Introduction

A great deal of the information below has been taken from electoral registers (see Acknowledgements). Although these provide names they do not indicate the relationships of those names, nor do they show anyone under the age of 21 (until fairly recently). For the first couple of decades of the century they often do not include wives as women generally did not receive the vote until the 1920s; although women over the age of 30 were given the vote in 1923, only in 1928 was this franchise extended to women reaching the age of 21. This explains, in part, the apparent increase in the number of occupants in this year.

There were no electoral registers published during the Second World War.

The date shown by each house is generally the date of first occupation, although the date of building is shown if this is known.

The houses are shown in the geographical order in which they appear in the road, starting with the south side and working from west to east. At the end of the list are several house names which do not now exist. Some of them, of course, will be former names of existing houses for which a link has not yet been made; other names, like the houses they once represented, have disappeared for good.

There is little information shown, at present, for the houses to the east of the M23, as this small group of houses is not covered in the Reigate Electoral rolls.

Every house in the Road has received at least one letter inviting them to request the removal of any personal details. Where a reply has been received, it has been complied with. Further information about any of the houses is always welcome and can be sent to info@rockshawroad.org.uk.

West of the railway bridge

This corner plot of land was, during the early part of the twentieth century, the site of the annual Merstham Fair. It was moved from Quality Street when the noise became too much for the residents. Accordingly, this small area became known as Fairfield. On the site was a windmill, together with a house (the Old Mill House) and some workshops. The mill was last worked by Samuel Baker in 1903; the photograph shows the the house several years after this date. Some of the workshops can still be seen at the end of the lane. The house had various occupants until it was demolished in the 1930s.

Mill House was the residence of Violet WATERMAN and George BAKER, a miller, who were married on 20th August 1901.

Samuel Baker, the last miller, died on 30th December 1907 aged 55 and is buried at St Katharine's.

Rachel BATTERS, of Mill House, died aged 50 and was buried at St Katharine's on 14th May 1914; her husband Benjamin, one of five children, died later that year on 13th November. The 1901 census return shows Ben and Rachel, with six children, living in Elm Cottages; he was shown as a 'labourer in limepit', an occupation common to many men in the village at that time.

The electoral register for 1935 records Doris Agnes LETTS as the sole voter in a cottage shown as 1 Fairfield Cottages; it is likely that this was the building otherwise known as Mill House. John LANE was living in the house in 1937; it was demolished the same year and the four Fairfield cottages built on the site.

At the end of the twentieth century two of the original cottages remained in one block; two new houses had been built on the site of the other two.

1 Rockshaw Road became Quest Cottage (1937)

The first entry for this house is in 1938; from this date until the beginning of the 1970s the occupants were Florence Margery and Frederick George REDGROVE. In May 1959 a daughter, Mary Joy, was confirmed at St Katharine's at the age of 16. The electoral register of 1960 refers to the house as 1 Rockshaw Road.

At the end of the 20th century the owner was Ian CAMPBELL; when he moved to Portugal in about 2007 the house became home to Mandy and Michiel STENEKER

Glenside or 2 Rockshaw Road (1937)

The first entry is for 1938, at which time the register shows the occupants as Doris Amy, John Howard and Reginald Howard GIBBS. However, a year later the new owners were Grace Annie Louise and William Percy JOINER. They remained in the house until at least the early 1970s. (It is referred to as 2 Rockshaw Road in the electoral registers from 1955 to 1965 but as Glenside in all other entries.)

Little Cottage or 3 Rockshaw Road (1937)

On 18th September 1937 a daughter Susan Mary was born to Charles HUNT, a clerk, and his wife Marjorie. The address given was Little Cottage, Tanglewood. This was first thought to be a separate cottage within the grounds of the bigger house, but the Kelly's Directory for 1951 clearly shows Little Cottage between Glenside and Firle. There seems therefore to be no connection with Tanglewood although an Annie Elizabeth Hunt was living at Tanglewood in 1935.

In 1938, the first appearance in the electoral registers, Marjorie and Charles Hunt were shown on the electoral register for Little Cottage. The register for the following year, 1939, shows the VERRALL family at this address; Ellen Kate, Edmund Herbert and Sidney Herbert. Also registered at the address was Francis George ROBERTS. Several years later, from 1945 to 1955, the Verrall family appears at 3 Rockshaw Road with Phyllis M, presumably a daughter, making an appearance in 1945 although within this period Kelly's records the same family at Little Cottage on more than one occasion; it seems clear, therefore, that Little Cottage and 3 Rockshaw Road were one and the same.

Kelly's for 1959 shows Arthur BLAIR (at Little Cottage); another Blair family, that of Ada and Robert Auguste, were at Mill House between 1918 and 1925 but there is no reason to suppose that the families were related.

The electoral register for the following year, 1960, shows Shirley and Stuart D M OTTOWELL as the new occupants (of 3 Rockshaw Road) and they were still there five years later. This is confirmed by the Reigate Directory for both 1966 and 1970 (still listing the house as Little Cottage).

Firle or 4 Rockshaw Road (1937)

In 1938 Mabel Mary and Clive Charles PHILLIPS were living here and were shown as voters. A year later Mabel Mary was not shown and Clive, a bank clerk, was living in the house — at this date named Firle — with Jessie Hannah. It seems that Jessie was his wife and Mabel his mother. On 14th May 1940 a daughter, Jill, was born to Clive and Jessie and baptised at St Katharine's. The address was by this time shown as 4 Rockshaw Road. Mabel Mary died on 22nd April 1942 and was buried at St Katharine's. A Frederick Phillips, perhaps an elder brother of Clive's, was 'killed in action' on 12th November 1917 and buried in the same plot.

In May 1955 a younger daughter, Jennifer, was confirmed at St Katharine's; she became engaged to John Malcolm SHERLOCK in February 1962.

Jessie and Clive were shown at this address until about 1970, with the electoral registers showing the address as 4 Rockshaw Road and the various Directories listing it as Firle. Clive Charles's entombment is also recorded on the same gravestone as Mabel but the only details recorded are the dates 1910 - 1980.

Another Phillips family, Jane and Edward, was living at 64 Noddyshall from 1910 to 1926.

There is possible confusion here as the original name of Middle Fell was Firle Beacon. However, in both the 1938 and 1939 electoral registers the two houses occur as separate residences.

Ashcombe Road

In 1930 20 cottages were erected by the Southern Region of the then British Railways to provide cheap accommodation for its employees. They are similar in design to the 24 cottages built a year or so earlier just north of Tadworth station to form a road named Ashcombe Terrace.

Kelly's Directory for 1936 is the first record of any use; the electoral registers show only a very few entries before 1955.

1 Ashcombe Road

The occupants in 1936 were Peggy E and Percy Stanley WONES, who were living there until at least 1965. Bessie Amelia Wones died and was buried on 21st September 1954, aged 51. Peggy and Percy's daughter, also Peggy, now lives in Poole.

3 Ashcombe Road

Catherine and Frank Robert Gordon HARRISON were the occupants from 1936 to 1960. The electoral register for 1965 lists Netta and Ronald J SMITH.

5 Ashcombe Road

This house was occupied, from 1936 to at least 1965, by Fanny and Percy GAMBRELL.

7 Ashcombe Road

This is one of only two houses for which there is an electoral register entry prior to 1955; that for 1932 shows Dorothy Caroline and Reginald Frederick RUSHBRIDGE as occupants, and this is confirmed by the 1936 Kelly's. From 1951 onwards, according to Kelly's, the occupants were Lilian E and Percival Charles Ashbee BETTS until at least 1965.

9 Ashcombe Road

The 1936 Kelly's shows Frederick Arthur PRONGER resident. The Directory for 1951 gives James GOLDSON (GOLDSEN in the 1954 version) but from 1955 to at least 1965 the occupants were June E and Vivian R AKEHURST. A daughter, Jennifer Elaine, was confirmed at St Katharine's in May 1961 at the age of 13.

