Kingswood House goes Victorian.
We’ve featured a few pieces about Kingswood House on Dulwich OnView recently. We believe it’s a good cause which needs some attention.
If you’ve not heard of this place before, it’s a stunning building near Sydenham overland station. It was built as the home of a rich family, but it’s now a community centre, as it sits at the heart of the Kingswood estate. I’ve realised now, after a few visits, that while the building itself is stunning, the beauty of the place lies in the detail – as can be seen in these pictures I took at the recent Victorian open day.
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And it’s not only the detailed decoration which makes this place to special – the people who make the building what it is today are special too. A small team of staff is supplemented by a loyal and dedicated group – the Friends of Kingswood House.
While at the Kingswood Victorian day I bumped into Councillor Lewis Robinson. He’s the Southwark council representative for the area and he’s also the executive member for culture, leisure and sports. He agreed with me that Kingswood is a beautiful, unique building.
He says:
“It’s a great resource for local residents.
“We would like to see Kingswood House promoted more within the borough of Southwark. It’s already being used as a registered wedding venue – people come here, fall in love with the place and decide to get married here. And that’s a great stream of revenue for the house.”
Cllr Robinson also informed me that he has directed the culture team to republish ‘A History of Kingswood House’, which had previously gone out of print. The new publication will be sponsored by Southwark Council.
So it’s good news for Kingswood in the short term. But the staff and Friends of the house tell me that local support for the building as a community centre isn’t as strong as it could be. Couples paying to get married at the venue may well bring in much-needed money, but the house also needs to be used and appreciated by the locals who live within walking distance if it is to survive as a viable community centre.
The Victorian open day was a great success for Kingswood and the Friends of the house – there were plenty of people out, enjoying the what the building has to offer. But how to get the locals on the doorstep enthused about the place is an ongoing issue.
Cllr Robinson says, “There’s work to be done in the area of promotions. It would be good to promote the house more in the local area, for example installing heritage signposts at local train stations.”
The signs are due to go up soon, apparently.
In the meantime, the Friends of Kingswood House are looking to boost their members. If you fancy getting involved, drop them a line. As you can see from the photos above, the true beauty of the house is in the detail.
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