Kingston upon Thames » About Conservation Areas

CA4: Southborough

Designation date: January 1979 and extended in January 1989 and September 1991

No of properties: 444

Area: 7.5 hectares

Map

image source: Conservation Area leaflet, 2002.

Designation summary

The special architectural and historic interest of this area can be summarised as: An area of large detached houses dating from the 1860s - 1930s surrounding Southborough House, an 1808 Grade II listed building by the architect John Nash.

Historic background summary

Southborough conservation area originally formed part of the grounds of Southborough Estate, which centred on Southborough House. Thomas and Sarah Langley commissioned the famous Regency architect, John Nash, to build Southborough House on the former Kingston Common in 1808. The main house (14 Ashcombe Avenue), the garden building to the west, and Southborough Lodge (16 Ashcombe Avenue) are Grade II listed buildings and the oldest buildings within the area. The Ordnance Survey dated 1868 shows Southborough House and Southborough Farm (now demolished) as the only properties within the boundaries of Brighton Road, Ditton Road, and the Portsmouth to London Railway line.

Between 1880 and 1895 the south side of Langley Avenue and the east side of Corkran Road were sold off in large plots and developed forming part of the wider suburbanisation of Kingston. A comparison between the 1895 and 2008 Ordnance Survey shows that 2, 4, 6, 10, 12, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 30 Langley Avenue and 17, 31, 33 Corkran Avenue have survived to date. Southborough House was purchased by James Cundy in 1885. It retained a generous plot and gained a gardener’s lodge at the entrance in Langley Avenue in 1884, and a coachman’s lodge adjacent to the gateway to Carriage Drive in 1891. Both lodges still remain in their original form at 25 Langley Avenue and 22 Corkran Road.

Listed Buildings

Buildings of Townscape Merit

  • April Cottage 43 Woodlands Road
  • 2, 2a, 4, 6, 8a, 8b, 10, 12-14, 15-17, 16, 18, 19 21, 22, 24, 25, 25a, 28, 30, 45 Langley Road
  • 92, 93, 96, 102, 104, 106, 106a, 107, 108 Ditton Road
  • The Maypole PH - 2 Hook Road
  • 1, 3, 5, 22 Corkran Road
  • 19, 21, 23 Upper Brighton Road
  • Lodge To Former Royal Eye Hosp. Upper Brighton Rd

Adjacent Conservation Areas (CA) / Local Areas of Special Character (LASC)

  • Oakhill CA
  • St Matthews Avenue LASC

Archaeological Priority Area

No

Article 4 Directions

None

Further information

Contacts

If you have any questions about this conservation area or would like to find out whether you need planning permission before carrying out works to your property, please contact the Duty Planning Officer on 020 8547 5002.




Documents available to download:

Link Description Source Published
CA 4 Planning Information Conservation Area 4 - Planning Information (A5 size leaflet, fold out to A3) RBK Director of Environmental Services 2002
General information
Information applying to all Conservation Areas