Horace Akehurst, employed as a gardener, and his wife Lucy lived at Pickett Wood during the 1930s.

11 Ashcombe Road

Walter BROWN was living here in 1936, but every entry from 1951 onwards shows the CATT family — Alice R and Leslie Henry D, with David M coming of age in about 1955.

13 Ashcombe Road

The first owner appears to have been Alfred William HAYWARD. In April 1933 Elsie and Dorothy, aged 15 and 14 respectively, were confirmed at St Katharine's.

By 1951 Edith F and Sidney Arthur SHEPPARD were living in the house, together with their daughter Joyce and son Stanley. Edith and Sidney were still there in 1965. Joyce, now widowed, lives in Meadvale; Stan and his wife Jean live in Tonbridge, although Jean (nee Allen) was originally from Merstham and her brother John still fishes in the Mere. Other Sheppard families were at Mon Repos in the early 1930s.

15 Ashcombe Road

Kelly's 1936 Directory shows Gerald SEAGER. The ROBERTS family – Annie E and George R – were shown from 1951 to 1960 with Leslie, presumably a son, appearing on the electoral roll in 1955. George Wilham Frederick, perhaps another son, died in February 1954 aged 39. In 1965 the occupants were Sheila and William BENNION.

17 Ashcombe Road

Walter Percy CHRISTER was the first occupant (1936). Daisy M, Edith and William WEST lived here from 1951 to at least 1965.

19 Ashcombe Road

This is the second house to boast residents (courtesy of the electoral register) in 1932 – Teresa and William George SNAPE. In 1936 the JEALL family – Arthur and wife Annie with their three daughters Peggy, Eileen and Pauline – were living in the house. Arthur was an engine driver but employment in the railways offered no permanent residence – they had moved to Merstham from Bognor, and before long had departed again, this time to Southampton. In March 1946 four people from this house were confirmed at St Katharine's: Jean and Freda BONIFACE, both aged 17; a younger sister Dorothy, aged 15; and Derek Albert Henry SHARMAN, aged 15. The 1951 Kelly's shows Henry E F SHARMAN, presumably Derek's father; this is confirmed by the 1955 electoral register, which lists, as well as Henry, Mary C E, Derek A H and Peter C Sharman together with a John D BONIFACE. By 1959, however, Beatrice M and Albert A KEMP were living in the house. Judy Anne Kemp was confirmed in May 1961 at the age of 12 and the family was still there in 1965.

20 Ashcombe Road

The first occupants were Leonard and Jessica LARKIN: a daughter Zoe Edith was born on 27th April 1932. Kelly's Directory for 1936 shows the resident as Mr Leslie OLLIVE (sic). By 1951 another family had moved in: Rose N and Harold F NICE with, in 1955, William HARVEY. The electoral register for 1960 shows no occupants but that for 1965 lists Beryl M and Robert F McGILLIVRAY.

18 Ashcombe Road

Kate E A and John William MATTHEWS were the occupants from 1936 to at least 1965. The register for this last year also shows Percy PLOWMAN as a voter.

16 Ashcombe Road

The first occupants were Catherine and James WATTS. They first appear on the electoral register in 1936 but their 3-year-old son Brian Stephen had died on 10th September 1932 from this address and had been buried at St Katharine's. A daughter, Dorothy Catherine, was born on 21st January 1938 and baptised two months later. In 1955 their son Eric James was also shown in the register; he died the following year, on 7th August, at the age of 31 and was interred with his brother Brian. Dorothy C M PRICE also appeared on the electoral roll - this was, presumably their daughter who by now was married. Five years later, in 1965, the occupants were Betty M and Roy V GEORGE.

14 Ashcombe Road

From 1936 this was the home of Harry HOLDEN, who was a relief Station Master. In the mid-1930s a son of the family, Frederick William, married Bertha MORLEY from 65 Noddyshall, and they set up home next door to Bertha's parents at 64 Noddyshall. When Harry Holden died, in 1958, his unmarried sister Mildred and wife Nellie, together with son Anthony M, continued to live in the house until the Holden family left Ashcombe Road in 1978.

12 Ashcombe Road

Charles Groombridge GOLDS lived here with his wife Mabel Annie from 1936. Mabel died on 15th February 1954 aged 69, and the electoral register shows that by 1955 Charles had been joined by his niece Edith Emma Sylvia DAVIDSON. He died on 4th May 1968 aged 82 and Edith died at the age of 69 on 26th May 1982. All are buried at St Katharine's.

10 Ashcombe Road

From 1936 the residents were Edwin BASHFORD and his family – Hilda, Dorothy M E, Sophia W, and Roy C. Hilda was baptised at St Katharine's in March 1945 at the age of 16. She now lives with her husband Don at Woodhatch, and for some years looked after William and Gertrude Port when they moved from Albury Edge Lodge following Williams's retirement. Edwin died on 9th January 1956.

Roy married Dorothy BONIFACE, one of twins living at number 19: many years later, towards the end of the 1990s, he had a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair at his home, also in Woodhatch. He died in 2002.

By 1960 the new occupants were Ena E and William J WHITE. By 1965 the Whites in turn had left, to be replaced by Irene and Arthur WILLIAMS.

8 Ashcombe Road

The occupants in 1936 were Dorothy K and Walter A MITCHELL. It seems that Walter died during the late 1950s, as he appears in the electoral register for 1955 but not in that for 1960. By 1965 Iris V M and William D J CROSS were living in the house. Iris, with her family, lives there still.

6 Ashcombe Road

This was home to a branch of the MORLEY family – William and Elizabeth Ann Marie Morley were living here from 1936 and in April 1940 their daughter Muriel Irene was baptised at the age of 24. Four days after her baptism, however, she was confirmed - but as Muriel Irene ELKIN, perhaps her married name.

William was still at the same address in 1955 but now with Alice Morley, who may have been his sister-in-law – an Alice Morley was at Albury Edge, perhaps in service, in 1930. Alice A and William Morley are shown as occupants until at least 1965.

Muriel Irene died early in 2001.

Another Morley family, that of Rose and Arthur, was living at 65 Noddyshall from 1918 to the outbreak of the Second World War.

4 Ashcombe Road

The MARSHALL family — Alice H and Francis Ernest — were living here from 1951 to at least 1965, but an earlier occupant (in 1936) was Frank ROFFEY.

2 Ashcombe Road

Ivy M and James KING, with sons Reginald and Colin, were resident here from 1936 to at least 1965. Ivy was very involved with the British Legion. Reg still lives in South Merstham.

East of the railway

1 Rockshaw Road became Firle Beacon (1912) became The Balsams became Middle Fell

The three acres of land on which this house is built had previously been occupied by Thomas KING of Home Farm and the value had been assessed at £5 2s 10d. In 1909 it was purchased from Lord Hylton by Paxton Hood Watson, who later lived at Pickett Wood. He was permitted to build just one house on the site, to be called Firle Beacon.

The baptism register of St Katharine's records the birth, on 24th August 1914, of John Hugh, a son to Mary Augusta Elizabeth and Hugh Wren STREET, an insurance official. The electoral register for the following year, 1915, records Hugh Wren Street as living at 1 Rockshaw Road. Four years later the occupants were shown as Hugh and his wife Mary Augusta Elizabeth. However, on 20th September 1918 a baby girl, Kathleen Pamela, was born to Ivy Brenda and Eric WILSON-HUGHES at this address (1 Rockshaw Road). Eric was a temporary Captain in the RSA and this family may have been staying with the Streets.

An application to the Patent Office dated 21st July 1919 records William Welham CLARKE living in 1 Rockshaw Road. William had been a mining engineer and was a brother of Mary STREET. He had been born in Norfolk in 1879 and died, aged 60, in New York.

