Surbiton combines railway and town history with parkland, nature reserves and specific leisure options. This offers a range of starting points when choosing what to focus on during your stay: historic architecture, the history of a former estate, nature and individual leisure activities.
Railway and town history
Surbiton's “New Town” was designed by Thomas Pooley after the station was moved to its present location in 1838. The area's development is therefore linked to a specific milestone in railway history.
Surbiton Station is a listed Art Deco landmark in the conservation area and is listed as a Grade II building. The station dates from 1937 and is attributed to the Southern Railways architects' department under J R Scott.
The dates mark different stages: 1838 refers to the relocation, which was followed by the design of the New Town; 1937 dates the station in its Art Deco form. If you are interested in the area's development, you can distinguish the origins of the New Town from the station's later architecture.
Fishponds Park: history and landscape
The Fishponds Park conservation area includes the surviving core of the original house and part of the former grounds of the mid-18th-century Fishponds estate, which were laid out as a park. Fishponds House was built between 1740 and 1742. This places a specific construction period alongside the broader history of the former grounds as distinct ways of looking at the past.
Fishponds Park is known for its ponds, streams, steep banks, paths and dense boundary hedges. These features give the park a varied landscape: water, terrain and paths are all part of it, as are the hedges along its boundaries. If you are interested in historic estates, you can consider the estate's history alongside the landscape features.
Nature reserves and leisure options
The Wood and Richard Jefferies Bird Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the centre of Surbiton. Edith Gardens is a 0.4-hectare nature reserve in Surbiton. The central location of one and the area of the other offer different points of reference if you are considering nature reserves.
There are also specific options for other leisure interests: Alexandra Recreation Ground has a playground. A cycling route starts at the Clock Tower in Surbiton. These offer two different points of reference for planning, one centred on a playground and the other on a cycling route.
Choose a focus for your stay
Station architecture and urban development offer a different focus from historic parks and nature reserves. If a particular leisure interest matters to you, you can also take the playground or the starting point of the cycling route into account. Then check accommodation options to suit your own travel plans.
Discover more destinations: Kingston Upon Thames, New Malden, Chessington.
Back to the main travel overview: Kingston Upon Thames.
