Surbiton station
Surbiton station
In the early 19th century Surbiton consisted of around 40 dwellings and the Waggon and Horses public house but because Kingston brushed the railway aside the hamlet acquired a station very early. This opened as Kingston-on-Railway in 1838, and over the following half-century high-class housing spread across the new suburb, which was also known as Kingston New Town or New Kingston.
Surbiton station was wholly rebuilt in 1937–8. Southern Railways’ in-house design team was responsible for the modernist architecture, under the leadership of James Robb Scott. Some sources suggest that Scott himself may not have made much of a contribution to the styling.
Now a grade II-listed building, it was voted Britain’s ‘most improved station’ after its £3 million refurbishment in 1998.
Professor Dumbledore whisks Harry Potter away from Surbiton station in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, filmed in late 2007.