Thames Tributary Redhill Brook - Redhill

Thames Tributary Redhill Brook
The brook flows southwards, partly converted. It is also called Gurney’s Brook in this area


Post to the east Redhill
Post to the south Redhill Common

Batts Hill
This is the old north route to Wray Common from the Nutfield-Reigate Road.
Linkfield House TA centre with lodge

Belfry Centre
Opened in 1991 on the site of a car park
The clock is from the old St. Anne’s institution

Brighton Road
The Redhill Brook flowed on the east side of the road. The road had to be built on faggots because of the soft ground and was nevertheless subject to flooding. Hall’s Yard was between the turnpike road and railway on a piece of land conveyed from the railway and a depot built. It was seen as an office with equal status to their depot at Croydon. This was the first building in Redhill to have a telephone and the line was specially put in for them in 1890. In 1934 it was rebuilt with a slabbing works, also showroom for sanitary ware etc. centre of pantile manufacture, engineering works, offices and showrooms.
Methodist church. Foundation stone laid in 1884. Demolished in 1954.
18 Britannia Pub, demolished in 1960.
Garland Pub. Built as the Anchor in 1865. On land owned by the British Land Co Ltd, Brewers are Harvey’s of Lewes.
Flats on the site of the Greyhound pub. Closed 2007

Bridge Road
This has been railway company land sold as surplus to the British Land Company in 1859 who laid it out for housing

Carrington Close
A reference to astronomer R.C.Carrington who lived locally and published a catalogue mapping the northern skies.

Dome Way
Road named after the dome on Carrington's house.

Furze Hill
Flats on the Site of Carrington's house of the 1850s with a dome on the top as an observatory.

Chapel Road
Flats on the site Congregational church built here in the 1860s. Used for a while as Redhill library but it was demolished in 1993. Stone front wall remains.

Cecil Road
Coleman Institute on the corner with London road working men’s club donated by Jeremiah Coleman of the mustard. Gone under mega offices and Sainsburys.

Cromwell Road
Le Papillion – this was the Dragon pub, Previously the George and Dragon

Garlands Road
Named after a house called Great Garlands nearby

Grove Hill Road
This was called Gatton Road until 1882. This had been railway company land sold as surplus to the British Land Company in 1859 who laid it out for housing

Hatchlands Road
Reffells bridge where Linkfield Lane joins the road. The bridge is named for Samuel Relf who had a brewery here in 1845 which was occupied by Henry Reffel in the 1850. It was taken over by Cutforth brothers in the 1870s
Foresters’ Arms or the Hatch Pub. 17th said that the buildings were a workhouse built soon after 1739.
Redhill War Memorial - a soldier holding a baby
Somers Arms Pub – took over from the pub in Brighton road when it closed. It was built in 1853 and fronted the Cutforth Brothers brewery. It is now known as Somers House.

High Street
The west side was developed in the 1850s
Royal Oak near Lower Bridge Road 1857. Demolished 1957
Temperance Hotel on the corner of Grove Road
Bridge House on the site of RC St.Joseph’s Church. Lady Mostyn had bought land next to the Reading Arch where a church and school were built in 1860. Replaced in 1898 using the old foundations. Demolished in 1986 and moved to Ladbroke Road.
The Pavilion Cinema. This was between Chapel Road and Lower Bridge Road, and opened in 1912. It was red brick and a prominent feature. Inside it was in the Greek style with scenery painted by Fred Karno Co. It also had a stage for variety artists. In 1929 a new owner installed Movietone and Vitaphone apparatus which meant it was one of only 250 cinemas in the country to show talkies. It was renamed The Rio in the late 1940s and it closed following a fire in 1952, and was eventually demolished.
Dog and Duck also called The Office. Pub on the corner of Cromwell Road. It has also been called the Tower and then Crocks,
Wheatsheaf pub. Name changed to the Firlot and Firkin and it has also been O’Neills and The Junction at Redhill. The pub was built c.1900.

Linkfield Corner
Site of the Linkfield manor house, it became known as The Barracks because used for sick soldiers after the Flushing battle. Demolished in 1861and replaced by the Globe Temperance Hotel, also since demolished.
Red Lion. Second oldest pub in the area built 1750. In 1700 this property was bequeathed to Reigate grammar school by Robert Bishop. Where Ronnie Biggs used to drink.

Linkfield Lane
This follows the line of the old pre-turnpike route from Merstham to Reigate leaving the east-west route at the junction of Whitepost Lane and Mill Street.
36, 38, 49 are 16th

Linkfield Street
Fengates House on the corner with Fengates Road, this was once the site of a farm called Fengates. Quaker meetings were held there
40 White Lion, 16th
Goose Green – with cottages centuries younger than the pub

London Road
Queens Arms pub 1849. Demolished 1972
Methodist church built in 1934 on the site of a bowling club. It had a billiard room and Sunday school and on the opening day sir Joseph Rank was in the choir.

North Street
Development here following granting of building leases by the Countess of Warwick in the mid 1840s. It was initially called Warwick Town
Bell Pub. Owned by the Hornchurch Brewery but demolished in 1958

Oakdene Road
This was once called Tanyard Lane
Bark Inn. Bark barn 18th wooden remains of Redhill tannery which was used for oak bark storage. In the 17th the tannery was owned by the Blatt family and by 1864 by the Bermondsey based Barrow and sons. It closed in 1961 when it was owed by Messrs, Bacon. The site is now housing
Lorne House was on the corner with Linkfield Street and was the home of Sir Samuel Barrow of the tannery

Observatory Walk
Named for astronomer Carrington's observatory
Star pub, closed 1910

Queensway
Sun. Wetherspoon's pub opened 1996. The name refers to the work of astronomer Carrington.
Warwick Hotel and the Warwick Tap, demolished 1972

Reading Arch Road
So called because it went to the arch way carrying the Reading line.
Redhill Gas Co. Original works was alongside the railway

Ridgeway road
This had been railway company land sold as surplus to the British Land Company in 1859 who laid it out for housing
Congregational church manse built on 1880s and a plaque on the house, now private, explains it.

Station Road
Built in 1842 at the request of local residents to join Redstone Hill with Linkfield's way to facilitate access to the station. Remained a private road owned by the railway with a gate and gatehouse near the site of what is now Lloyds Bank. This remained until it was adopted in 1872
Development here following granting of building leases by the countess of Warwick in the mid 1840s. It was initially called Warwick town
4 Abbot pub, built 1997
South Eastern Hotel. The name refers to the South Eastern Railway, which had a financial stake in the railway. The pub was closed in 1977 and later demolished
Stone Victorian Posting box now demolished
St.Matthew. built in 1866 from local firestone. Originally a chapel of ease in a temporary iron church in 1848 and school was initially built along with it
Market Hall. Built on very boggy land. There was a crane on the east side of the building, which was in standard commercial Jacobean designed by I & G. Francis. It was erected in 1860. Above it is the Assembly Hall which will hol d about 550. During the 20th various alterations were made to the whole assembly of buildings although municipal meetings were not held here after 1901. It was much used for social events and performances. It was eventually demolished in 1982.
Market field was bought opposite alongside station road and high street. Very boggy with a stream down one side. Drinking fountain added in 1876 and a horse trough. A second hall, built 1891, was used for Redhill County Court. Markets held in the market hall were eventually held here. Markets with animals ceased in the 20th and the site became a car park
Police station was alongside the market hall from 1866
Automatic signals installed at the junction of Station Road and Brighton Road as early as the 1940s
Baptist chapel ‘1858’ on the facade
16-18 Arcade. The earliest cinema in Redhill was The Cinema Royal, later known as The Picture House which opened in 1909 and held 700. It was refurbished and reopened in 1928 following extensive flooding from the Redhill Brook., It closed in 1937 and the entrance canopy remains.

Warwick Quadrant
Harlequin Theatre. This is more or less on the site of the old market hall.

Warwick Road
Development here following granting of building leases by the Countess of Warwick in the mid 1840s. It was initially called Warwick town
Conservative club on the site of a Mechanics Institute built in the 1840s.

Whitepost Lane
Line of the ancient route before modern main roads were built – part of the east-west route between Nutfield and Reigate
Shaw’s corner on the junction with Reigate Road, horse trough there came from market field.
Junction with Mill Street is the point at which the north-south route left the Reigate-Nutfield Road going up Linkfield Street
Rising Sun pub, 19th pub but now private housing
Sub Post office built here in 1843. Mail here was franked ‘red hill’ - an important step in the evolution of the name
St Paul’s Presbyterian Church built in 1900 but by 1972 it was United Reform


Sources

It would not be possible to write anything about Redhill without the books and ubiquitous web sites of Alan Moore. I am very impressed!

Banks. Surrey. The Penguin Guides
Hall. History of Hall & Co.
Kent Surrey Sussex. Penguin Guide, 1939
Moore. Redhill History
Nairn. Modern Buildings
Pevsner. Surrey

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

South Norwood

Bromley by Bow

River Lea/Bow Creek Canning Town