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Kingston-Upon-Thames, London: Home of the Sopwith Aviation Factory

The Sopwith Camel is probably the best known and most successful British aeroplane of World War One.

The Sopwith Aviation Company was set up in 1912 by a young entrepreneur called Tommy Sopwith.

Many of the Sopwith models were designed in an old skating rink on Canbury Park Road, in Kingston-Upon-Thames.

There was never an airfield in Kingston so testing took place at nearby Brooklands.

The Sopwith factory produced a dazzling array of prototype models to support the war effort but in 1920 the company went into voluntary liquidation.

Sopwith started again with a new company, HG Hawker Engineering, which would go on to produce the Hawker Hurricane.

Location: Canbury Park Road, Kingston-Upon-Thames, London KT2
Image: Sopwith Camel

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