A HISTORY OF SURREY 



from the Surbiton Hill Road, or a little below Villier's 

 Path, on the north to the division of Surbiton from 

 the parish of Long Ditton on the south, and from 

 Clay Hill and King Charles's Road on the east to 

 just beyond the houses on the near side of the Ewell 

 Road on the west. 



The only house in the district covered by the 

 modern Surbiton marked on the maps of the 1 8th 

 century was Berrylands Farm. It certainly existed in 

 1736,"* and is probably much older, if it can be 

 identified with Berowe, where William Skerne had 

 licence to inclose land called the Fyfteen Acres in 

 14.39,'** and Berow or Barrow Hill held by Robert 

 Skerne of Thomas Wyndsore in 1485-6.'" Early 

 in the igth century building began in the valley 

 towards Kingston with the original Waggon and 

 Horses public-house, and the Elmers called Surbi- 

 ton House until 1823 and pulled down before 

 1888. Maple Farm, afterwards called Maple Lodge, 

 was built by Christopher Terry about 1815 as the 

 Manor House. In 1808 Southborough Lodge, the 

 first house on the hill, was built for Thomas Langley 

 by John Nash, the architect of Buckingham Palace ; 

 this with the three farms and a windmill was the 

 only building here until 1812, when the White 

 House, afterwards known as Hill House, was 

 built '** where the office of the Urban District 

 Council now stands. Surbiton Hill House was next 

 built in 1826 partly from material from the aban- 

 doned palace of Kew. Though still, as in the 1 3th 

 century, 12 ' covered with furze and heath, the land 

 was already considered of value as a building site. 



The whole position of the neighbourhood was 

 altered when in 1836 the main line of the London 

 and South Western Railway was brought through Snr- 

 biton because, tradition says, the inhabitants opposed 

 its original course through Kingston. A small cottage- 

 like structure called Kingston Station was built in the 

 deep railway cutting near the Ewell Road Bridge, 

 and was used until 1 840, when Thomas Pooley gave 

 the present site to the company. 118 The i8th- 

 century maps of the neighbourhood mark but one 

 main road as passing through Surbiton. This, the 

 Portsmouth Road, is a continuation of the Kingston 

 High Street and follows the river, though separated 

 from it for some distance by public gardens. There 

 were of course minor roads : Leatherhead Mill Lane, 

 Lower Marsh Lanes, and a road corresponding to the 

 modern Clay Hill and King Charles's Road are men- 

 tioned;'" a lane from the Ewell Road to Berrylands 

 Farm is marked on a map of 1813, as is also the lane 

 now called Villier's Path and Clay Hill. 180 The western 

 side of Surbiton was the first to be developed. After 

 the death of Christopher Terry in 1838 the Maple 

 Farm lands were bought by Thomas Poo!ey, who 

 began to lay out roads and build houses. Having 

 insufficient capital he mortgaged heavily, principally 

 to Coutts & Co., the bankers, who finally foreclosed. 

 They managed the property well, and the Oakhill 

 and Raphael estates followed, their streets of staid 

 Victorian houses giving this quarter its essentially resi- 

 dential character. Lately, however, this has become 



the shopping district of Surbiton, a feature emphasized 

 since the opening of the United Tramways Com- 

 pany's electric service in 1905. In the extreme 

 southern corner of this section lay the Seething Wells, 

 yielding an abundant supply of water. The land 

 inclosed under the Act of 1808 was purchased by the 

 Lambeth Waterworks, and reservoirs opened in 1851 ; 

 they were followed by the Chelsea Water Company, 

 who, in 1852, built the works adjoining these on the 

 north. 



The Berrylands or eastern hill section was developed 

 in 1851, the land making 500 per acre at public 

 auction in 1853. In spite of the great change in the 

 character of the neighbourhood, the roads, lighting, 

 and drainage were still those of a hamlet. Under the 

 Surbiton Improvement Act of 1855 U1 the inhabitants 

 secured local government by fifteen commissioners 

 who, with some modifications in 1882,'" retained 

 their authority until Surbiton became an Urban 

 District. The southern section was a little later in 

 growth. In this district the land attains its highest 

 point, being 1 20 ft. above ordnance datum on Oak 

 Hill. The lowest point (20 ft. above sea-level) is by 

 the river side. The soil on the lower levels is chiefly 

 gravel on a subsoil of London Clay ; on Surbiton Hill 

 it is clay, and there were brick-kilns near the Fish 

 Ponds in 1838."' 



Within the last five years an entirely new district 

 has sprung up between the Surbiton Hill Road and 

 Clay Hill, taking the name of Crane's Park from 

 the Cranes, the large house which stood here. The 

 development of this estate has resulted in a continua- 

 tion of King Charles's Road into Kingston, and has 

 reduced Villier's Path, the traditional scene of the 

 death of Lord Francis Villiers in 1648, to a mere 

 footpath hemmed in with houses. The hillside east 

 of this is now divided into building lots, and it is 

 anticipated that Clay Lane will soon form the back- 

 bone of a further series of streets. On the island in 

 the Thames opposite Surbiton, called Raven's Eyot, 

 are the head quarters of the Kingston Rowing Club, 

 founded in 1858. The population of the urban 

 district in 1901 was I 5,01 7. 134 The development of 

 Surbiton was marked by the formation of the parish 

 of St. Mark's, part of which was assigned in 1863 

 to Christ Church, Surbiton Hill; 1 " and in 1876 

 another part of St. Mark's parish was assigned 

 to the consolidated chapelry of St. Matthew, 

 which was partly formed from the parish of Long 

 Ditton. 136 In 1854 the Congregationalists built a 

 handsome church in Maple Road. 117 This becoming 

 too small for the congregation a larger church was 

 built in 1864 at the corner of Grove Road. The 

 first Wesleyan services in 1861 were held in a hall 

 and afterwards in an iron chapel ; the church in the 

 Ewell Road was dedicated in 1882. In 1874 the 

 Oaklands Baptist chapel in Oakhill Road was opened. 

 The Baptist chapel in Balaclava Road was opened in 

 1905. In 1879 the Primitive Methodists built an 

 iron church, now disused, in Arlington Road. The 

 Roman Catholic church of St. Raphael was built 

 by Charles Parker 13S for Mr. Alexander Raphael 



" Rowley W. C. Richardson, SurUttm, 

 Thirty-nun year t of Local Self-governmtnt. 

 Southborough Farm was also probably 

 standing at this date. 



184 Pat. 17 Hen. VI, pt. ii, m. II. 



m Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. z), i, 12, 



191 Richardson, op. cit. 



W Add. Chart. 17272. 

 12M Richardson, op. cit. 12* 

 199 Rocque, London in 1741-5 

 uo Homer, Map of the Town and Pariik 

 of Kingtton-upon-Thames. 



"! Local Act, 1 8 Viet. cap. 36. 

 " Ibid. 45 & 46 Viet. cap. 61. 



494 



138 Richardson, Surbiton, 8. 

 184 Pop. Ret. 1901. 



186 Clergy List, 1910. 



1M Land. Gax. z May 1876, p. 2719. 



18 7 Richardson, Surtinit, 8z et seq. 

 lw Diet. Nat. Biof. 



