Clocktower Cars runs licensed taxis, minicabs and private hire cars across East Molesey and the whole of KT8. Our nearest office is in Kingston — 2.4 miles from Bridge Road and about seven minutes away — which makes this one of the quickest villages we cover to get a car to. Call 0203 388 9999 or book online.
Written out rather than hidden behind a button, because people search for the digits. 0203 388 9999 reaches our Kingston office at 39A Walter Street, a few minutes over the bridge.
Molesey is a suburban neighbourhood made up of two large villages — East Molesey and West Molesey — in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, on the south bank of the River Thames and within the Greater London Built-up Area. It divides into three wards: Molesey South, East and West. The postcode district is KT8.
Worth one line, because it catches people out. This is East Molesey in Surrey — not Moseley in Birmingham, and not Mossley in Greater Manchester. We do not operate in either of those. If you want a car in KT8, beside Hampton Court Bridge, you are in the right place.
Four words, one service. In law a taxi, or hackney carriage, can be hailed in the street or taken from a rank; a minicab or private hire car must be booked through a licensed operator first. Clocktower Cars is a private hire operator, so every East Molesey job is a booking — a named driver, a known car and a price agreed before you travel. More in our guide to minicabs versus black cabs.
This catches visitors out every single week, so it is worth stating plainly. Hampton Court station stands on the Molesey side of the river. The palace it is named after is on the other bank, in Richmond upon Thames. Get off the train and you are in East Molesey; the palace is over the bridge.
The station is the terminus of its branch, sits in Transport for London’s Zone 6, and runs to London Waterloo in around thirty-five minutes.
It is a terminus, which means everyone gets off at once and the forecourt fills in about ninety seconds. A pre-booked car with a named driver is worth far more here than at a through station — tell the office your train and we will be waiting when the doors open rather than joining the scramble.
Engineering weekends hit a single-branch terminus harder than a main line. The fallbacks from East Molesey are Kingston, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) east of Bridge Road, and Walton-on-Thames, 2.3 miles (3.7 km) west-south-west — both short cab rides, both on better-served lines. Surbiton, a little further, carries the fast Waterloo trains.
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace across the Thames in Richmond upon Thames. Building began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, and it passed to Henry VIII in 1529. The bridge that links it to East Molesey has been there in one form or another since 1752 and 1753 — before that, people crossed by ferry and by the island upstream.
Everything from East Molesey heading north crosses it, and so does a good share of the traffic heading for the palace, the park and the river. On a flower show weekend, a bank holiday or any warm Sunday, the approach roads fill and the whole of KT8 slows behind them.
Two practical consequences. First, a car that sets you down at the gates beats twenty minutes of circling for a space. Second, book the car home before you go in, not when you come out — everyone leaves at the same time, and that is the hour when cars are hardest to find anywhere in the village.
A booked car from Heathrow or Gatwick straight to a hotel or a rental in East Molesey is a simpler arrival than a train and a walk with cases, particularly on a late landing. Give us the flight number and we will track the inbound — see meet and greet.
Heathrow is close and Gatwick is not, and the clock does not agree with the map.
| From Molesey to | Route | Distance | Typical drive | Average speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | A308 | 9.0 miles | about 24 minutes | about 23 mph |
| Heathrow | Walton Road / B369 | 10.1 miles | about 26 minutes | about 23 mph |
| Heathrow | A312 | 9.0 miles | about 27 minutes | about 20 mph |
| Gatwick | M25 and M23 | 28.1 miles | about 40 minutes | about 42 mph |
| Gatwick | M25 | 25.2 miles | about 47 minutes | about 32 mph |
| Kingston (our office) | Hampton Court Road / A308 | 2.4 miles | about 7 minutes | — |
Nine miles sounds like fifteen minutes and takes about twenty-four, because the whole run crosses suburban west London at traffic-light pace. And look at the first and third rows: two routes, both exactly 9.0 miles, three minutes apart. Which is quicker depends on the morning, not the map.
So give us the flight time rather than a route, and let the office set the pick-up. A departure at eight wants an earlier car than instinct suggests, especially with the bridge in the way.
Round on the M25 and M23 it is 28.1 miles and about 40 minutes. Straight down the M25 it is 25.2 miles and about 47. Nearly three miles shorter, seven minutes slower — the widest gap of its kind we have measured anywhere.
Side by side: Heathrow averages about 23 mph from here, Gatwick about 42. Gatwick is more than three times the distance and takes only about sixteen minutes longer. A per-mile rate would bill roughly three times as much for Gatwick, and would charge you more for the Gatwick route that gets you there sooner. That is the whole argument for quoting the job instead of the mileage.
See Gatwick airport transfers. On the same day, public transport from Molesey to Gatwick came out at about 1 hour 11 minutes with a change, against forty minutes by car.
Longer runs, all decided by the hour of departure rather than the distance. Luton and Stansted transfers from KT8 are booked the same way; our general airport transfers page covers the rest.
Be met inside the terminal with a name board instead of hunting a pick-up bay — our meet and greet chauffeur service. Give us the flight number on the return leg and we move the pick-up with the inbound.
Tell the office where, when, how many and how much luggage. You get a price for that job, and it does not change while you are in the car.
Bridge Road is the village’s high street and the road everything measures from — Kingston is 1.7 miles east of it. It is also narrow, busy and right on the approach to the bridge, so a car cannot sit anywhere convenient for long. Give us a shop name or a house number rather than the street alone and the pick-up takes seconds.
