Surbiton

Coordinates: 51°23′32″N 0°18′11″W / 51.3923°N 0.3030°W / 51.3923; -0.3030

Surbiton
Surbiton  Surbiton shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ180673
London borough	Kingston
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SURBITON
Postcode district	KT6
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Kingston & Surbiton
London Assembly	South West
List of places: UK • England • London

Surbiton, a suburban area of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is a commuter town next to the River Thames, populated with a mixture of Art-Deco courts, spacious and grand late-19th century townhouses blending into a sea of semi-detached 20th century housing estates.

History

There is evidence that a settlement has existed at Surbiton since at least 1178. At the time, it was known as Suberton(e), [from the Old English south buritum' or granary]. Norbiton lies to the northeast, and is separated from Surbiton by the Hogsmill River. Before the arrival of the railway, Surbiton was little more than a farm. Maps from as late as the early 19th century show it as little more than a crossroads, but far nearer Kingston than the current station. It was at the base of the hill, not far south of the current Kingston University site on Penrhyn Road.

The town started to prosper when a plan to build the main railway line down to the south coast closer to nearby Kingston was rejected by Kingston Council, fearing the detrimental effect it would have on the busy coaching trade. This resulted in the line being routed further south, through a cutting in the hill south of Surbiton. Surbiton railway station opened in 1838, and was originally named Kingston-upon-Railway.^[1] It was only renamed Surbiton to distinguish it from the new Kingston railway station on the Shepperton branch line, which opened on 1 January 1869.

Surbiton railway station at night

As a result, Kingston is now on a branch line, whereas passengers from Surbiton, smaller in comparison, can reach Central London in about 18 minutes on a fast train, as well as places further afield, including Portsmouth and Southampton. This has made Surbiton a convenient location from which to commute into Central London, reflected in the size of its population.

Starting in the early 2000s, a West London Orbital underground railway, which would terminate at Surbiton, has been promoted by the influential West London Business group.

In popular culture

The Pre-Raphaelite painters John Everett Millais (1829-1896) and William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) came to Surbiton in 1851, 26 years before Richard Jefferies (1848-1887). Millais actually used the Hogsmill, close to Tolworth Court Bridge, as the background for his painting ‘Ophelia’. Holman Hunt used the fields just south of this spot as the background to ‘The Hireling Shepherd.’^{[citation needed]}

In the mid 1870s the novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) lived in a house called 'St. David's Villa' in Hook Road, Surbiton for a year after his marriage to Emma Gifford. The writer Enid Blyton (1897-1968) was governess to a Surbiton family for four years from 1918, at a house called 'Southernhay'.^{[citation needed]}

A 1972 episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus featured a mock documentary which investigated whether the residents of Surbiton had been long-ago ancestors of the people of Hounslow, another London area suburb, "who had made the great trek north."^[2]

Surbiton's main claim to popular fame is as an icon of suburbia in such British television programmes as The Good Life (starring Richard Briers, Penelope Keith, Paul Eddington and Felicity Kendal, though location filming was done in Pinner, North-West London),^{[citation needed]} and John Sessions' comedy series Stella Street, which has on occasion led to the town being nicknamed "Suburbiton". Other related trivia: the character from the 1980s ZX Spectrum computer games Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy was described as a Surbiton resident,^{[citation needed]} and Black Sabbath played at the Surbiton Assembly Rooms on 19 May 1970.^{[citation needed]} The council sold the Assembly Rooms to Surbiton High School in the 1990s.^{[citation needed]} The Surbiton train station features in the 2009 film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Blood Prince with actors Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore. Filming took place in November 2007.^[3]

Transport Links

London Bus services through Surbiton

• 65 - (Chessington to Ealing Broadway via Surbiton, Kingston, Richmond and Brentford)Night Service
• 71 - (Chessington to Kingston via Surbiton)
• 281- (Tolworth to Hounslow via Surbiton, Kingston, Teddington, Twickenham and Whitton) 24 Hour
• 406- (Epsom to Kingston via Tolworth and Surbiton Hill Road)
• 418- (Epsom to Kingston via Ruxley Lane, Tolworth and Surbiton Hill Road)
• K1 - (New Malden to Kingston via Malden Manor, Tolworth Hospital and Surbiton)
• K2 - (Hook to Kingston Hospital via Tolworth, Berrylands, Surbiton and Kingston)
• K3 - (Roehampton Vale to Esher via Kingston Hospital, Surbiton and Claygate)
• K4 - (Mansfield Park to Kingston Hospital via Hook, Surbiton and Villiers Road) Not Sundays

Education

For education in Surbiton see the main Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames article.

Lawn Tennis

From 1998 to 2008 Surbiton hosted the first round of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) season. The Surbiton Trophy was part of the ATP Challenger Series and in 2009 the venue was moved to Nottingham as part of a reorganisation by the LTA.

Nearby places

• Berrylands
• Chessington
• Claygate
• Esher
• Epsom
• Hampton
• Hinchley Wood
• Kingston upon Thames
• Long Ditton
• New Malden
• Norbiton
• Petersham
• Teddington
• Thames Ditton
• Tolworth
• Twickenham
• Worcester Park

Gallery

The clock tower at Surbiton was built to celebrate the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII.	A street in Surbiton.	Some shops in Surbiton.	Surbiton.
Surbiton.	The bus station beside Surbiton railway station.

See also

• Raven's Ait
• Surbiton Lagoon
• Hollyfield School
• Southborough High School
• Shrewsbury House School
• 26.2 Road Runners

External links

• Kingston Borough Council
• Surbiton.com - community website
• Surbiton - 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article
• Kingston Rugby Club(based near Hook roundabout, 1 mile from Surbiton.
• Surbiton Churches Football Club
• Churches Together in Surbiton
• Baptists Together in Surbiton

References

v • d • e Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Districts Berrylands · Chessington · Coombe · Kingston upon Thames · Kingston Vale · Motspur Park · New Malden · Norbiton · Old Malden · Surbiton · Tolworth Attractions Bushy Park · Hampton Court Palace · Chessington World of Adventures · Thorpe Park Constituencies Kingston and Surbiton · Richmond Park Parks and open spaces in Kingston upon Thames