Tolworth
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Tolworth is a mostly residential suburb of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, located 11.1 miles (17.8 km) south west of Charing Cross.
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[edit] Local geography and architecture
Architecturally Tolworth consists mainly of low-density 1930s semi-detached properties, and small to medium commercial and retail developments. There is a concentration of industrial activity in an area bounded on the north by A3 London-to-Portsmouth trunk route, which runs through the area. The access junction for the A3, linking it on the north with the Broadway and on the south with the A240 Kingston Road toward Epsom, is known as the Toby Jug Roundabout, named after the public house which stood beside it until recently demolished. The area is also served by a branch rail line running from London Waterloo to Chessington South two stops to the south, with services run by South-West Trains. An extensive low-lying office development, bounded by the A3 to the north and the rail line to the south, was once occupied by the Ministry of Defence, but has lain vacant for a number of years.
The principal shopping centre - the Broadway - is dominated by Tolworth Tower, an office block designed by the late Richard Seifert and opened in 1964. The tower is 80.8 m high with 22 floors. The ground floor of the building is occupied largely by a single retail unit - currently a Marks and Spencer supermarket - and smaller retail units along the Broadway, the remainder taken up with access to the other floors. The remaining floors of the building was originally occupied by commercial and government offices, but the north wing has recently re-opened as a Travelodge hotel. The building appears in the Taschen book of Boring Postcards.
The offices and studios of Radio Jackie, a commercial radio station broadcasting to south-west London and north Surrey, can be found on the Broadway. The broadcast mast is sited, with many other antennae, atop Tolworth Tower.
Tolworth is the home of its own community arts centre: The CornerHOUSE (Previously known as the Douglas Centre).
Tolworth is mentioned in the very first episode of Monty Python, in the sketch 'Picasso/Cycling Race'.
[edit] Sport and recreation
Tolworth has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V, which Corinthian-Casuals play home games at (two very famous amateur football teams that have since merged).
[edit] Nearest places
[edit] External links
- UK skyscraper list 2001, for Tolworth Tower data
- Radio Jackie
- The CornerHOUSE
- Surbiton.com local community news
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- Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
- Aerial image from TerraServer
- Satellite image from WikiMapia