The Thames runs along the whole northern edge of the village, with the lock, the towpath and the boats. All of it is pick-up territory with no postal address. Give us a pub, a gate, a car park or the bridge itself, plus a time, and we will be there — including late, which is when riverside bookings usually happen.
East and West Molesey run into one another with no visible join, and a booking from either is the same car from the same office. Beyond the western end are Island Barn Reservoir and the open ground towards Walton. If you are not sure which side of the line you are on, give the postcode and let us work it out. See West Molesey taxis and minicabs.
This is a residential village with its shopping, its hospital and its main-line trains somewhere else. Kingston is 1.7 miles (2.7 km) east of Bridge Road; central Walton-on-Thames is 2.3 miles (3.7 km) west-south-west. Between them they take most of the everyday journeys out of here. See Kingston taxis and minicabs and Walton-on-Thames taxis.
Ramp-equipped wheelchair accessible vehicles across KT8, with drivers trained to secure a chair properly rather than improvise. There are fewer accessible cars than saloons, so give as much notice as you can — a day for a local run or a hospital appointment, longer for an airport transfer at a busy hour. Say on the phone whether the chair is manual or powered; the ramp and the anchor points differ. See our certified and trained wheelchair accessible minicab service.
Worth adding for visitors: a booked accessible car to the palace gates removes the longest walk of the day, and it can wait or come back for a set time.
Riverside, towpath and park on the doorstep make this dog country, and not every private hire driver will take one. We keep drivers who will and match them to the booking rather than leaving it to chance at the kerb. Vet runs, kennel drop-offs and lifts home from a long walk are all routine. Tell us the size of the animal and whether it travels in a carrier — see pet friendly taxis.
Most secondary journeys leave the village, and nearly all of them cross either the bridge or the roads feeding it, at exactly the hour those are worst. A regular run is set up once — a named set of drivers, an agreed pick-up point, a monthly invoice — rather than booked every morning. Every driver on school work is licensed and DBS checked. See our school run chauffeur service.
Twenty-four minutes from Heathrow, forty from Gatwick and seven from our Kingston office: East Molesey is better placed for business travel than its size suggests, and an account takes the admin out of it.
Events at the palace and along the river also produce group bookings — several cars, one timing, guests who do not know the village. Those are easier to arrange a week ahead than on the night.
Hospital journeys from East Molesey run mostly to Kingston, seven minutes away, and across the river. They share a shape: a fixed arrival time at the front and an unknown finish at the back. We book both halves — an outward leg to the appointment and a return that waits for your call rather than a guessed time. Drivers will help to the door where that is needed, and a course of appointments can be set up in one call. More on reliable transport for medical appointments, or ring 0203 388 9999.
The same cars carry documents and packages when they are not carrying people — a same-day run into London, a legal pack against a deadline, something breakable that should not go through a depot. See same day courier in Surrey.
0203 388 9999. Use the phone for anything out of the ordinary: an accessible vehicle, an early airport run, a group for the palace, a pet, a chauffeur car, an account.
The booking form takes the whole job at once, day or night — the easier route for a straightforward airport transfer booked a week ahead.
Every office we run is listed on find us and the branch locator.
0203 388 9999, which rings our Kingston office at 39A Walter Street — 2.4 miles and about seven minutes from Bridge Road. You can also book online at any hour.
No — and this is the most common mistake visitors make. The station is on the East Molesey side of the river; the palace is across the bridge in Richmond upon Thames. It is a short walk or a very short cab ride, but they are not the same place.
Surrey. East Molesey, spelled with an L, in the Borough of Elmbridge, postcode KT8, beside Hampton Court Bridge. We do not operate in Moseley, Birmingham, or in Mossley, Greater Manchester.
Yes, and we set down at the gates rather than at the far end of a car park. On a flower show weekend or a bank holiday that is worth a good deal. Book the return before you go in — everyone leaves at once, and that is the hardest hour of the day to find a car in KT8.
About 24 minutes for 9.0 miles via the A308. Two other routes run 10.1 miles at about 26 minutes and 9.0 miles at about 27 — the same distance as the first, three minutes slower. The whole run is suburban, so it is slower per mile than the distance suggests.
28.1 miles via the M25 and M23, about 40 minutes. The shorter way, 25.2 miles down the M25, takes about 47 — nearly three miles less for seven minutes more. On the same day, public transport came out at about 1 hour 11 minutes.
In everyday use, yes. In law a taxi or hackney carriage can be hailed in the street, while a minicab or private hire car must be booked with a licensed operator first. We are a private hire operator, so every journey is booked before the car sets off — which is what gives you a named driver and an agreed price.
Yes, all of KT8. East and West Molesey run into one another with no visible join and are worked by the same office.
Yes. Those are pick-ups with no postal address, so give us a pub, a gate, a car park or the bridge, plus a time, and the driver will be on it — including late in the evening.
Yes, ramp-equipped vehicles with trained drivers, booked in advance. Give as much notice as you can and say whether the chair is manual or powered.
Yes, with a pet friendly taxi booked in advance. Tell us the size of the animal and whether it travels in a carrier.
It depends on the journey, the hour, the size of car and whether there is waiting or meeting involved, which is why we quote the job rather than publish a mileage rate. Here a mileage rate would be actively misleading: the shorter road to Gatwick is seven minutes slower than the longer one. Ring 0203 388 9999 or use the booking form and you will have a price before you travel.
Licensed drivers, an office seven minutes away, real knowledge of the bridge and the palace traffic, and a price agreed before you get in. Call 0203 388 9999 or book your East Molesey taxi online.
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