Hampton is a suburban area with an old village heart on the north bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in England. The population is between 19,000 and 20,000, excluding the fluctuating ward encasing its near neighbour Hampton Hill which also has a high street.[n 1] Hampton includes the park-facing main streets and mews buildings of Hampton Court which strictly denotes its central manor which became rebuilt and reconfigured as a Royal Palace and adopts its broad informal sense from a plain road sign 500m west erected after World War II to direct tourists. Hampton is served by two railway stations, excluding one north of Hampton Hill, including one immediately south of Hampton Court Bridge in East Molesey.