Living in Shepperton: area guide to homes, schools and transport links

The riverside village of Shepperton is known the world over as the home of Shepperton Studios, a major employer in the area, where some of our best-loved films were made including Love Actually, Bend It Like Beckham and Atonement.

This autumn the studios will be able to say it played its part in the making of the latest Marvel Comics blockbuster, Dr Strange, with a stellar cast including Benedict Cumberbatch as the eponymous superhero.

Sliced in half by the M3 motorway, Shepperton sits in that south-west London watery landscape that combines the River Thames, canals, reservoirs and former gravel pits.

One of the prettiest spots is around Shepperton Lock, where on a sunny afternoon, tea can be had at a little kiosk and visitors can pass a peaceful few hours watching the boats come and go.

Three of Shepperton’s four conservation areas seek to protect its ancient village locations, including Church Square, which the architectural writer Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described as “one of the most perfect pictures that the area has to offer”.
 

Estate agent Owen Miles, a partner in Curchods, says Shepperton, in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne, is a relaxed riverside village with a strong and vibrant community spirit, complemented by good schools, restaurants and pubs.

Most of his buyers come from within a five-mile radius of the area, and there is a definite migration from outer south-west London spots including Whitton, Hampton, Feltham, Hounslow and Twickenham. Shepperton is also a popular retirement spot.

Pinning Shepperton to the map, it is 18 miles from central London on the north or Middlesex side of the river with Ashford to the north, Sunbury-on-Thames and Walton-on-Thames to the east, and Chertsey to the west.

What's new?
The Landings in Russell Road overlooking the Thames involves the redevelopment of the former Harrisons Hotel into seven flats and three refurbished cottages. 
 

All are nearly move-in ready, with prices from £450,000 for a two-bedroom flat and £625,000 for a three-bedroom cottage. Call Hamptons on 01372 390 558.

Pinewood Mews in Laleham Road is the conversion of a chalet-type house into six flats with prices from £230,000 for a one-bedroom home and £300,00 for a two-bedroom flat. Through Seymours (01483 755222).

In nearby Sunbury-on-Thames, the former Chubb office building in Staines Road West is being converted into The View, offering 80 one- and two-bedroom apartments with prices starting at £245,000 for the one-bedroom homes and £295,000 for the two-bedroom flats. 
 

A 20 per cent equity loan is available under the Government’s Help to Buy scheme and the first occupiers are due to move in later this month.

Through Chancellors and Savills — call 01932 941 445.

Renting
Employment opportunities at Heathrow and Stockley Park have led to strong demand for Shepperton rental homes, and the average yield for landlords is about 4.5 per cent.
 

Staying power
Estate agent Owen Miles, a partner in Curchods, says most of his buyers are local and many families have lived in Shepperton for several generations.
 

Postcode
TW17 is the Shepperton postcode.
 

Best roads
Anywhere near Church Square. Other favoured roads are Broadlands Avenue and Lindsay Drive, where there are large Twenties and Thirties detached houses and semis. Also popular are any locations with a river view. 
 

Up and coming
Shepperton’s fourth conservation area recognises a unique collection of 80 modern houses built at the beginning of the Sixties in Manygate Lane by the Lyon Group and designed by Swiss architect Edward Schoolheifer. 
 

The first two phases, with their white cladding and open-plan living rooms, were built around communal gardens and were so striking that they attracted the singer Tom Jones, who became one of the first residents.

Travel
Shepperton is near junctions 11 and 12 of the M25 and junction 2 of the M3. 
 

Trains from Shepperton station to Waterloo take 55 minutes, and a few minutes less from Upper Halliford station.

A ferry from Shepperton to Weybridge for foot passengers and cyclists leaves every 15 minutes, from 8am on weekdays, 9am on Saturdays and 10am on Sundays, finishing at 5.30pm.

Council
Spelthorne borough council is Conservative-controlled, and Band D council tax for the 2016/2017 year is £1,675.91

Shops and restaurants
Shepperton Village High Street, with its shops festooned with Union Flags has a sleepy, stuck-in-a-timewarp feel. 
 

There are branches of the Co-op, Budgens and M&S, two butchers — Daines & Gray and James of Shepperton — and two fruit and vegetable shops. The former Barclays Bank building, currently boarded up, is soon to be converted into shops with flats above.

In the old village around Church Square are Shepperton Wine Bar & Grill, The King’s Head pub, and the Warren Lodge Hotel and Anchor Hotel. Each of the hotels has its own restaurant and both are in the same ownership.

There are two popular riverside pubs: in Russell Road, the Red Lion specialises in seafood and on the Towpath, The Thames Court has a large terrace overlooking the river.

Open space
Shepperton is on the Thames long-distance walking and cycling path and there is an open water swimming centre much loved by triathletes on Ferris Meadow Lake. Desborough Sailing Club is in Ferry Lane and there is canoeing and kayaking at Shepperton Marina.  
 

The annual Shepperton Fair is held on the second Saturday in June in Manor Park and features the famous Nauticalia Raft Race with teams of colourful home-made rafts competing on a mile-long course.

Leisure and the arts
Pinewood Cinema in The Korda Theatre at Shepperton Studios holds public screenings at the weekend. 
 

Sunbury Golf Course has 18-hole and nine-hole courses in Charlton Lane, Shepperton.

The nearest council-owned swimming pool is at Sunbury Leisure Centre in Nursery Road.

Primary school
All of Shepperton’s state schools are judged “good” by the Ofsted government education watchdog. Littleton Infants CofE (ages four to seven) is in Rectory Close; St Nicholas CofE is in Manor Farm Avenue, and Saxon is in Briar Road.

Comprehensive
Comprehensive schools are: Thamesmead (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Manygate Lane; and in Sunbury, The Bishop Wand CofE (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Layton’s Lane; Sunbury Manor (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Nursery Road, and St Paul’s Catholic College (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Manor Lane.
 

High education
In nearby Weybridge there is Heathside (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Brooklands Lane. Brooklands College (co-ed, 16-plus) in Heath Road, Weybridge, is the local further education college.

Private
The private schools are: Halliford (boys ages 11 to 18 with girls in the sixth form) in Russell Road; St George’s (co-ed, ages three to 18), an all-through school in Weybridge; Danesfield Manor School (co-ed, ages two to 11) in Rydens Avenue in nearby Walton-on-Thames; and Sir William Perkins’s (girls, ages 11 to 18) in Guildford Road, in nearby Chertsey.