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Discover the links between Cox Lane industrial estate and Chessington North station in the Kingston borough
COX LANE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE WALK
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This looped walk explores the heritage of the Industrial estate and green spaces surrounding it, which make this estate an asset to the neighbourhood and the Borough.
COX LANE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
When we think of Mary Quant and the sixties cultural revolution, the Formula 1 world championships of Bernie Ecclestone and Nelson Piquet, or Donald Campbell’s successful attempts to smash the water speed record, we are hardly inclined to think of suburban industrial estates. Yet the Cox Lane industrial estate in Chessington, located in the south of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, has over the years played a very real role in facilitating these incredible stories.
The estate was established in the 1930s and sits between Hook, Chessington and Tolworth along the railway line. Over 100 different businesses have been located here since then.
The estate represents a rich heritage but also a centre for innovation, creativity and employment in the present. Find out more about the exciting history of the industrial estate.
HOW TO GET THERE
Train - Chessington North station on South Western railway.
Bus - 71 to Chessington North station
K2 to Cox lane from Kingston Town Centre.
Car - Parking is available at Chessington North station and the corner car park at the junction of Jubilee way and Cox lane.
On your way around, follow this easy read guide and discover fascinating local history. For further exploration, you can also join a number of walks, trails and parks connecting into the route.
Allow up to 2 hours. Walking shoes or comfortable footwear recommended.
Some noteworthy businesses of the past:
• Gala Cosmetics (Manufactured all of Mary Quant’s iconic makeup in the 1960’s)
• Siebe Gorman (Deep sea technology specialists where Donald Campbell tested his K7 Bluebird)
• Brabham F1 team (Based here 1978-1992 and won two F1 championships under Bernie Ecclestone’s leadership)
BONESGATE OPEN SPACE
This is a five hectare linear public park and local nature reserve, running alongside the
Bonesgate stream on both sides of Chessington Road. It has grassy areas which formed the ends of fields now built on by housing development and coppiced hazel. You can see yellow wagtails, herons and occasionally a kingfisher along the stream. Butterflies can also be seen particularly along the sunny path on the west side of the stream leading to the Bonesgate public house.
CHURCH LANE
The lane was originally a narrow road leading up to St Mary the Virgin, the Parish Church at the top of the hill, with a pond at the bottom where the lane joined Moor Lane. There are a number of cottages still standing along the lane dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including Fream Cottages near the church built in 1897, named after one of the original manors in the area whose manor house was nearby Chessington Hall.
CHURCHFIELDS
Much of the land of Churchfields was originally part of the Chessington Hall estate, a country house standing to the north of Churchfields on Garrison Lane. The land included farmland and an orchard. The route of the path through the park follows the line of some very old paths dating back to the 19th century, linking the church and Church Lane directly down to near the junction of Clayton Road and Hook Road. The Chessington Hall estate is important in literary history as Samuel Crisp lived there in the 18th century, his good friend and novelist Fanny Burnley is likely to have written her second novel Cecillia there in the summerhouse.
BULLWHIPS, FORMERLY GOSBURY HILL
The walk takes you through an interesting green space at the top of what was known as Gosbury Hill, the site of Hook's grandest estate which included a nine acre park, chapel, tower, farm and orchard. As you walk through the trees along the path at the top of the hill you can see views north past St Matthew’s in Surbiton, with the Wembley Arch visible across the top of the spire on a clear day. From the grassed area you can see views towards Epsom in the east and Churchfields to the south with the Surrey Hills beyond.
SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY
This route starts at Chessington North station, part of the Waterloo - Chessington South line.
Other walking routes:
Tolworth - Chessington walk
Tolworth - Malden Manor - Berrylands
Thames Down link
Hogsmill River trail - Kingston rail station to Malden Manor station
Hogsmill River trail - Malden Manor station to Ewell West rail station
Chessington Countryside walk
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