Coombe is a historic neighbourhood in the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...

in south west London, England. It sits on high ground, east of Norbiton. Most of the area was part of the former

Municipal Borough of Malden and Coombe Malden and Coombe was a local government district in Surrey, England from 1866 to 1965. New Malden Local Government District was formed in 1866 under the Local Government Act 1858 from part of the ancient parish of Kingston upon Thames. It was ...

before local government re-organisation in 1965. It now shares borders with the boroughs of Merton and

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

with, to the north, the small, inter-related neighbourhoods of Kingston Hill and Kingston Vale, beyond which is

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...

in Richmond; and

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

Putney Vale Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

. To the east are public playing fields and

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 4 ...

History

Coombe centres on what was originally Coombe House, a large residence built in the 1750s. The house, now demolished, was located at the southwest corner of the junction of Coombe Lane (A238) and Traps Lane. Its red brick boundary walls can still be seen on the west side of Traps Lane. The area has a long history. Roman coins and other ancient remains have been found in the area around Warren Road. Coombe appears in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086 as ''Cumbe''. It was held partly by Hunfrid (Humfrey) the Chamberlain and partly by Ansgot the Interpreter. Its domesday assets were: 1½ hides; 4 ploughs, of

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

, herbage worth 4 hogs. It rendered £8. The Neville name has long been associated with the area. In 1215 King John gave Coombe to Hugh de Nevill, and the area was known as Coombe Nevill by 1260. At the beginning of the 14th century the manor was held by William de Nevill. The 1911 Ordnance Survey map identified an estate known as Coombe Nevile at the junction of George and Warren Roads. The present-day cul-de-sac known as Coombe Neville is at the same location. Neville Avenue is a short distance away, south of Coombe Lane. 16th-century records speak of a

gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

in Coombe, most likely near what is now Kingsnympton Park estate, reputedly the scene of public executions. In the early 1700s a public house known as the Fox and Coney was established at the junction of George Road and Kingston Hill (A308). It was rebuilt in 1728 and soon thereafter was renamed the George and Dragon, operating as such until 1985, when it became the Kingston Lodge Hotel. By 1761 Coombe was owned by

John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer () was a British peer and politician. Early life Spencer was born on 19 December 1734 at Althorp, his family's home in Northamptonshire. He was the only son of the Hon. John Spencer and his wife, the former ...

. Coombe Warren was a wild woodland on the ridge known as Coombe Hill. It was used for hunting and public fairs. 'The Coombe Wood Highwayman',

Jerry Abershaw Louis Jeremiah Abershawe (1773 – 3 August 1795), better known as Jerry Abershawe, or Abershaw, was a notorious English highwayman who terrorised travellers, mostly along the road between Kingston upon Thames and London, in the late eighteenth ...

, frequented the area in the late 1700s. Being based at the "Bald Face Stag" pub, he sheltered in the woods. An 1835 map placed Coombe Warren in an area now bisected by Warren Road between Kingston Hill (A308) and Coombe Lane (A238). Portions of the Warren are now covered by the Coombe Hill estate and Coombe Wood Golf Course. In 1822 the Admiralty opened a semaphore station in the Warren, which was part of the semaphore line from London to Portsmouth. The station has disappeared, but survived in the name of "Telegraph Cottage." At the time of the 1865 Ordnance Survey, the area west of Warren Road remained largely open country. By 1911 two golf courses were in place, as were a number of large houses located along George Road, including Coombe Croft (now Rokeby School for Boys), Coombe Ridge (now Holy Cross Preparatory School), Coombe Court, Coombe End, Ballard Coombe and Fairview. Numerous German bombs struck Coombe during World War II.

Today

Coombe is a prestigious residential location, with a premium on house prices. Much of the area is occupied by two golf courses, Coombe Wood and Coombe Hill; and three private estates partly on private roads, though in practice access is mostly open, apart from Coombe Park. These are called Coombe Hill, Coombe Warren and Coombe Park. Once the site of now-demolished Coombe Warren, a 19th-century property built by architect George Devey, Coombe Hill estate today consists of Coombe Hill Road and cul-de-sacs such as Greenwood Park and Devey Close; and along Warren Road, George Road and Golf Club Drive.

