Surbiton Lagoon was an open air

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

located in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

, London, England. It opened in May 1934 though had been open for business since April, and was situated in Raeburn Avenue in what was then the

Surbiton Urban District Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it ha ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. It was situated on the 418 bus route of London Transport (London Country Buses from 1 January 1970), and near to

Berrylands Berrylands is a residential neighbourhood in Surbiton, London, originally forming part of the Municipal Borough of Surbiton, and since 1965 part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. It is a suburban development situated south west of ...

and

Tolworth railway station Tolworth railway station, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south London, is a station on the Chessington Branch Line, down the line from . The station is part of the London suburban network of South Western Railway and is in T ...

s. The lagoon complex was designed by the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

HT Mather. The pool had a maximum depth of and a minimum depth of . It was x - a huge pool by any standards. The lagoon was closed permanently in 1980.

Opening day

The opening ceremony was performed on a Wednesday evening in May 1934 by Mr. H.S. Durbin JP and featured many displays of swimming, including an appearance by Miss Ivy Hawke, the successful 1928 channel swimmer. A water polo match was held, and the festivities went on into the evening.

The Lagoon

The Lagoon was approached along a grass-lined entrance drive. On the other side of the road is a small stream, a tributary to the

Hogsmill The Hogsmill River in Surrey and Greater London, England is a small chalk stream tributary of the River Thames. It rises in Ewell and flows into the Thames at Kingston upon Thames on the lowest non-tidal reach, that above Teddington Lock. ...

, and in front the whitewashed entrance with fittings picked out in bright blue paint. The photo shows the flats in Edith Gardens which are opposite where the Lagoon used to be. As visitors entered the pool complex through a

turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...

they were greeted by an ornamental fountain. The pool had a full set of diving boards, both

springboard A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type. Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and ...

s and

diving platforms A diving platform or diving tower is a type of structure used for competitive diving. It consists of a vertical rigid "tower" with one or more horizontal platforms extending out over a deep pool of water. In platform diving, the diver jumps from ...

at the deep end, and a simple tall slide. At the shallow end was a smaller slide suitable for children. Entry to the water was down a set of submerged stairs, an unusual design feature. Along the right hand side of the pool was a set of sun terraces, concrete broad stairs with wooden boards on top. There was a lagoon café, and an ice cream booth. Separate ladies' and gentlemen's changing facilities, each with a children's section. Ladies' facilities were on the left and gentlemen's were straight ahead, past the deep end. The pool was surrounded by a paved area, with the paving at the edge of the pool somewhat rough, making climbing out of the water without using the stairs an exfoliating experience. Though the water was heated, it was always a bracing experience to get in. The lagoon had a

holiday camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with term ...

carefree atmosphere:

''"Surbiton Lagoon was an awesome place to be in the summer in the 70s. The moment you got through the turnstiles and saw that big fountain you could feel the excitement. It had huge terraces where you could sunbathe all day, the pool was massive with a really deep, deep end, the girls looked great in their bikinis.
Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...
in Berrylands. I know, let's knock it down and build another really boring housing development on it. Yeah, that's much better. Not! Massive, massive shame it was closed down. A shame on Kingston council. I feel it is sorely missed!"
J Tait, New Malden''Question and response re Surbiton lagoon
/ref>

Site-of-Surbiton-Lagoon-from-across-Raebarn-Avenue

The tennis courts are now covered by a housing estate, the lagoon itself has been landscaped. The site was 20

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s, and the development cost was £18,000 in 1934.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Surbiton Lagoon - brief historySurbiton Lagoon, Raeburn Ave, Surbiton (SLN93)
- Museum of London Archaeology Service Defunct sports venues in London Sports venues in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Defunct lidos Sports venues completed in 1934 1934 establishments in England 1980 disestablishments in England