Kingswood House

Kingswood House
General information
Location	Dulwich, London, United Kingdom

Kingswood House, formerly known as King's Coppice, is a Victorian mansion in West Dulwich, at the southern tip of the London Borough of Southwark, United Kingdom. It is a Grade II listed building.^[1]

It is now used an arts and community centre called Kingswood Arts.

In 1811 William Vizard, the solicitor to Queen Caroline in her divorce from George IV, was granted a 63-year lease for Kingswood Lodge. When Vizard returned to his native Gloucestershire in 1831, others were granted the property leases.^{[citation needed]}

From 1891 the house was owned by John Lawson Johnston (inventor of Bovril) who extended the house and remodelled the facade including adding battlements. Johnston acquired the nickname Mr Bovril and because of its castellated features Kingswood became known locally as Bovril Castle.^{[citation needed]} Some remaining garden features from this era are thought to have been installed by Pulham & Co.^[2]

In the First World War Kingswood was used as a convalescent home for wounded Canadian soldiers. At this time it came to the notice of Lady Vestey who was doing social work in connection with the soldiers housed there. In 1919 her husband Sir William Vestey was granted an 80-year lease and in 1921 when he was raised to the peerage he became Baron Vestey of Kingswood in the County of Surrey. Kingswood was the Vesteys' main home until William's death.^{[citation needed]}

In 1954 it was decided by the then Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell to turn the building into a library and community centre, for the benefit of Kingswood Estate residents, and in 1956 the council acquired the site by compulsory purchase.^[3] Lord Vestey's estate had by then been developed into a large residential area, with the grounds occupied by houses, flats and shops. In 1965 it became the property of the London Borough of Southwark. It underwent substantial refurbishment in the 1980s and 1990s, and was subsequently used for conferences, meetings and civil marriages.^{[citation needed]}

In the grounds in front of Kingswood House there are still some remains of the Pulham features.^[2] In 2005 a tapestry was made by over 100 local residents depicting the history of the house.^[4] In 2011 a blue plaque was erected on the side of the building to commemorate John Lawson Johnston and his residence there.^{[citation needed]}