The Street family were at this address until about 1925, when they moved to The White Cottage on Shepherds Hill; they were there until about 1938, after which Hugh Street later moved to Alverstone, on the Isle of Wight. He died there on 15th November 1941 aged 63.

A document, dated 1919, is still in existence showing the conveyance of the house (now named Firle Beacon) from Paxton Watson to Henry Mear CUMMING as mortgagor and Ethelred GEE as mortgagee. The electoral registers for 1920 and 1921 show the house renamed to The Balsams and Henry Cumming as the sole voter; in 1921 the house was purchased by John PARKIN, who worked in a bank.

It appears that he renamed the house once again, this time to Middle Fell, for it is under that name that the electoral roll for 1922 shows the occupants as Jesse and John Parkin. They are the only occupants listed until 1935, although the entry for 1932 also shows Mildred Elsie JEWELL — perhaps a maid? There are several references in "The Times" of a house named Middle Fell in Whyteleafe, and it is possible that John Parkin moved from that area and brought the name with him. It is also the name of a buttress in the Langdale Valley of the Lake District.

In 1937 the mortgage was released by the National Provincial Bank to John, who was by now a bank manager. He sold it to Margaret HARDING.

Frank Dryden Morle HARDING and his wife Alice Edith Margaret lived at Middle Fell, together with Lucy Maud LILLYWHITE, for the duration of the war. The entry for 1938 shows, in addition, Clara GUTBROD. A conveyance dated 1939 indicates that the southern part of the Bartonbury land was sold to the Hardings by Merstham Park Tenants Ltd for £90.

Immediately after the war, in 1945, Ester A and Frederick B G BEVAN lived here, with Eileen O'THOMAS. The house was sold in 1946 to Barbara Waring JACKSON, the widow of Wilfrid Swinhoe Jackson, and in the 1950 electoral roll she was the sole occupant. However, she died on 25th February 1953 in a nursing home in London and the house was sold again, with Francis Jackson as vendor and acting as the executor. Another Jackson family, Margaret and Victor, lived at The Firs in 1950, moving to Clavadel by 1955, although there is no reason to assume that the families were related.

The new owners were Ethel Elizabeth and Leonard Stanley BOWRAGE. Leonard was a book-binder and they appear on the 1955 electoral roll with Albert, presumably their son.

The plot of land sold in 1909 had not included the area immediately south of the road, “front bank”, leading down to the house. This piece of land was bought by the Bowrages for £25.

In 1960 Dr Kenneth Haddon TRIGG and his wife Dr JORDAN bought the house for £6,000 and they remain there to this day.

2 Rockshaw Road became Bartonbury (1912)

The first mention of Bartonbury is in the registers of St Katharine's church, when the burial of Mary Elizabeth FLINT at the age of 59 on 10th April 1913 is recorded. Florence DRURY is listed in the 1914 electoral register as the occupier of 2 Rockshaw Road, but the following year she is recorded at Bartonbury.

Bartonbury is the name of an estate at Cirencester, and the name may have been brought from there.

By 1918 Marcele and Philip AMY were living in the house; they were there until 1922 although from 1919 Philip was shown as an 'absent voter'.

From 1924 the occupiers were Henry and Clara Hamilton ELSWORTHY, who had moved from The Highlands, Upper Warlingham. In 1930 Clara was sharing the house with Clara FRANKS, and in 1935 with May (or Marie) Constance WINCHESTER; these two may have been servants. In 1938 Clara was still living in the house, but she died on 22nd December that year aged 71 and by the following year the owners were Ivy Gwen Derwen and Frederick Stewart WOON together with Clara Maria MORRIS.

By 1945 Ivy was missing from the roll, replaced by Eliza A and Frederick C Woon.

Clara Bowring moved to Bartonbury towards the end of 1949 following the death of her husband Cyril, at The Georgian House, on 28th October 1949 at the age of 63. She survived a further 36 years, and died aged 98 on 29th March 1985.

Five years later, in 1950, the occupants were Ada Charlotte DODGSHON and Johanna LEMBERGER. Ada was the widow of John Julius Dodgshon, a JP, who had died on 28th October 1931. She was the second daughter of the late Captain Adam Alexander Duncan DUNDAS, and a remote cousin of Gwenyth Dundas (see Albury Edge); she died on 14th January 1951.

The 1954 Kelly's Directory shows Mrs C M BOWRING as owner of the house, but the 1955 electoral register shows the resident voters to be Clara, Joyce and Robert TAYLOR.

The 1959 Kelly's again shows Mrs BOWRING; she appears to have lived there until at least 1970. The registers for both 1960 and 1965 show, additionally, Brenda J and Albert E LAWRENCE, their daughter, Jacqueline Ann, was confirmed at St Katharine's in May 1960 at the age of 13.

The house later became the residence of Ruth and Philip BOWYER.

Mill House (1915)

(Photograph of Mill House omitted by request of the owners)

There are several reference to Mill House before 1915, but these are likely to refer to a building on the corner of Rockshaw Road; see Fairfield, above.

The first occupant of the present house, according to the 1915 electoral roll, was Cecil Joseph WALDRON; three years later Ada and Robert BLAIR were living here.

By 1926 the Blairs had left and Alice Constance and John JOHNSTONE were resident until at least 1930; in 1932 John had (presumably) died and Alice was there with Mary Ann POTTINGER, who had moved from Mon Repos.

By 1938 Alice had left and the new occupant was Adeline Constance WIGG, sharing the house with Violet Victoria ELLIOTT; Adeline, aged 32, was the widow of George Lloyd Wigg (see Rockshaw House). There is no entry for 1939 but Adeline reappeared in 1945 together with Lilias C DRYBURGH and Adolf G T LAGERFELT. By 1945 Adeline Wigg had moved to Albury Edge; Violet Elliott had moved to West Cross, perhaps indicating that she was a servant.

In 1950 the list shows the occupants as Betty and Alexander SAMPSON; they were there until the end of the 1960s.

The present owners have requested that their names are omitted from this history.

Kingsdown (1910)

Kelly's Directory lists Revd Alfred George ROGERS (listed as Arthur George in the 1913 and 1915 electoral rolls) from 1911 onwards as Rector of Gatton. The house was named after his first appointment, as curate, to Kingsdown, Sevenoaks. Revd Rogers was the Rector of Gatton from 1894 to 1937. Although the house served as the Rectory for Gatton Church (St Andrew's) until Revd Rogers retired, Gatton Rectory was an entirely separate dwelling, off Gatton Bottom, which had been the previous house of the family.

The two sons of the family both served in the Great War; the younger, Wilfred Frank Rogers, was killed in action and is commemorated on the War Memorial in the village. Revd Rogers remained there, with his wife Mabel Fanny Gertrude, until he died in 1946.

In 1929 Gladys HILL and Lucy PAYNE are also shown as voters, although Gladys was not listed the following year; in 1932 she appears on the electoral register at Roemarten. In the same year Lucy too had gone but three years later Ada PAYNE (a younger sister?) had replaced her.

Around the war years there are several other occupants besides Alfred and Mabel and their family: in 1938 they were joined by Maud Lilian BOND, Edith ELLIS and Agnes Ann MATTHEWS; by the next year Edith Ellis had been replaced by Lily Mary BIRD.

On 26th July 1943 the elder Rogers daughter, Barbara, who was in the W. R. N. S., married Lieutenant Eric EVANS, of the Black Watch, at St Katharine's.

By the end of the war, in 1945, Agnes Matthews and Lily Bird had both left leaving just Maud Bond with the Rogers couple, whose son Philip W. had now attained his majority.

Revd Alfred Rogers died on 29th April 1946 aged 88 and the funeral service was held, naturally enough, at Gatton. Mabel, his widow, died some seven years later on 23rd December 1953.

By 1950 Ann D and Cecil E MOY were living in the house; see Tanglewood and Clavadel, which were homes to Sybil and Arthur MOY from 1921. Kelly's Directories for 1951 and 1954 show Horace GHINN as the owner, and the 1955 electoral register records Florence, Joan and Frank MURRAY at the address.

John K KIDSON is shown in the 1959 Kelly's Directory and for the 1960s and early 1970s the house belonged to Elizabeth W and John Kidson. Their children, Elizabeth Fay and Peter Galbraith, were confirmed at St Katharine's in May 1960 at the ages of 14 and 12 respectively.

Again, various other names appear during the years, perhaps domestic staff: Annie MURRAY and Alexander O'MAY in 1960 and just Annie in 1965. Mrs Kidson's sister Gail (shown in the registers as Catherine G) ROWLEY lived with them; she was an artist and used to draw pictures of the children in the road. She later moved to Hove.

From some time in the 1970s until 1996 the owners were Eva and Piers BULL. When the Bulls moved out, leaving the house empty, there was a move by the local Mental Health Authority to purchase it for use as a residential home for some of the inmates of the Royal Earlswood Hospital, then in the process of being closed down. This was resisted by the Residents' Association, which was hastily reformed for that specific purpose, and after some negotiation the house was bought by one of the residents.

It was sold some time later to Michelle and Jonathan ELLIS, with their sons Tom and Dylan.

Little Shaw (1912) became As You Like It became Little Shaw

The plot of land on which this dwelling now stands was sold by Lord Hylton to Paxton Watson at the end of the 19th century. The house was designed by M H Baillie-Scott (see also Noddyshall) for a Mr Samuels in 1898, although it appears that building did not commence until about ten years later as it was first occupied in 1910 by William SALMON. Although Mr Salmon appears in the electoral register for 1913, by the end of 1912 he had already sold it to John Keble BELL, who lived in the house with his wife Florence Pearl. They changed the name to As You Like It. It appears with this name in Alex Hunter's “Gentlemen of Merstham and Gatton” and it also appears in Kelly's Directory for both 1913 and 1919. John's niece later married Dr WEIR, Merstham's first GP.

The Bells lived here until 1919. On 28th March 1917 a daughter Margaret Elinor was born to Alexander James WEIGHTMAN and his wife Ursula Margaret, and the address shown was As You Like It; possibly they were relatives of the Bells, or perhaps the house was rented out to them at the time. A Mary Bell lived at Tanglewood in the mid-1950s, and another Bell family was resident at Orchard End in the 1960s, but there is no reason to suppose that these families were related.

By 1920 the house had reverted to its original name of Little Shaw when it was bought by Ella Janie and Colonel Norman Thomas ROLLS. Col Rolls moved to Rockshaw Road from The Corner House, in Church Hill, and was President of the Merstham branch of the British Legion. The Rolls family moved again in 1926.

The electoral roll in 1926 records the occupants as Saide and Howard HOULDER. A Howard Houlder had been an Alderman and Mayor of Croydon for three years during the First World War. He was a member of Houlder Brothers, a shipping firm, and bought the Heathfield Estate, at the top of Gravel Hill, Croydon, for £30,000 but after the war became bankrupt.

In 1930 the occupants were listed as Sarah Kennedy and Howard Freeland Houlder — Saide and Sarah were, presumably, the same person. Rose Eva DYER, possibly a maid, was also living in the house. The Houlders stayed in the house until at least 1935, in which year Phyllis AUTON was also living there. Howard was the organist and choirmaster at St Katharine's, and a lay reader. In the years before the war they moved to live in Hoath Meadow, in Church Hill, renting the house in Rockshaw Road to Mary HILLS. Mary was the widow of Arthur Hyde Hills, and she had two daughters, Marie Louise and Evelyn Jean. Evelyn was the younger, and her engagement to Robert Gerard Baynes REED was announced on 17th April 1937. They were married on 24th November 1937. By 1942 Robert had been promoted to the rank of Major, and the birth of a daughter on 29th September that year was announced in "The Times".

The Houlder family remained in Church Hill until 1940, when they returned to Little Shaw as Hoath Meadow had been requisitioned by the Canadian Army, the Hills ladies moving to Chicksands (Church Hill) which they renamed Chequerside. After the war the Houlders returned to Church Hill while their son Philip Alfred Findlay Houlder remained at Little Shaw. Five years later, in 1950, Sarah and Howard were once more back in Little Shaw with Philip. In 1955 another name, that of Joyce E PERRY, appeared on the electoral roll with the Houlder family; five years earlier she had been with the Webbe family at Ash Pollard.

Sarah died in November 1955 aged 70. The Houlders had always been regarded as devout Christians and Howard expressed a wish to pay for cleaning and whitening the church as a memorial to his wife. However, this would effectively obliterate for ever some wall-paintings which, it was believed, were of some significance – a letter dated November 1959 from the Central Council for the Care of Churches states that " . . the painting over the chancel arch must have been the background of the original Doom . . . of the 12th century . . .". There was thus significant opposition to Howard's generous offer but this seems to have been overcome when he threatened to withdraw his offer, and the interior of the church was indeed whitened: the event was commemorated by a plaque, which reads: "The walls within this church were cleaned and whitened in 1959 in memory of SARAH KENNEDY HOULDER (SAIDIE FINDLAY) dominus illuminatio". On his death in 1969 a second commemorative plaque was erected close to the font; the inscription reads: "HOWARD FREELAND HOULDER 1886-1969 for forty years lay reader in this church". He was buried in the churchyard with his wife, and later their son Philip was interred in the same plot when he died in 1999.

Following his death Pam and Stephen SEAGER bought Little Shaw. Steph had been a Gunner officer during WW2 and served in Special Forces in Greece. He was a highly-placed fencer and met Pam when taking one of his classes. He served on the first Residents' Committee during the latter part of the 1960s. Pam and Steph stayed in the house for over thirty years, moving in 2000 to South Close Green.

Standish (1912)

The first recorded occupants, in 1913, were Mary Eleanor and Miles Atlee HOFFMAN. A Clara Hoffman, possibly a relation, is shown as living at Bovey Tracey from 1915 to 1925. "The Times" records the birth of a daughter to Major and Mrs DE RENZY MARTIN on 6th March 1916; the connection with the Hoffman family has not been established.

Miles Hoffman is recorded as the sole voter at Standish in 1925, and on 22nd May of that year the property was advertised for sale by auction.

By 1926 the new owners were Alice and Frank GUTHRIE.

In 1929 two additional voters were listed: Martha Annie HALE and someone whose surname was HOWELL (no forename appears in the electoral register). The entry for 1930 shows Alice and Frank together with daughter Mary Cree, although there may well have been other children not of voting age.

In 1932 William Sydney GAMMEL, whose sister was head of the Girls' School, was in residence with his wife Mary Muriel. They shared the house with Beatrice Dorothy and Ernest James JEAL although by 1935 the Jeals had left. Their place had been taken by Emma Isabella MITCHELL and Christina SADLER.

The Gammels too had left by 1939 and the house was occupied by Maude M NEILL and Jessie Louise SASSE. "The Times" of 6th April 1940 announced the birth, two days earlier, of a son to Hilda and Mr F. H. MEERES YOUNG (shown as of P. W. D., Nigeria). No other mention of this family has been found.

Maude was still there in 1950, though without Jessie, but by 1955 the house belonged to Sonia and Ronald Russell PRENTICE, who had married in 1949. Sonia was a daughter of the BOWRING family and had been brought up at The Georgian House. Ronald had, like Steph Seager from Little Shaw, been in the Greek Islands during the war. He was a member of Lloyds, and from 1966 chaired a committee set up to protect the interests of residents during the period of motorway construction.

Caroline, daughter of Ronald and Sonia, married Michael ALCOCK, of St John's Wood, on 24th June 1972, and six years later to the day her brother Christopher Norman Russell Prentice married Marie-Josephine KING at the Waldensian Church of Courmayeur, Italy. She was the daughter of John Andrews King, of Washington, DC, and Contessa Marie-Rose d'Entreves Bocca of Turin. Canon Philip Duval, from St Katharine's church, assisted at the service.

Ronald died on 10th September 1984 and was buried at St Katharine's.

During the 1980s and early 1990s the house was owned by the WINCHESTER family; the current owners are Carmelita, Natasha, Reza & Bhye SHAMTALLY, owners of the nursing home at Chaldon Rise and others.

Bovey Tracey (1910) became Valencia became Linacre House became Egypt Wood became Pucklechurch

An un-named house is shown on this site on a map dated 1912 and the house that best seems to fit is Bovey Tracey. This house was occupied from 1913 to 1925 by Clara M HOFFMAN, although there is no voter listed at the house between 1918 and 1920; another, probably related, Hoffman family was resident at Standish, the neighbouring house, from 1913 to 1925. In November 1922 "The Times" carried an advertisement, from 'Hewett', for a 'children's useful maid' for two small girls, stating that the household already included a cook and house-parloumaid..

There is no record of Bovey Tracey after 1925.

The first mention of Valencia is in the electoral roll of 1928, when the occupants were Harriet BANKS and Louise CHESHIRE. In the next year a Maud Banks was living at The Red House, although there is no reason to assume that Harriet and Maud were related.

The following year, 1930, gives different names: Kathleen Maud and Sydney John VINE, together with Hilda May HUTSON. "The Times" of 9th November 1931 carried Mrs Vine's advertisement for 'Chow puppies, from 3 gns'.

Kelly's Directory for 1934 shows the resident as Captain S J Vine. In 1938 Hilda Hutson had gone, having been replaced by Doris Gwendoline KNOWLES, and the Vine family had increased by two (presumably children reaching the age of 21), Donald Martin and Patrick John.

The electoral roll of 1945 shows the house, now renamed Linacre House, occupied by Gladys E and Oswald MARRIOTT – Kelly's shows Oswald as an MD. Eileen Maud MURRAY was also there in 1945; by 1950 she had left and been replaced by Rhoda M B BISHOP. Although the Marriotts were still listed at this address in the 1954 Kelly's Directory, the electoral register for the following year shows the occupants as Kathleen A and William M RUSSELL, who were there until at least 1960. During the course of their residency they changed the name of the house to Egypt Wood – Kelly's for 1959 and the 1960 electoral register both show Kathleen and William Russell at Egypt Wood and, to confirm this, Egypt Wood, at the location of Valencia, is shown on a map dated 1964. There was a large house named Egypt Wood at Farnham Common, in Buckinghamshire, and it is possible the name was taken from there.

During the late 1960s John and Bridget HEYWORTH lived in the house, renaming it Pucklechurch after the village where John's father had been brought up. They had moved from Bushetts Grove. John worked for the family rubber business and often travelled to Nigeria. He had been in the Royal Greenjackets during the war. During a meal with some parents of friends of their children at Merstham Grange School, he mentioned that he had been in Greece during the post-war EOKA riots, sending daily signals to Alexandria to advise of the current situation. He was amazed to learn that Maurice Chapman, another of the parents at the meal, had been stationed at Alexandria and had been the recipient of his signals!

At the end of the 20th century the owners were Rita and Phil MARGRAVE, with daughters Lauren and Lucy.

This house has certainly seen more name changes than any other house in the road!

ARP post

Between Pucklechurch and Whitmore once stood an old garage, set back from the road. During the war this was used as the ARP / First Aid Post. The entrance was built up with sandbags and extended out to the footpath. It was demolished in the 1990s when the Simpson family bought Whitmore.

Lamberden (1912) became Whitmore

The first mention of the house as Whitmore is in 1925, although it is certain that the house had been built earlier as the plot of land on which the house is built was sold by Lord Hylton to Paxton Watson in February 1910 for £922 10/- and a 1912 map shows a house in this position. It is likely that the house was built around 1912, as the house is externally similar to Lowood, and later renamed. The most likely contender is Lamberden, which was occupied from 1913 by Agnes Ivy and Douglas SPICER. A daughter Diana Mary was born on 1st October 1914; but sadly the St Katharine's register records, on 6th April 1915, her burial at the age of six months. By 1921 they had moved, and the new occupants were Vera Jean Hamlyn and Joseph Wilson DAVIE. "The Times" of 14th July 1923 carried an advertisement for the auction of 'Lamberden, Merstham', with six bedrooms and grounds of about one acre, and the freehold had been sold by October; the electoral registers list nobody at Lamberden after 1925, although the register for Spring 1925 shows Lamberden and Whitmore as separate entries.

The first occupants of Whitmore were Marjorie and Henry Ramsey MUNRO, who lived there from 1925 to about 1931. The 1930 electoral roll shows, in addition, Margaret Hyale ADAMS, Flora BLACKBURN and Annie DIMON.

From 1931 Kate and Francis John TOMS (who was a partner of J D Wood & Co., estate agents) lived in the house. The photograph on the right, taken from the south, dates from that time. In March 1936 daughters Kathleen and Mary were confirmed in St Katharine's at the ages of 15 and 16 respectively.

Towards the end of the decade there were other occupants shown, perhaps servants: Lucy JONES in 1938 and Amy BRAZIL in 1939. On 10th August 1942 Ruth Frances announced her engagement to the Revd Kenneth Frank BRAY, of Ealing. Perhaps she was too young, for four years later, by which time she had reached the age of 21, her engagement to Howard R. KIRK, of Bowling, was announced in "The Times"of 28th August 1946. The marriage, the report said, would 'take place quietly'.

Three years later, on 14th June 1949, her elder sister Mary Elizabeth married Doon CAMPBELL, of Linlithgow, West Lothian, at St Katharine's. He was the chief Reuters correspondent with the 21st Army Group throughout the war in Northern Europe and was awarded the OBE; he later became managing director of Reuters and then of United Newspapers.

On 23rd September 1951 Francis Toms died: a short obituary appeared in "The Times" of 26th September. In 1955 the sole occupant listed was Kate Toms, his widow. Doon and Mary Campbell, her daughter and son-in-law, bought the house. After 40 years they moved to Cucksmead, in Church Hill, in about 1995. After Mary's death Doon moved to Reigate, where he died in 2003.

The current owners are Valerie and Rod SIMPSON, who live there together with son Michael.

West Cross (1910)

The first record of occupancy is in 1910, when a daughter Patricia Christine was born on 7th December to Gwendoline & Edward SANT. In March the following year, a register at St Katharine's records the confirmation of Beatrice Annie MILES at the age of 19; she was, presumably, a live-in servant. By 1918 the Sant family had moved, as the baptism register at St Katharine's records the birth on 26th September 1918 of Raymond Pasteur, a son for Graham and Marguerite Norah ALDERSON. Graham was a Captain in the RAMC and the family may have been billetted here during the war, for by 1920 the electoral register for that year shows Esther and Henry Thomas MILLER in residence; Henry, a director of John G. Rollins & Co. Ltd., died on 25th April 1933. His will was proved by Jessie Dorothea Miller, perhaps a daughter: he left a little over £22,000.

There was another Miller family, that of Elizabeth and John, resident at The White House in the late 1920s although this may have been a coincidence. By 1930 Esther was no longer shown on the electoral register, having perhaps died; the list showed instead Jessie Dorothea. Also in the house that year was Bessie WILLIAMS, perhaps a servant, since she had gone by 1932. A couple of other Williams ladies make brief appearances: Mary was at Innesfree in 1930 and Doreen was at Tanglewood in 1935.

Kelly's Directory for 1934 shows the resident as Mrs Jessie Steuart CROSHAW, and the 1935 electoral register shows, in addition, Beatrice Gertrude ETHERIDGE and Gladys Catherine FINCH. All three ladies had been replaced in 1938 by Clara May and Alfred GRIMMER together with Herbert LEDGARD; but by the very next year, 1939, Eileen Mary and Sidney Vavasseur FIGG had moved in together with Elizabeth and Vera WISE. Sidney Figg was second-in-command to Cyril Bowring (The Georgian House) in the Merstham section of the Home Guard during the Second World War.

The Figgs were still there at the end of the war, with Edith M ATKINS and Violet V ELLIOTT for company. Violet had been resident in Mill House in 1938, indicating perhaps that she was a live-in maid. Another Elliott family, Helen and Harry, lived at Rondels just before the War but these families may not have been connected.

The house changed hands again in 1949 and the new occupants were Sheila K T and John R ALEXANDER; John was one of four sons of Sir William Alexander, Conservative MP for Glasgow and Managing Director of Charles Tennant & Co. Ltd, the family business. Sheila remembers that the house overlooked fields of woodland, and at times the Surrey and Burstow Hunt was to be seen galloping across the fields. All that became history during the next few years with the coming of the 'estate'. In 1961 Sheila and John moved to Oakwood and an American couple, Teedee and Bill JOHNSON, bought the house. They had three daughters.

By the mid-1960s Marjory and Robert BATTERSBY had moved to the house, from Baldwyns in London Road North. Bob had been a Gunnery officer during the war, and was later transferred to the Intelligence Corps. He was in Special Forces in Italy and in the Balkans and later discovered that he had served in the same Special Forces Unit as Steph Seager (Little Shaw) and Ronald Prentice (Standish) without any of them ever meeting one another. He had taken a First in Russian at Cambridge, and spoke most European languages as well as Arabic and Chinese. Marjory was a wartime Wren officer. After the war Robert spent ten years in Poland and Russia, first as the representative for Glacier Metals and then with Guest Keen. Later he became an MEP and was, for over four years, the MEP for Humberside. He died in 2002.

Until recently the owners were Jill & Riccardo CAPPELLA. The house is now occupied by Helanka and Pharose BHANA.

Lowood (1913)

In 1908 Lord Hylton sold 3 1/2 acres of land to Mrs Watson for £962 10s although there was no building on the site for some years – a 1912 map shows no building. Mrs Watson sold the house to Roberta and Guy Capper BIRT for £1,850 in 1913 and Guy’s name appears in the electoral roll for 1915 although he also owned a house in Cavendish Square, London.

A son, Alan Beckett, was born on 24th June 1915, and a second son on 20th July 1917. Guy was the brother of Kenny Birt, who had lived in Merlebank, Church Hill, since its construction in 1903. He was a very successful dentist, counting King George V and Queen Mary among his patients.

In 1929 there was a third voter, Florence Maud PHILO, listed together with Roberta and Guy.

In 1930 the occupants were listed as Kathleen Davidson and William Henry GRAHAME, together with Mary MORRISON and Mary O’SAUGHNESSY; the house was still owned by the Birt family and was presumably rented out.

Two years later the occupants were Phoebe Kate Howard and Sydney Betham ROBINSON, with Eveline HORSLEY and Mabel Irene MOON. It is interesting to note that an Eva Horsley was living at The Mere for much of the early 1930s and at Relf House in 1939 together with a Margaret Horsley; it is possible that Margaret, Eveline and Eva were sisters, all in service.

Towards the end of November 1932 the engagement of Barbara Violet, the Birts' only daughter, was announced; she was married to Richard Alfred CHADWICK on 14th December in South Africa. In the same year the family sold the house for £2,750 to Winifred (later Lady Winifred) and Gilbert WILES, who took up residence together with Emily SWAN. Gilbert was closely involved with the Merstham Cricket Club. Perhaps he was posted abroad during the war, as by 1936 the house had been let to Dorothy Ida and Charles Leslie COX, with Anne Theresa CALDICOTT and Maud NOBLE also resident. However, by the beginning of the war a completely new family had appeared, Blanche May and Oswald Cuthbert BORRETT.

"The Times" of 9th August 1942 announced the engagement of Antony Wiles, of the 2nd/5th Royal Gurkha Rifles, to Pamela HOLDSWORTH. The wedding was to take place in Simla. Antony was described as the son of Sir Gilbert Wiles KCIE CSI and Lady Wiles of Lowood, Merstham; though, of course, they may not have been resident at the time. However, eighteen months later, on 22nd January 1944, Pamela, the Wiles's younger daughter, announced her engagement to F/Lt Peter TOWNSHEND, of Norwich, and they were married on 17th March 1944 at St Katharine's.

Gilbert and Winifred Wiles were again shown on the electoral register for 1945, along with Pamela G Townshend (their married daughter) and Helen F GRAY, but in 1946 the house was sold again. The new owners, who paid £7,500, were Barbara J and George B C JOHNSTON (there was a Dorothy and Robin Johnston at The New House from 1950 to 1955, and later at Rondels). George was a Director of the Bowater Paper Company. Their son Alasdair announced his engagement to Christine GILBERT, from Bristol, in July 1969.

Barbara and George lived at Lowood until 1971 when they sold, in turn, to Tom RILEY and his wife for £19,500. Tom was an American oil expert concerned with, among other things, the development of North Sea oil; the family had previously rented Noddyshall for some six years and then Saranda Hill for a shorter time; they hoped to remain in England but Tom's job forced a return to the USA after about four years.

The current owners are June and Danny KEE (Danny is presently the Deputy Chairman of Surrey County Council), who bought the house in 1975 for £36,000 when they moved from Gayhurst.

Court Lodge (1910) became Villa Katerina became Court Lodge

Records of Court Lodge first appeared when the 1911 electoral register showed Hartley F STRAKER as the voter. He was registered there until 1914.

On 11th March 1913 St Katharine's records the burial, at the age of eleven months, of Barbara Valence ELY of Court Lodge. An entry for the following year, on 27th October, records the marriage of Agnes Gladys WEIR, a 30-year-old spinster living at the house, to Frank Thomas LEWIS, a clerk in Holy Orders and a widower, of Fulham.

The next mention of the house is in April 1918 when Mary and William James STEVENS came to live at Court Lodge.

“They at once entered into the village life and were generous and quick to support every good cause. They were most hospitable, and gave many whist drives and tennis parties, and were loved by everyone. Mr Stevens took an active part in the life of the parish church; he was vice-chairman of the PCC for many years and could always be relied on for wise judgement and courtesy. He also carried out his duties faithfully as a sidesman” according to an obituary published in the parish magazine for October 1958, shortly after his death. “He was chairman of the Village Club, and a trustee of the Village Hall, and took a great interest in the Scouts as his son was Scoutmaster for several years.”

In 1925 he was a committee member of the Merstham Housing Society Ltd. William Reginald, their only son, appeared on the roll in 1926, but he had left two years later. He married Armorel Joyce TONGE, from Reigate, on 16th April 1932.

On the list of 1928 Jeanie ISAACSON-WOOTTON appeared, perhaps a lodger. Two years later, in 1930, Jeanie had gone but William Reginald had returned. Also in the house were Ellen JEFFREY and Bylett LIDBETTER.

In 1932 William Reginald had again left but Marjorie Curtis STEVENS appeared on the electoral roll. Bylett had also been replaced, by Violet Lily Lidbetter — perhaps a sister. Ellen too had gone and Maud Violet BURCHELL had taken her place.

There were some other fresh names in 1935; Margaret POST and Ethel GRANTHAM had replaced Violet Lidbetter and Maud Burchell.