Education

Notable buildings

Grade II-listed buildings and ancient monuments in Coombe include: * Three Tudor-era structures built as a system for supplying water to Hampton Court Palace from springs in Coombe: Coombe Conduit on Coombe Lane West, Ivy Conduit on the grounds of Holy Cross Preparatory School on George Road, Gallows Conduit on the grounds of Hampton Spring house on George Road; * Warren House on Warren Road, constructed in the 1860s for banker Hugh Hammersley and extended in 1884–1886 by the architect

George Devey George Devey (1820, London – 1886, Hastings, Sussex) was an English architect notable for his work on country houses and their estates, especially those belonging to the Rothschild family. The second son of Frederick and Ann Devey, he was bo ...

; and * Cedar Court on Coombe Hill Road, built on its present site in 1911–12 incorporating timbers from a late medieval timber-framed building from

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

(probably the Perseverance Inn, demolished in 1910)

Notable residents and visitors

* Actor Joss Ackland lived at Ravenswood Court. * Edward Charles Baring commissioned

to create several buildings, including Coombe Hill Stables (1863) and Coombe Warren Lodge. * The scientist and spiritual leader John G. Bennett lived and taught at Coombe Springs until 1966 when he passed it to

Idries Shah Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Ark ...

, who sold the estate for housing development. *

Kenelm Lee Guinness Kenelm Edward Lee Guinness Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (14 August 1887 – 10 April 1937) was a London-born racing driver of the 1910s and 1920s mostly associated with Sunbeam Motor Car Company, Sunbeam racin ...

, member of the Guinness brewing family, racing driver, former holder of the world land speed record and inventor of KLG sparking plugs lived at The White House, Coombe Warren, Kingston Hill * Malcolm Campbell, racing driver and former holder of the world land speed record lived at the junction of Kingston Hill and Warboys Approach. *

Donald Campbell Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

, son of Malcolm Campbell and former holder of the world water speed record lived in the same house as his father on Kingston Hill. * Tennis player Annabel Croft lives in Coombe Park. *

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, when Supreme Allied Commander during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, based in

Bushy Park Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...

, lived at "Telegraph Cottage" in Coombe, which was adjacent to the golf course which he used at weekends. *

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

visited in 1602. * John Galsworthy, author of ''

The Forsyte Saga ''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vici ...

'' and winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature, was born in a house on Kingston Hill which was later named after him. Today, it is a care home for the elderly. *

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

, British Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, spent extended periods as a house-guest of friends in Coombe. * British politician George Glyn lived in Warren House. *

Earl Haig Earl Haig is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. During the First World War, he served as commander of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France and Bel ...

(1861-1928), World War I general, lived at Ravenswood Court. * One of Saddam Hussein's daughters had a house in Golf Club Drive for a number of years.. * Sir Leonard "Len" Hutton, English cricketer, lived on Coombe Neville in the late 1960s. * Coombe House was owned by Robert Jenkinson, Lord Liverpool (Prime Minister, 1812–27), and later by

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, (Adolphus Frederick; 24 February 1774 – 8 July 1850) was the tenth child and seventh son of the British king George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 18 ...

, a son of George III. *

Dame Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th centur ...

lived in a house here for many years. * Elisabeth Murdoch, media executive lived in Coombe for several years. * Sir Wilfrid Sheldon, KCVO, a consulting paediatrician and physician paediatrician to the Household of Queen Elizabeth II, lived on Edgecombe Close after his retirement in 1967. * Jimmy Tarbuck, English comedian and entertainer and his wife live in Coombe. * Rolling Stones guitarist

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a ...

used to live in a Victorian-era home known as Holmwood on Kingston Hill, opposite the entrance of Coombe Park and near Galsworthy House.

Gallery

File:House in Coombe Hill Road, Coombe - geograph.org.uk - 31735.jpg, House, Coombe Hill Road File:Coombe Wood Golf Club - geograph.org.uk - 31737.jpg, Coombe Wood Golf Club File:London Sept 2013 Warren Rd North.JPG, Warren Road looking north from Coombe Neville File:Coombe Wood Road - geograph.org.uk - 879520.jpg, Coombe Wood Road File:2003 5 10 London Rokeby Coombe Croft George Rd.jpg, Rokeby School, formerly Coombe Croft, George Road, Coombe File:The White House, Coombe Warren.jpg, The White House. Formerly owned by Kenelm Lee Guinness

References

*"History"
"The Coombe Estate"
Residents Association. {{LB Kingston upon Thames Areas of London Districts of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames