Kingswood, Dulwich

Kingswood House is a Victorian mansion in West Dulwich at the southerly tip of the London Borough of Southwark, England. It is a Grade II listed building.

The property was known as Kings Coppice from 1576; the name may have come from Edward King, who was a tenant of Dulwich manor in 1535. [cite web|url=http://www.southwark.gov.uk/DiscoverSouthwark/HistoricSouthwark/kingswoodhouse/historyofkingswood.html | title=The History of Kingswood House | author=Southwark Council | accessdate=2008-03-25] In 1811 William Vizard (the solicitor to Queen Caroline in her divorce from George IV) was granted a 63 year lease for Kingswood Lodge. When Vizard returned to his native Gloucestershire in 1831, others were granted the property leases.

In 1868 J. Everitt took over what remained of the estate and when a new lease of the house and surrounding land was granted to him in 1869, he disposed of the property to Thomas Tapling.

After Tapling's death in 1891 John Lawson Johnston (inventor of Bovril the beef extract) acquired Kingswood and set about transforming the house, the result being much as it appears today. He added the entrance, battlements and the north wing. He is believed to have built or extended the servants' wing on the east side of the building. Johnston acquired the nickname Mr Bovril and because of its castellated features Kingswood became known locally as Bovril Castle.

After J. L. Johnston died in 1900, William Dederich acquired the house. By 1916 he had become anxious to sell it and sub-let Kingswood to Massey-Harris, a Canadian firm of tractor manufacturers, for use as a recuperation centre for wounded Canadian troops. At this time it came to the notice of Lady Vestey who was doing social work in connection with the soldiers housed there. In 1919 her husband Sir William Vestey was granted an 80-year lease and in 1921 when he was raised to the peerage he became Baron Vestey of Kingswood in the County of Surrey. Until his death in 1940 Kingswood was his principal residence.

At 17:10 on the 6th August 1944 a V-1 flying bomb struck in the grounds of Kingswood House. There was damage to Sydenham Hill station, St Stephens Church, and to three houses on College Road but no deaths [ [http://www.flyingbombsandrockets.com/web_content_dulwich.html Flying Bombs and Rockets] ] .

In 1956 London County Council acquired the site by compulsory purchase. Lord Vestey's estate had by now been developed into a large residential area with the grounds occupied by houses, flats and shops. Ownership of the house itself was vested in the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell and it was opened as a community centre and library. In 1965 it became the property of the London borough of Southwark. It underwent substantial refurbishment in the 1980s and 1990s, and is still owned by the council and in use for conferences, meetings, and civil marriages.

In the grounds in front of Kingswood House, there are still some remains of the Pulham features [Great Credit upon the Ingenuity and Taste of Mr. Pulham by Sally Festing, Garden History, Vol. 16, No. 1. (Spring, 1988), pp. 90-102.] .

References

* [http://www.southwark.gov.uk/DiscoverSouthwark/HistoricSouthwark/kingswoodhouse/historyofkingswood.html The History of Kingswood House]
* [http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkdulwichadd.htm london-footprints.co.uk] Dulwich walk
* [http://kingswoodcommunity.org.uk/kingswood_house_history.htm Kingswood House History]

Further reading

A History of the House and its Estate by Patrick Darby ISBN 0 9511491 2 1