"The Times" of 25th November 1938 announced the engagement of Marjorie, the Stevens' only daughter, to Eric Ralph COLWILL of the Highland Light Infantry. They were married in the King's Chapel of the Savoy on 10th June 1939.

During the 1940s William Stevens was a proprietor of the Great Western Railway Company Ltd.

Mary Stevens died in November 1948 at the age of 74. William Stevens, Margaret Post and Ethel Grantham were still there, now with Isabella IMPEY and Marjorie and Eric Colwill. The household was just the same in 1955, and William died a few years later after 40 years in Merstham just before his 87th birthday. He left a most generous gift of £250 to the church (St Katharine's) he loved so well.

The Stevens family were at Court Lodge for over 35 years.

The PEPPAS family was living in the house during the 1960s. They renamed the house Villa Katerina – after their daughter, a pupil at Dunnotar – and this is shown on a map of 1964. The family moved to Tanglewood at the end of the 1960s and the house was subsequently renamed back to Court Lodge by the new owners, the BUCKLAND family. It appears that this is not the family from Fairmead, who moved to Little Piemede, although it is possible they were related. The Peppas family renamed Tanglewood, in turn, Villa Katerina.

During the 1980s the house was let by the Buckland family to the HOLTANS, a family from Australia.

By the end of the century the owners were Jacqueline and Stephen LUFF.

Little Ganilly (1908) became Rondels

The first owners were Rhoda Holms and William Henry FERGUSON. The register for St Katharine's (which shows Williams's occupation as “gentleman”) shows the baptism of two daughters, Jean born on 12th October 1909 and Sheila Lucy born on 23rd June 1913. "The Times" of 21st January 1922 reported that Little Ganilly (Ganilly, incidentally, is a type of trumpet daffodil) had been sold, but no price was given.

The new occupants were Ellen and Clifford RENNISON, and they renamed the house Rondels. They lived there until at least 1932; in 1929 other voters shown were Margaret BUTCHER and Daisy TALBOT, and by 1930 they were sharing the house with Ivy BAILEY, Winifred PEACOCK and Francis SHOUKER (some of whom may have been staff). By 1932 the only resident, apart from the Rennisons, was Doris Evelyn COOPER.

The next occupants were Guy SAVORY, who came originally from Norfolk, and his wife Beatrice Muriel, always known as Mulie. Also in the house were Peggy GODFREY, a nanny, and two maids, Margaret CARVER and Lilian TAYLOR. Guy was a flour miller, the owner, chairman and managing director of A. H. Allen & Co. Ltd, Croydon, and he also part-owned a family farm in Norfolk. The maids had earlier worked for Guy when he had been living in Croydon with his first wife, who had died some years earlier. He had recently remarried and was several years older than Mulie.

The Savory’s daughter Diana Muriel was born on 6th April 1933, and her sister Judith Algar on 17th February 1937. When the two maids left in June 1937 Mrs Savory advertised in "The Times" for 'two maids, friends, wanted as cook and house-parloumaid'. The advertisement ran for a week. The two maids that were taken on (Thea and Clarie) came from Austria, but on the outbreak of war they were interned as 'aliens'. To replace them, Helen and Harry Edward ELLIOTT joined the establishment. A Violet Victoria Elliott lived at Mill House in 1938 and at West Cross in 1945.

Mary Dulcie ('Mollie') SECRETAN was a Norland Nanny who came to the house shortly before Judith was born, and she became a very important member of the household. Her family home was in Sussex, and during the war the two daughters were evacuated there for a while. Mollie died a few years after the start of this century.

The ‘man of all work’ was Ernie BLOWES, who lived at Fairmead with his family. He looked after the estate, the car (he was also the chauffeur), the tennis court, the chickens, the orchard and did small electrical and plumbing jobs. He and his wife Ethel also sometimes house-kept when the Savory family was on holiday, and sometimes he was asked to fire-watch at the mill in Thornton Heath. He was there on 17th June 1944 when a doodlebug landed on Croydon.

The house originally had high iron railings and gates, but these were removed for the ‘war effort’; all that now remains is the nameplate ‘Rondels’ on the (replacement) front gate. The railings are also replacements and were installed only towards the end of the 20th century.

When a doodlebug hit Innesfree in August 1944 Ernie BLOWES, the gardener-cum-handyman, was working outside the house and the blast blew him through a doorway into the garden. The neighbouring houses to Innesfree were unoccupied at the time otherwise there might have been many more casualties.

At the end of the war the Savory family was still living in the house, together with Beatrice Ethel CHAPMAN, Mrs Savory's mother, who was the widow of Henry Surtees Chapman; they came originally from Standon, Hertfordshire. In September 1951 Beatrice died aged 87. In 1955 Elsie N HARRINGTON was shown on the electoral register along with the Savorys: she was the resident housekeeper and kept house for the two daughters while their parents were in Norfolk

On 4th March 1955 Guy died; he left an estate of some £63,000. By this time both daughters had married and left home and Guy’s widow sold the house (for £7,000) and moved to Reigate with both daughters. a few years later Judith emigrated to New Zealand, and Diana married Robert Spence, whom she had met on moving to Reigate. Mulie herself later married an old family friend, Alan RUSSELL of Sandfield Farm, Hever. She died on 8th April 1974.

The next occupants were Robin Arnold F. and Dorothy JOHNSTON, who had moved across the road from The New House (see also Lowood); he was an under-writer at Lloyds. They had three or four children; one daughter was named Auriol. Dorothy died a few years later on 20th July 1958, aged only 37.

"The Times" of 27th July 1959 reported the engagement of Robin Johnston, of Rondels, to Elizabeth-Ann TODHUNTER, from Nutfield, in which Robin was reported as being the youngest son of Mr and Mrs E. Johnston, of Hove. Elizabeth-Ann gave birth to a son on 1st August 1960, and a second on 22nd May 1962. In all Robin and Elizabeth-Ann had four children to add to those from his first marriage.

John and Valerie MacDonnell bought the house in about 1970. John, a native of Florida, owned several hairdressing shops.

Relf Cottage

The sole mention of Relf Cottage is in 1950, when the occupants were Kate S and Albert F TICKNER. It is shown between Rondels and Relf House, and the assumption is made that the cottage was within the grounds of the latter; there are two distinct buildings shown on the plot in maps of 1933 and 1964. However, the land across the road (on which Kingfisher Cottage now stands) formerly beonged to Relf House and it is possible that there was a cottage on this plot.

Relf House (after 1912)

A map dated 1912 shows an empty plot where the house now is.

The earliest record for Relf House in the electoral rolls is for 1924, when John Granville FEARON, a wine merchant, was the occupier. He and his wife Gertrude Mary were there until 1928, by which time they had two sons; John Richard Carter was born on 5th April 1924 and Phillip Malleson Austen on 15th March 1927. However, the following year the voters listed were Barbara Mary and Cecil George William EVE together with Charlotte BRYANT. In 1930 Charlotte had gone, replaced by Gladys Isobel PEEL.

There were no residents shown for 1932 but by 1933 Marjorie and Kenneth York LONG had bought the house; May HANCOCK, Lily MALONEY and Elizabeth WARD were also living there in 1935, as shown by the electoral roll for that year; in April that year both Mary Hancock and Elizabeth Ward were confirmed at St Katharine's. An Ada Ward lived at Albury Edge during 1929. The Longs stayed for almost ten years, although the other names changed: in 1938 Clara Ann GOMM was at the house, and in 1939 Clara had been joined by Eva Madeleine and Margaret Mary HORSLEY. It seems that Eva had moved from The Mere where she had lived earlier in the decade.

