Canbury
| Canbury | |
| Surrey | |
|---|---|
 Canbury Gardens and the River Thames | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ185705 |
| Location: | 51°25’2"N, 0°18’5"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 12,373 (2011) |
| Post town: | Kingston Upon Thames |
| Postcode: | KT2 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Kingston |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Richmond Park |
Canbury is an urbanised village in Surrey, in the metropolitan conurbation to the north of Kingston upon Thames. It takes its name from the historic manor that covered the area.
The Latchmere Stream, a small watercourse now mostly culverted, that flows south–north along the foot of the hill towards Ham, once marked part of the manor boundary. There is evidence that the area close to present day Kingston town centre was once crossed by many watercourses linking with the Thames and the Hogsmill forming a series of islands upon which Kingston was built.
History
Manor
There is no mention of Canbury in Domesday Book of 1086, but later records show that it was held by Merton Priory at an early period, probably dating from the grant of Kingston Church by Gilbert the Norman (or "Gilbert the Knight"), the Sheriff of Surrey, in about 1114.[1]
The possessions of the Merton monastery in Kingston and Hache, (Hatch), exclusive of Berwell, were valued, in Cardinal Beaufort's time, (c.1374–1447) at 52 shillings. The manorial holdings included parts of open fields and buildings in the neighbouring manor of Ham with Hatch, probably the result of gifts to the church and priory as Ham had no church of its own until 1832 and lay within the parish of Kingston. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the manor, with the rectory and advowson of Kingston, was the subject of various Crown leases.
The manor was bought for £4,000 by Sir John Ramsay in 1618, which also held land in Petersham and Ham to the north, living at Ham House. Ramsay, later created Baron of Kingston upon Thames and Earl of Holderness, died without issue in 1626 an the manor passed through numerous hands over the following generations.
The manor house, Down Hall or Downhall, stood south of the railway line and bridge. It was described in 1911 as being a grey stuccoed house with jalousies and older kitchens behind. It had been held in the 13th century of the manor of Canbury. It was sold in 1850 and pulled down.[1]
The manor seems to have disappeared by the beginning of the 19th century following its sale on 4 September 1800 to Wilbraham Tollemache, 6th Earl of Dysart, whose family had retained the manors of Ham and Petersham to the north since their forebear, William Murray, had last held Canbury.[1]
Urbanisation
The Dysarts' acquisition of Canbury was well timed as Kingston expanded northwards during the 19th century. The expansion was driven by the coming of the railway to the area with the extension of the line from Twickenham to Kingston completed in 1863, then extended to Norbiton in 1869 to its terminus at Ludgate Hill. Developers bought 103 acres of Lord Liverpool's Farm to the north and east of the railway as well as 33 acres next to Kingston Station, and 44 acres of pasture and arable land of the Dysart estate. The mixed Victorian housing stock that characterises the area today reflects the piecemeal development that occurred during this period.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 A History of the County of Surrey - Volume 3 p : Kingston-upon-Thames: Manors, churches and charities (Victoria County History)
- ↑ Canbury: Part 1: Borough Character Study