Norbiton
| Norbiton | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
 St Peter's Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ195695 |
| Location: | 51°24’43"N, 0°16’59"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 10,107 (2011) |
| Post town: | Kingston upon Thames |
| Postcode: | KT1, KT2 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Kingston |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Kingston and Surbiton |
Norbiton is a barely distinguished area, once a village, a mile to the east of the town centre of Kingston upon Thames in Surrey. Its main sights include Kingston Hospital, Kingsmeadow football stadium, Kingston Cemetery and St Peter's, Norbiton's parish church.
History
The name of the village is found in the Middle Ages as Norberton; it was named in a similar way to Surbiton on the opposite side of the Hogsmill River. The origin of the name is from the Old English words norþ beretun, meaning northern grange or outlying farm.[1]
The area was originally a part of the parish of All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames. In 1840 a separate Norbiton parish was created, with St Peter's Church built between 1840 and 1842 to a design of George Gilbert Scott and William Moffatt.[2]
Until the mid-nineteenth century much of Norbiton was made up of country estates, all since sold as housing land.
Norbiton Hall was a manor from the 16th century. Residents included Richard Taverner, who lived there 1547–75 and Sir Anthony Benn, 1605 to 1618. 1829, Charles Pallmer, a Member of Parliament for Surrey, sold the estate to Mary, Countess of Liverpool, widow of the late prime minister Lord Liverpool.[3] 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.
Norbiton Place was bought by Sir John Philipps, who died there in 1764.[4] One of the family's servants was Cesar Picton, originally an African slave, brought to Britain aged six in 1761, he lived at Norbiton Place for nearly thirty years, before becoming a successful coal-merchant in Kingston.[5] In the early 1800s Norbiton Place became the main residence of Charles Pallmer, owner of neighbouring Norbiton Hall.[3] Pallmer greatly developed the estate, including adding a dairy styled like an Indian temple and a lodge in the form of a doric temple.[4] Living above his means, Pallmer was declared bankrupt in 1831. Much of the main house was pulled down after 1830,[3] with St Peter's Church built on part of the grounds.[6]
Kingston Lodge, opposite Norbiton Hall, was leased by Novelist George Meredith 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 family houses, plus small localised brownfield redevelopments of 1960s, 1980s and modern flats. It contains more council and social housing than most other areas of Kingston – one of the largest such sites, the Cambridge Road estate, was used as a fictional council estate in TV drama The Bill, as well as the BBC sitcom Some Girls. In 2020 plans were agreed to regenerate the Cambridge Road estate, including demolishing 865 existing homes and building 2,170 new ones.[7]
Kingsmeadow football stadium in Norbiton was bought by Chelsea FC in 2016 and has been used for the home matches of Chelsea F.C. Women since 2017. It was previously used as a home ground by Kingstonian F.C. (1989–2017) and by AFC Wimbledon (2002–20).
References
- ↑ Mills, Anthony David: 'A Dictionary of British Place-Names' (Oxford University Press, 2003) ISBN 978-0-19-852758-9
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Surrey, 1962; 1971 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09675-0page 313
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 A History of the County of Surrey - Volume 3 pp 501-516: Kingston-upon-Thames: Manors, churches and charities (Victoria County History)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Prosser, G.F. (1828). Select Illustrations of the County of Surrey. Rivington, London.. https://archive.org/details/selectillustrat00prosgoog. Accessed 9 April 2020
- ↑ National Heritage List 1080069: Picton House, Kingston upon Thames (Grade @ listing)
- ↑ "St Peter's Church". Diocese of Southwark. https://southwark.anglican.org/find-a-church/kingston/norbiton-st-peter>.
- ↑ Jenkinson, Orlando (20 March 2020). "Residents back Cambridge Road estate regeneration". Surrey Comet. https://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/18321736.residents-back-cambridge-road-estate-regeneration/.