Norbiton is an area within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It lies approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Kingston upon Thames town centre, and 11 miles (17.7 km) from Charing Cross. Its main landmarks include Kingston Hospital and Kingsmeadow football stadium, which is currently used for the home matches of both AFC Wimbledon and Chelsea F.C. Women. St Peter's Anglican parish church serves the area.
| Norbiton | |
|---|---|
 Towers of the 1970s Cambridge Road estate | |
  Norbiton Location within Greater London | |
| Population | 10,107 (2011 Census. Ward)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ195695 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Kingston upon Thames |
| Postcode district | KT1, KT2 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
History
Its name was originally Norberton(e) and it was named in a similar way to Surbiton on the opposite side of the Hogsmill River. The origin of the place-name is from the Old English words north, bere and tun (meaning northern grange or outlying farm).[2]
One of the larger estates in the area was Norbiton Hall, a manor from the 16th century. Residents included Richard Taverner, 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.[3] It was finally demolished in the 1930s to make way for a complex of flats, also called Norbiton Hall. The Novelist George Meredith leased Kingston Lodge, opposite Norbiton Hall, in 1865. Disliking the increasing development of the area, he moved away at the end of 1867.[4]
A notable resident of Norbiton was Cesar Picton, an African enslaved at the age of six, who lived as a servant (though evidently a very favoured one) at Norbiton Place for nearly thirty years from 1761, before becoming a highly successful coal-merchant in Kingston.
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. It is home also to Kingston Cemetery on Bonner Hill.
As Norbiton is only 25 minutes by train from Waterloo station, the suburban population includes a large concentration of London commuters. Norbiton railway station was used as a location for the British sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. The headquarters of the Fire Brigades Union is located close to the station, on Coombe Road.
Education
- For education in Norbiton see the main Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames article.
Transport and locale
Nearby places
Nearest railway stations
References
- ^ "Kingston Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ^ Mills, A.D. (2011) [First published 1991]. A Dictionary of British Place Names (First edition revised 2011 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199609086.
- ^ Malden, H.E. (1911). A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3. Victoria County History, London, 1911. pp. 501–516. Accessed 30 March 2020
- ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 604–616.