Norbiton is an area within 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 ...
, London. It lies approximately east of
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...
town centre, and from
Charing Cross
Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...
. Its main landmarks include
Kingston Hospital
Kingston Hospital is an acute hospital in Kingston upon Thames, England. It is managed by the Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It has an Accident & Emergency Unit, a popular midwife-led Maternity unit, and an sexually transmitted infecti ...
,
Kingsmeadow
Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2,2 ...
football stadium, Kingston Cemetery and St Peter's
Anglican parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
which serves the area.
Norbiton was part of the
Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames
Kingston-upon-Thames (spelt with hyphens) was a local government district in north east Surrey, England from 1835 to 1965 around the town now known as Kingston upon Thames. It was alternatively known as Kingston on Thames (spelt with or without ...
from its
creation in 1835, and became part of the larger Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in 1965.
History
![Kingston-upon-Thames MB Ward Map 1868](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Kingston-upon-Thames_MB_Ward_Map_1868.svg)
Its name was originally Norberton(e) and it was named in a similar way to
Surbiton
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...
on the opposite side of the
Hogsmill
The Hogsmill River in Surrey and Greater London, England is a small chalk stream tributary of the River Thames. It rises in Ewell and flows into the Thames at Kingston upon Thames on the lowest non-tidal reach, that above Teddington Lock.
...
River. The origin of the place-name is from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
words ''north'', ''bere'' and ''tun'' (meaning northern grange or outlying farm).
The area was originally a part of the parish of
All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames
All Saints Church is the historic parish church of Kingston upon Thames on the edge of London, and is set between the ancient Market Place and the main shopping centre. It forms part of the Diocese of Southwark and with the church of St John, ...
. In 1840 a separate Norbiton parish was created, with St Peter's Church built between 1840 and 1842 to a design of
Gilbert Scott and
William Moffatt
William Bonython Moffatt (1812 – 24 May 1887) was an architect, who for many years was a partner with Sir George Gilbert Scott at Spring Gardens, London.
Moffatt was the son of a small builder and pupil of James Edmeston. He was originally take ...
.
Until the mid-nineteenth century much of Norbiton was made up of
country estates, all since sold as housing land. These included:
Norbiton Hall, a manor from the 16th century. Residents included
Richard Taverner
Richard Taverner (1505 – 14 July 1575) was an English author and religious reformer.
He is best known for his Bible translation, commonly known as Taverner's Bible, but originally titled .
Life and works
Taverner was born at Brisley (a ...
, who lived there 1547–75 and
Sir Anthony Benn, 1605–18. In 1829, the Surrey MP
Charles Pallmer sold the estate to
Mary, Countess of Liverpool, widow of the late prime minister
Lord Liverpool
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He held many important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secret ...
.
[ Accessed 30 March 2020] It was finally demolished in the 1930s to make way for a complex of flats, also called Norbiton Hall. These flats were built between 1933 and 1935 and received local listing in 2018.
Norbiton Place was bought by
Sir John Philipps, who died there in 1764.
[ Accessed 9 April 2020] One of the family's servants was
Cesar Picton
Cesar Picton (c. 1755 – 1836) was presumably enslaved in Africa by the time he was about six years old. He was bought and brought to England by an English army officer who had been in Senegal, and in 1761 was "presented" as a servant to Sir Jo ...
, originally an African slave, he was brought to England aged six in 1761. He lived at Norbiton Place for nearly thirty years, before becoming a successful coal-merchant in Kingston. In the early 1800s Norbiton Place became the main residence of
Charles Pallmer, owner of neighbouring Norbiton Hall.
[ Pallmer greatly developed the estate, including adding a dairy styled like an Indian temple and a lodge in the form of a doric temple.][ Living above his means, Pallmer was declared ]bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...
in 1831. Much of the main house was pulled down after 1830,[ with St Peter's Church built on part of the grounds.
Kingston Lodge, opposite Norbiton Hall, was leased by Novelist ]George Meredith
George Meredith (12 February 1828 – 18 May 1909) was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. At first his focus was poetry, influenced by John Keats among others, but he gradually established a reputation as a novelist. ''The Ord ...
in 1865. Disliking the increasing development of the area, he moved away at the end of 1867.
Norbiton today
Norbiton's housing stock largely consists of large Victorian and Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
family houses, plus small localised brownfield redevelopments of 1960s, 1980s and modern flats. It contains more council and social housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
than most other areas of Kingston – one of the largest such sites, the Cambridge Road estate, was used as a fictional council estate
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
in TV drama ''The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused on ...
'', as well as the BBC sitcom ''Some Girls
''Some Girls'' is the 14th UK and 16th US album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 9 June 1978 by Rolling Stones Records. It was recorded in sessions held between October 1977 and February 1978 at Pathé Marconi Studios in ...
''. In 2020 plans were agreed to regenerate the Cambridge Road estate, including demolishing 865 existing homes and building 2,170 new ones. Homes on the renewed estate will obtain heating
A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces.
...
by a process that turns treated sewage into clean energy, the first such scheme in England.
As Norbiton is only 25 minutes by train from Waterloo station
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...
, the suburban population includes a large concentration of London commuters. Norbiton railway station
Norbiton Railway Station is a railway station located in Norbiton, a suburb in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in southwest London. It is on the Kingston Loop Line, down the line from . The station and all trains serving it are oper ...
was used as a location for the British sitcom ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. It is based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs and produced from 1976 to 1979. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the first series ...
''. The headquarters of the Fire Brigades Union
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime firefighters (including officers up to chief fire officer / firemaster), retained firefighters and emergency control room staff.
History
The first recorded inst ...
is located close to the station, on Coombe Road.
Kingsmeadow
Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2,2 ...
football stadium in Norbiton was bought by Chelsea FC
Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...
in 2016 and has been used for the home matches of Chelsea F.C. Women
Chelsea Football Club Women, formerly known as Chelsea Ladies Football Club, are an English women's football club based in Norbiton that competes in the Women's Super League, the top flight of women's football in England. Since 2004, the clu ...
since 2017. It was previously used as a home ground by Kingstonian F.C. (1989–2017) and by AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...
(2002–20).
In the 2018 Kingston borough elections, both council seats in Norbiton ward were gained by the Liberal Democrats from Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
, leaving Labour with no seats on the council.
Education in Norbiton. See the main 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 ...
article.
Transport and locale
Nearby places
* Berrylands
Berrylands is a residential neighbourhood in Surbiton, London, originally forming part of the Municipal Borough of Surbiton, and since 1965 part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. It is a suburban development situated south west of ...
* Canbury
Canbury is a district of the northern part of Kingston upon Thames that takes its name from the historic manor that covered the area. Modern Canbury comprises two electoral wards in the constituency of Richmond Park; Canbury Ward to the south ...
* Coombe
* Kingston
* New Malden
New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes ...
* Surbiton
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...
* Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
Nearest railway stations
* Norbiton railway station
Norbiton Railway Station is a railway station located in Norbiton, a suburb in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in southwest London. It is on the Kingston Loop Line, down the line from . The station and all trains serving it are oper ...
* Kingston railway station
* Berrylands railway station
Berrylands railway station is a National Rail station in the borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It is south-west of and is situated between and .
Location
Berrylands, operated by South Western Railway, is on the South West Main Line. ...
* New Malden railway station
New Malden railway station is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south London. It is south-west of .
The station is served by South Western Railway, and is in Travelcard Zone 4.
History
The station was opened by the London an ...
References
{{LB Kingston upon Thames
Areas of London
Districts of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames