmith's business under the sign of the grasshopper in Lombard Street, London. Under both Charles II and James II Duncombe was receiver of customs and made a fortune in banking (Duncombe's bank later became Martin's Bank, which merged with Barclays Bank in 1969). In 1685 he was elected to Parliament as the Tory member for Hedon; Sir Charles was later one of the representatives of Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight, and of Downton in Wiltshire. Duncombe is possibly best remembered to history for his vehement opposition, together with his banker colleagues Francis Child and Richard Hoare, of the establishment of the Bank of England, which they viewed as a potential competitor. Sir Charles died in 1711, intestate and unmarried; he was buried at Downton in Wiltshire (he was survived by his mother, who died 1716 at the age of 97 and was buried at Teddington). After Duncombe's death Teddington passed into the hands of his nephew, Anthony (1695-1763), later 1st Lord Feversham. In 1800 the Teddington common fields were enclosed, and in the late 19th century the house was given the name of Udney Hall, standing in what is today Udney Park Gardens, adjacent to St. Alban's Church. The house was demolished in 1946.

House Listed: Demolished

Park Listed: Not Listed

Past Seat / Home of: John Crofts, 17th century. John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester, until 1683. Sir Charles Duncombe, 1683-1711; Anthony Duncombe, 1st Baron Feversham, 1711-63.

Current Ownership Type: Demolished

Primary Current Ownership Use: Demolished

House Open to Public: No

Historic Houses Member: No