Surbiton Lagoon

Surbiton Lagoon, Raeburn Avenue, Surbiton

Surbiton Lagoon was a popular open air swimming pool lido in Raeburn Avenue in Surbiton, Surrey. It opened in 1934 and closed in 1979 for repairs, never to open again.

Read on for first hand experiences and memories of Surbiton Lagoon. You can comment on any of these posts by using the form at the bottom.

It’s entirely untrue to say that the lagoon was closed due to declining popularity. It was packed in the seventies. I remember having to wait to get in.
It was closed because the council decided that instead of two well-used but aged pools, which required a lot of maintenance, (the Lagoon and the Coronation Baths) the Borough would benefit from a flagship state of the art pool, the Kingfisher, which they funded by selling off the two other sites. I know this because I briefly went out with one of the council officials responsible for the decision, and a non-swimmer!   The Kingfisher, with it’s two shallow ends and lack of outdoor access hardly filled the gap left by the loss of the facilities of the Lagoon. Berrylands.

Surbiton Lagoon was an awesome place to be in the summer in the 70′s. 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 in Berrylands. I know lets 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! JTait New Malden

The pool was called Surbiton Lagoon and was in Berrylands. There is a new housing development in its place.

Surbiton Lagoon was close to Reaburn Avenue. It was a very large pool. Probably Olympic in size. It was extremely popular during the 1930s until around the late 60s early 70s. Other leisure pursuits became more popular and the pool fell in to disrepair. People came from miles around. Berrylands had a good train service in those days.

Was browsing your site. Just wanted to thank the person who posted pictures of Surbiton Lagoon. I’m in the U.S. now but used to go there every summer as a child. Thanks for the memories!
I certainly remember Surbiton Lagoon in the late sixties. In hot weather it was a marvellous place and it was a great shame that it closed around the time I had to move away from Kingston in the 1970s.

I also remember the Coronation baths in Denmark Road well. For six years I was a member of Kingston Ladies’ Swimming Club and we met there every Friday.  There were two pools in summer but just the one in winter.  The larger pool, which was very deep and had a high diving board, was drained and covered over in the winter to make the Coronation Hall, which was a dance hall with a bar and a gallery.  On Friday nights there were often Jazz Band Balls, when well-known Traditional Jazz Bands used to play.  Me and my friends used to sneak into the gallery after our swimming class in the other pool, in order to listen to the music. The baths also had ordinary baths for washing in, which one could hire if one did not have a bath at home.
Both the Lagoon and the Coronation baths were getting very tatty by the end of the sixties; the changing rooms for the Coronation baths’ smaller pool were freezing in winter, for example; but it is a shame that the money wasn’t found to bring them up to date for serious swimming. The new Richmond pool that opened in the mid-sixties was marvellous and it must have taken some customers away from Kingston. My Mum, who was a far more serious swimmer than me, only went to the Kingfisher Pool once, preferring the older Teddington baths.

Reading your site during my lunch break today, I was interested to read your paragraph about the old Surbiton Lagoon and Coronation Baths both of which you report were closed to fund the Kingfisher. As a former Surbiton resident and a regular user of both the above during the 1960s and 70s, you might be interested to know that I heard (but not confirmed) that one of the reasons why Coronation Baths closed was because the glass roof above bath one (Coronation Hall) was unsafe and in danger of falling down. Originally made unsafe by the vibration from bombing in WW2.

I also remember the Coronation baths in Denmark Road well. For six years I was a member of Kingston Ladies’ Swimming Club and we met there every Friday.  There were two pools in summer but just the one in winter.  The larger pool, which was very deep and had a high diving board, was drained and covered over in the winter to make the Coronation Hall, which was a dance hall with a bar and a gallery.  On Friday nights there were often Jazz Band Balls, when well-known Traditional Jazz Bands used to play.  Me and my friends used to sneak into the gallery after our swimming class in the other pool, in order to listen to the music. The baths also had ordinary baths for washing in, which one could hire if one did not have a bath at home.

Both the Lagoon and the Coronation baths were getting very tatty by the end of the sixties; the changing rooms for the Coronation baths’ smaller pool were freezing in winter, for example; but it is a shame that the money wasn’t found to bring them up to date for serious swimming. The new Richmond pool that opened in the mid-sixties was marvellous and it must have taken some customers away from Kingston. My Mum, who was a far more serious swimmer than me, only went to the Kingfisher Pool once, preferring the older Teddington baths.

Surbiton Lagoon was an awesome place the be in the summer in the 70’s. 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 in Berrylands. I know lets 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! JTait New Malden

I also remember the Coronation baths in Denmark Road well. For six years I was a member of Kingston Ladies’ Swimming Club and we met there every Friday.  There were two pools in summer but just the one in winter.  The larger pool, which was very deep and had a high diving board, was drained and covered over in the winter to make the Coronation Hall, which was a dance hall with a bar and a gallery.  On Friday nights there were often Jazz Band Balls, when well-known Traditional Jazz Bands used to play.  Me and my friends used to sneak into the gallery after our swimming class in the other pool, in order to listen to the music. The baths also had ordinary baths for washing in, which one could hire if one did not have a bath at home.
Both the Lagoon and the Coronation baths were getting very tatty by the end of the sixties; the changing rooms for the Coronation baths’ smaller pool were freezing in winter, for example; but it is a shame that the money wasn’t found to bring them up to date for serious swimming. The new Richmond pool that opened in the mid-sixties was marvellous and it must have taken some customers away from Kingston. My Mum, who was a far more serious swimmer than me, only went to the Kingfisher Pool once, preferring the older Teddington baths.