Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK).

[1] Founded originally as Kingston-upon-Railway when the area was first developed in the 1840s,[2] Surbiton possesses a mixture of grand 19th-century townhouses, Art Deco courts, and more recent residential blocks blending in with semi-detached 20th-century housing estates.

[6] It was only renamed Surbiton to distinguish it from the new Kingston railway station on the Shepperton branch line, which opened on 1 January 1869.

As a result, Kingston is now on a branch line, whereas passengers from Surbiton (smaller in comparison) can reach London Waterloo in as little as 16 minutes[7] on a fast direct service; as well as places further afield, including Portsmouth and Southampton.

Surbiton falls within the UK parliamentary constituency of Kingston and Surbiton, which is represented in the House of Commons by Sir Ed Davey, currently the leader of the Liberal Democrats who served as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change during the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition.

These provide links to Chessington, Kingston town centre, Twickenham, Hounslow, Epsom, Leatherhead, Dorking, Cobham, Staines, Weybridge and Guildford.

[11] Surbiton lacks major motorways, although the A3 road cuts through Berrylands ward at Tolworth Underpass.

The church and the original vicarage were paid for by one man, William Matthew Coulthurst, who was the senior partner of Coutts Bank.

Built into the wall behind the plaque, there is a photograph of Hannah, a copy of 'The Times' newspaper of the day and a letter from William Coulthurst stipulating that the church should remain in the evangelical tradition.

The Clayton memorial triptych window was installed in 1921, designed by Louis Davis, 'the last of the Pre-Raphaelites', and made by Thomas Cowall (1870–1949) for James Powell and Sons.

[19] According to the 2011 Census, Muslims form the largest minority religious community at about 5% of the population; the nearest mosque is located in Kingston upon Thames.

Its men's and ladies' 1st XIs currently both play in their respective national premier leagues, while its youth section regularly produces players of international quality.

The Pre-Raphaelite painters John Everett Millais (1829–1896) and William Holman Hunt (1827–1910) came to Surbiton in 1851, 26 years before Richard Jefferies (1848–1887).

The writer Enid Blyton was governess to a Surbiton family for four years from 1920, at a house called 'Southernhay', also on the Hook Road.

[23] C. H. Middleton (1886–1945), who broadcast on gardening during the Second World War, lived in Surbiton, where he died suddenly outside his home.

[24] The artist who brought Rupert the Bear to life for a whole generation, Alfred Bestall, sketched out his cartoons from his home in Cranes Park, Surbiton Hill.

[25] A 1972 episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus featured a mock documentary which investigated whether the residents of Hounslow, another London area suburb, had long ago been descendants of the people of Surbiton "who had made the great trek north".

[26] Surbiton is popularly remembered as an icon of suburbia in such British television programmes as The Good Life (starring Richard Briers, Penelope Keith, Paul Eddington and Felicity Kendal), though location filming was done in Northwood, North-West London,[27] and John Sessions and Phil Cornwell's comedy series Stella Street.