Store building, 6 Riverhill, Worcester Park Road, Worcester Park.

Heritage assessment for local listing designation as

Building of Townscape Merit (BTM)

Introduction This heritage assessment for potential local designation of the store building at 6 Rivehill Worcester Park Road as Building of Townscape Merit (BTM) has been carried out on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK) by Elisabetta Tonazzi ARB RIBA Conservation Architect on the basis of the following information:  Historic records held at RBK History Centre  Information provided by local resident Ms Alison Fure  2016 Historic England’s preliminary assessment for potential statutory listing  Visual inspection carried out by RBK Strategic Planning and Asset teams

Site location The two storey brick building considered to be an apple store sits very close to the residential property at 6 Riverhill, and is located in the western section of the Riverhill Mobile Home Park, Worcester Park on the boundary of the Kingston University Tolworth Court Sports Ground. The building is located on the site of the former kitchen garden for demolished Riverhill House. The remains of the kitchen garden and wider estate are now occupied by a residential caravan park.

Historic development The estate where the garden building is located dates back to Domesday (Ref: local history file, A. Baker, 1978). The 1868 Ordinance Survey map (Ref: XIII-9, 1868) shows that a house called River Hill existed on this site.

OS XIII-9, 1868

The 1895 OS map shows that a building had been erected between 1870’s and 1890’s to north west of the Riverhill house and associated walled garden and wider estate which are now lost. In 1911 Riverhill house burnt down (Ref: Surrey Comet 22/04/1911 p.3) and it was rebuilt in 1924 (Ref: local history file, A. Baker, 1978). The Ordnance Survey Map of 1933 consistently shows the garden building structure as part of the estate of the rebuilt main house which is here renamed as Tolworth Hall. All later OS maps will identify the house as Riverhill.

OS XIII-9, 1895 OS XIII-9, 1933

The 1955 OS map here below still shows the garden building to North West of the house while a more articulated plan plot identifies a new building in place of Riverhill house. The Historic England assessment accordingly reports that the house was demolished and rebuilt in about 1950.

OS XIII-9, 1955

OS 1: 1250, 1955

The OS maps dating from 1975 up to 1992 show that the site remains almost unchanged with house, outbuildings and parkland sitting within the growing urban context.

OS 1:10,000, 1975

OS 1:10,000, 1992 Today the Riverhill site is occupied by a home caravan park and has completely lost its historic character as a suburban estate with main house and parkland. The loss of original buildings and uses, being the store the only remain of the Riverhill estate, together with the substantial alterations to the site layout and the lack of historic accounts has deleted any recognizable connection between past and present uses, events and people of the site and this lack of historic memory does not allow to place any historic value on the store building.

Architecture The store building is characterized by a rectangular plan form, two storeys above ground, and an eclectic style combination of simple Gothic with oriental influences, a Gothic style entrance, rectangular window openings with timber frames and an overhanging pagoda-type clay tile roof. The interior has a rudimentary timber stairs and mezzanine floor. The two floors above ground can be accessed by a ladder and have been used for storage by the occupant of the adjoining park home property. Upon inspection it was found that the ground floor is used for small item storage whereas the second floor hosts larger items. Two of the back windows on the first floor and all windows on the very top floor have been boarded up. The concrete floor is cracked and some of the timber floor boards on the first floor are rotting. No evidence was found of the building being populated by bats. The building is in poor state of repair and there is evident lack of maintenance, however it seems structurally sound and Historic England’s assessment confirmed that the building is not under threat. The simple, utilitarian architecture and materials of this garden structure with ancillary uses to the main house do not demonstrate any aesthetic value and no special architectural interest or innovation in terms of structure, typology and function as confirmed in the Historic England’s appraisal based on the information provided and with reference to the Principles of Selection for Listing Buildings (DCMS, March 2010) and Historic England's Selection Guides.

Use The historic use of the garden building is not documented, but its utilitarian, vertical architecture within a rural estate suggests that it was a dovecote as in the past doves and pigeons were a valuable source of meat, manure and feathers for mattresses. Local residents’ accounts report that the descendant of a family called Offa owned the apple orchards and used the building as an apple store. The Historic England‘s assessment suggests that the building may have been an ‘apple store’ but there is little physical evidence to support this specific use. The building may have well been used as a dovecote or more general store for the C20 operation of the kitchen garden and orchards. As reported by local residents the building was temporarily used in 2015 by local residents to feed pigeons. Since then the structure has been in use for general storage by residents and it is therefore not possible to attach any evidential or communal value to the building.

Local listing criteria Further to the Historic England’s assessment for statutory designation and in the light of the above considerations the store building has been further tested against the Council’s criteria for local designation as Building of Townscape Merit as follows:

1. Any building, not statutorily listed, which can be proved to date from before 1840 – the store building dates from 1870’s-1890’s and does not match this criterion

2. Selected buildings, not statutorily listed, dating from between 1840-1939 of definite quality and character. These are assessed by whether a building comes under one or more of the following categories:

(a) was included as Grade III on the former statutory list - the building does not satisfy this requirement

(b) retains a substantial portion of original features – it is not possible to establish the level of architectural intactness of this utilitarian building but key features such as windows and interiors have been lost.

(c) has group value – the building displays no group value as its original built context has been destroyed

(d) has association with well-known characters or events;- there is no evidence of social or cultural relevance of the building

(e) displays special value within a certain type or illustrates social, economic or industrial history (e.g. railway stations, schools, almshouses, etc) – the building type is not clearly identified and cannot be related to any remarkable historic use or activity

(f) by reason of its appropriateness to the site and inter-relationship with other buildings makes a unique contribution to the townscape. - the building does not historically or architecturally relate to the existing surrounding buildings and the site does not display any quality townscape

3. Post 1939 buildings, not statutorily listed, which are exceptionally good examples of the architectural output of the period and/or are the work of principal architects. - The building does not satisfy this requirement

In summary the building does not meet any of the local listing criteria because of its limited architectural quality, lack of distinctive original features, loss of historic context and lack of evidence about any socio - cultural contribution to the local history.

Conclusions: This assessment has established that the building does not bear sufficient architectural, historical and townscape interest to be locally listed as Buildings of Townscape Merit. As the rest of the estate no longer exists, there is no context left for this building to testify significant historic, cultural and architectural aspects of the former estate. There is no apparent social, economic or cultural benefit associated to the building as there is no evidence to support its function or historic value to the local area or current community. Historic England does not recommend any local listing protection for this building and had the building been worthy of local designation, this would have been set out both in their initial and superseding revised Assessment Reports for Designation. These reports were published on the Heritage Gateway website on 14 July 2017 and 21 August 2017 and provide clarity about the building's unsuitability for statutory national designation.

February 2018, Elisabetta Tonazzi ARB RIBA Conservation Architect