Kingswood House

Kingswood House is a large, late Victorian, Scottish baronial-style house in Dulwich, London. 

Kingswood’s most significant owner was John Lawson-Johnston, the inventor of Bovril! In the 1950s, the grounds were converted into a large housing estate and the house retained as a library. After 20 years of long-term decline, the house was recently reopened as a community arts centre. Enjoy a guided tour with the founder through the great hall, golden room, Jacobean room and palm court. Experience many of the fascinating original features and enjoy plenty of stories that bring the colourful characters of the past alive!

Palm Court

Tickets £18.50 including a hot drink and cake/sweet pastry

Getting here:
There is very limited parking on site at Kingswood Arts so we recommend using public transport or parking off the estate and walking in.

• Sydenham Hill train station is very close by and has a regular service from Victoria.
• The area is serviced by the 450 bus from West Croydon to Bell Green. Get off at Kingswood Drive.
• By overground, the closest station is Sydenham, then take the 450 bus towards Crystal Palace and get off at Kingswood Drive.

Please note: a 'schools street' is in operation around the Kingswood Estate from 8-9:30am and 2:30-4pm from Monday to Friday. You can't drive onto the estate during these hours. If you drive onto the estate before this, you can drive off without any problems. Tours start at 2:30 sharp so arrivals by car ahead of this time should not be affected. Unaffected alternative parking is available on Kingswood Drive which is 2-5 mins walk away. 

Visitors' views:

• Unique building with such an interesting history of ownership and activity. It is part of an estate where members of the public can take part in arts and activities. Wonderful café and the tour was very informative, through various rooms and their uses and the plans for future restoration projects. Very easy to get to from the station and we also had a beautiful walk around the area, including the woodlands, London skyline and Dulwich College.

• What an amazing hidden treasure.... Kingswood House is such an amazing house, with 200 years of history, including lawyers, princes and famous inventors. The hosts that led the tours were very friendly and knew their stuff. A lot of the original features still exist, and the tour guides had great stories and tales about the owners that shaped the building though the years, I would highly recommend a tour, and if you ever get the chance it's a great venue for parties, weddings, or just even having a coffee in the old morning room, which had been beautifully turned into a bespoke café.

Please see our cancellation policy below:
If you cancel more than two weeks before the tour is scheduled to take place, we will fully refund your ticket money excluding any phone booking fees. If it’s less than 14 days before a tour, for any reason, we regret that we cannot refund your ticket money unless we can resell your ticket(s). If we cancel at any time, we will fully refund your ticket money. Although we make every effort to avoid it, sometimes a tour has to be cancelled at short notice due to circumstances beyond our control. In this case, we cannot accept responsibility for, or refund, any consequential losses, such as money spent on travel or accommodation.