Ham Lands Local Nature Reserve

Ham Lands is a 72-hectare (180-acre) Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation in Ham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The area is very popular with walkers, nature lovers, and horse-riders. There is an unofficial (non Council) off-road BMX track near Teddington Lock. The site is a large area of grassland and scrub bordering the River Thames. The other boundary is mostly formed by Riverside Drive. The area is divided into two sections by the lagoon and Thames Young Mariners. The land belonged to the Earl of Dysart until the nineteenth century. In 1904 it was leased by the Ham River Grit Co. Ltd for excavation of sand and ballast. They constructed a wharf and processing plant where barges loaded. A canal was constructed through the towpath in the 1920s to create an internal loading lagoon, now the Thames Young Mariners. The gravel pits were then backfilled with soil from different areas of

Location

Richmond upon Thames