Life in the sleepy Surrey village where families love it so much they want to buy back their old homes

Famed for its affinity with blockbusting Hollywood movies and celebrity sightings, Shepperton is a vibrant community just 57 minutes away from London Waterloo. Surrounded by water, Shepperton is cut off from its neighbouring village Littleton by the M3 and the River Ash to the north, and separated from Weybridge by the River Thames.

The rural oasis boasts a busy high street with amenities like coffee shops, grocery stores, a post office and boutique shops, and places to eat. So alluring is Shepperton's appeal that families who once called it home often find themselves longing to return.

SurreyLive spoke to five residents to find out what life is like in the quintessential village. The sought-after village has a draw and everyone seems to agree there's something special about it.

Highly sought after, those living in Old Shepperton told SurreyLive they either waited almost a decade to purchase their dream home, or have even moved back into the same house because they loved it so much.

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'My family loved living here so much, they bought back their old home'

Perfect for those who don’t want to be more than an hour away from London but crave peace and quiet, people living there truly have struck gold. It’s got a picture-perfect square, with a stunning churchyard with roses and poppies, and a 17th-century church, two hotels and a pub.

There’s a catch, however, because one hotel and the pub are closed, making the once busy part of the village now rather sleepy. Despite the silent feel of this part of the village, it still has a vibrant community, and plenty going for it.

Charles Boyce’s family moved from their family home to the other side of Shepperton when he was around eight years old, and a few years later returned to the exact same house. Charles, 30, said: “It’s the first house I have proper childhood memories in, and something I really like is the stuck-in-time and old English feel here, it’s nice and quiet.”

With The Anchor hotel shut, and the Kings Head pub, Charles thinks Old Shepperton would be the perfect place to set up a boutique hotel, similar to The Pig in the New Forest. “It’s a prime location, and we’re not far from the M25 and London,” Charles added.

Flooding in Shepperton is a concern for the family, with their garden becoming inundated with water during winter. Talks are taking place about how to mitigate the flood risk in Shepperton, but so far no action has been taken.

'We waited eight years for our dream house, and have lived here for 28 years'

Meanwhile, Bill and Jane Boyle were so in love with a particular house in Shepperton, they waited eight years to purchase it. The couple had their eye on their current home, where they have lived for 28 years, but during the first purchase the sale fell through.

The couple waited eight years, before snapping up the gorgeous property with an incredible garden. Before retiring, the couple worked for BP in Sunbury as chemists, which is where they first met.

Bill says he can’t nip up to the high street to grab something from the grocery store without bumping into someone he knows from Shepperton. He said: “I like the fact that everything is conveniently placed, with access to larger towns like London. There’s a number of good pubs, the Red Lion is our favourite, and restaurants including Indian, Thai and Itallian.

“There were two restaurants in the village, Bluebeckers and Edwins, which were eventually sold off and became houses. We miss having restaurants on our doorstep, the pub and hotel could come back to life under new management.”

Now retired, the couple are heavily involved with the local community and Rotary Club. Before retiring, it would take Bill 15 minutes to nip up to the local high street shops, but now he says it takes double the time because of all the people he happens to say hello to along the way.

'Beautiful scenery and quiet roads'

Looking for a quiet countryside life after living and working in London, Nicholas de Mattos, a former teacher in central London, and his wife decided to hunt for somewhere in Surrey four years ago. After growing frustrated with the traffic levels in the likes of Guildford, Godalming and Ripley, the couple discovered Old Shepperton.

Nicholas said: “We moved here four years ago, but when we were looking we weren’t happy with the traffic in other towns, like in Chobham where my son lives. Old Shepperton has beautiful scenery and a vibrant residents association.”

Given the great location of Shepperton, the couple can still easily shop in Richmond, and have the high street nearby for incidentals. Their cottage, built in 1794, is opposite The Anchor hotel, Nicholas said: “It’s been shut since the pandemic. We’re in two minds about it because while it’s been shut the street has been very quiet. But the building is starting to look dilapidated.”

'I wish I had raised my family here'

Dee Edgar has lived in the village for around a decade, after moving gradually further into Surrey over the years from Kingston. Dee and her family moved to Thames Ditton, where they had a cottage overlooking the cricket green, but then discovered Shepperton and were sold.

“I remember when I first came to Shepperton, I thought: ‘I wish I had raised my children here.’ Most people have been here their whole lives, they don’t move away,” Dee said, adding that there is a lovely community, with a summer fair in beginning of June that has been going for 50 years.

Dee’s chocolate box cottage date back to the 1700s, and was where the ferryman lived, due to its proximity to the Thames. The front facade of the home is Victorian, and from inside there are gorgeous views of the church’s stained glass windows.

Owning a property with such a rich history, Dee says she feels a sense of responsibility to look after the home, saying: “I feel I am looking after it, I don’t own it really in a sense where I feel responsible for looking after the house as best I can for the next generation.”

The square has undergone several changes over the years, with closures of restaurants and hotels. Dee’s home is roughly a 15-minute walk from the High Street but would like to have somewhere to go on the doorstep.

'I feel proud to own this house'

Throughout the village, it is clear most homeowners take pleasure in owning a piece of history, with grade-two listed properties dotted throughout. Jim Merton feels proud to own one of the oldest properties in the village, parts of the home dating back to 1590.

Jim and his family got lucky during the middle of the pandemic, and snapped up the home where he lives with his wife and six-year-old son, moving out of Deptford. He said: “Deptford is about as built up as you can get, we were looking in the northwest Surrey area with nice green spaces.”

“We were very pleased, we wanted this particular house, it had been on the market for a while,” Jim said, adding, “It’s just about commutable and it’s got a lot going for it and we’ve got two good primary schools nearby.”

When purchasing the home, Jim was surprised at how long it had been on the market, saying: “It seems people don’t tend to want old houses, because they can’t do too much to it if it’s listed. We love it, and found a well in the garden and indoors the house has got some really old beams.”

The home originally was three agricultural cottages, and the inhabitants were rumoured to be living in squalor until the 1960s. A developer transformed it into a detached family home, retaining key features inside.

Properties in Shepperton fetched an average price of £586,936 in the last year. Detached properties sold for around £929,873, according to Rightmove, and semi-detached properties brought in around £621,891.

Mansions overlooking the water with sprawling gardens can set a buyer back around £2,750,000, some homes even come with their own mooring and little jetty's overlooking the water. Flats on the other hand range from around £200,000 roughly for a basic one bedroom living space, to £460,000 for a luxury apartment overlooking the river.

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