In September 1939 Mrs Long advertised in "The Times" for a 'Young girl or Nannie required to help with two children, girl aged five and boy eight months; comfortable and happy home'. Whether or not that advertisement was filled successfully, the following month she advertised for a 'Man and wife required as Handyman and Cook-General respectively'. They were to have their own private sitting-room , and bedroom with fitted basin. A couple of years later, on 3rd November 1941, she advertised for a Nannie to look after a girl of four years and a baby that was expected in January. It is not clear where the four-year-old girl came from! Almost a year later, on 16th October 1942, she again advertised for a 'Man and wife'.

At the end of the war the Longs were no longer in evidence. The new owners, from about July 1945, were Aida and Lt-Col. Eric G S WALEY together with Marion, Marion D and Stuart D GREIG, Sylvia BATCHELAR, Gertrude L JOHNSON and Bessie E WHITEHEAD. Five years later, in 1950, Aida and Eric Waley had been joined by (presumably their now grown-up children) Joan L and Anthony C S Waley. Bessie Whitehead was still there but the others had gone.

By 1955 the residents were Sophia and Michael CALLOW (Sophia, née WATSON, was the daughter of Lord Thankerton). Michael was working for British Gelco Engineering, at Edenbridge, by 1960. In 1973 Sophia and Michael made an extended visit to New Zealand, where their daughter was teaching in Wellington. They asked friends, Geoffrey and Mrs Elspeth HOWE (later to become Lord and Lady Howe), to care for the house while they were away. Geoffrey, failing to be elected as the Conservative member for Cardiff, declared that he would not stand again. Ted Heath, then Prime Minister, persuaded him to stand in Reigate as Sir John Vaughan Morgan was about to retire. He agreed, on the understanding that if he were not elected he would not be asked to stand again. The Howes, with daughter Carrie and twins Alec and Amanda, stayed in the house until the Callows returned the following year. They owned a Jack Russell, named Quintin (after Quintin Hogg), who would race into Clavadel's garden. Following a phone call Elspeth would emerge from Relf House with a walking stick, capture Quintin with the curved end, and return through the party hedge with him while he tried to attack her shoes.

Michael died on 7th July 1977 at the age of 73, and following the death of Sophia later the same year Relf House was bought by Mr A LOGIE, whose wife was the daughter of Mrs BRODIE (Russet Cottage). Mr Logie was a manager with Unilever, and after a few years was moved to Bristol. He sold the house to Jenny, John and Stephen FARMER, who are the present occupants.

Clavadel (1907)

A recent owner, Basil West, remembers finding a newspaper dated 1902 behind a large wall mirror many years later and for some time it was believed that this gave the date of building. However, the first piece of evidence relating to Clavadel is the original conveyance, dated 3rd July 1906, in which Rt Hon. Baron Hylton agreed to sell 'that piece of freehold land' to Henry Nicholson for £275. The plan attached to the conveyance shows no existing building on the site and therefore the house cannot have been built before this date, although the plan does show a building on the next plot to the east (Oakwood). Various covenants appear in the document, stipulating that no more than one dwelling house was to be built and that this must cost at least £1,000. Henry Withnall NICHOLSON was a solicitor (he had offices at 27 Lawrence Lane in the City) and Clerk to the Commissioners of Taxes.

On 6th March 1908 Mrs Wood, from Blackheath, a widow, entered into a mortgage on the house when she advanced Henry Nicholson the sum of £1,150 against 'all that piece of freehold land . . . and with the dwelling house and buildings lately erected . . . and called Clavadel'. It appears, therefore, that the house had been built by early 1908. She remained the mortgagor until June 1928, when Mr Nicholson transferred the mortgage to the Midland Bank. The 1910 electoral roll shows him as owner of the house, but living at 255 London Road, Thornton Heath.

"The Times" records the death of George Harold MEDHURST aged 57, of Clavadel, on 2nd August 1917; the St Katharine's burial register records his burial on 17th August. He is recorded as being 'of Hong Kong' and was a Director of Dodwell & Co. Ltd. and had, presumably, been a tenant in the house. He was the youngest son of the late Thomas Medhurst of the Soho Iron Works, London, and it is possible that he was a relative of the Frederick W Medhurst recorded as a voter between 1909 and 1911.

Blanche and Henry’s son Kenneth Nicholson was first shown on the electoral register in 1924, although he had placed an advertisement offering his services as those of a 'public schoolboy aged 21' wanting work in "The Times" of 2nd February 1922. He last appears on the electoral register in 1929, and on 20th June that year he married Ruth EDINGER, from The Red House. In that year Mary Louisa HARRIS (perhaps a maid?) was also living in the house but she had been replaced in 1932 by Violet May GIBBONS. By 1935 Blanche and Henry were living in the house by themselves.

The mortgage was again transferred in August 1938 to the Revd G H Nicholson of Burghfield, in Berkshire. Four years later Henry and Blanche transferred the mortgage, now standing at £1,850, to Henry Wilkinson of Cornwall and Robert Wylie of Oxford. The former died in November 1942 and three months later Robert transferred it yet again to Col W T Wilkinson of Yorkshire and A E Barton of Leeds.

Henry Nicholson died on 8th February 1943 aged 82 and his son Kenneth, by now a Chartered Accountant, transferred the property to his mother Blanche although she died only five months later on 19th July.

The house was sold to Vera Marian CARTER, of Tadworth, for £4,150; she stayed only a short time and in March 1945 sold to Mrs Grace HUNTER, of Ludlow, for £4,475. Grace's husband John A (Jock) Hunter MBE was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Gunners at the end of the war. He became a Director of Messel & Co., Stockbrokers, and Deputy Chairman of Ranco Ltd. Later he became the deputy director of the Stock Exchange.

When he found that the house had become too small for him and his family, Grace Hunter entered into a Deed of Exchange with Mrs Sybil O A MOY, of Tanglewood on 1st October 1949. With a payment of £2,500 in consideration of the different sizes of the two houses the two families exchanged houses.

Later that same month Sybil Moy used a Deed of Gift to transfer Clavadel to her son, Arthur R Moy, who worked for Moy, Bandervell (Stockbrokers).

Her daughter Pamela Alison became engaged in November 1948, and two years later Pamela's brother Arthur announced his engagement to Pamela Mary McKENLAY of Redhill.

In 1955 the voters recorded as resident in the house were Sybil Moy together with Margaret S and Victor C JACKSON. The house remained in the possession of the Moy family until September 1964; by this time Sybil had become too frail to live alone in Clavadel and went to live with son Arthur and his wife in Kingsdown. The house was sold to Basil and Louisa WEST and their three sons and a daughter, who moved from Grange Close where Basil had designed and built their house.

Louisa, originally from South Africa, was a grand-daughter of John HARRISON, the only British member of the Founders of Johannesburg; he was also Captain and wicket-keeper of one of the first South African cricket teams. Louisa lost her mother when she was young; her father was on active service with the South African Air Force and her elder brother had been killed in action in Europe. She qualified as an SRN and midwife and was one of a small group of midwives in their early twenties who were taken at dusk into shanty towns in Durban and left at homes where births were imminent, as it was too dangerous to leave the ambulance in the town after dark. She delivered 48 babies in this way.

Basil had served overseas as navigator of a Fleet Destroyer from age 19, as a sub-lieutenant in the RNVR, and then with a submarine flotilla before graduating at Oxford and qualifying as a chartered accountant in the City, He was headhunted for several appointments, and one of his tasks was as Managing Director of the Automobile Association, which he turned into a viable business from a moribund institution faced with bankruptcy. After the war he continued in the permanent RNVR (which became the RNR) and was appointed Captain of HMS President. He was an ADC to HM the Queen and made a Freeman of the City of London. He then went on to become Group Finance Director of Lonrho. Basil, together with Steph Seager (Little Shaw) and Ronald Prentice (Standish) were foremost among the residents in limiting the effect of the motorway construction at the end of the 1960s.

Later he took up an appointment in the Arabian Gulf with a large international group, and remained there for over eight years before retiring and moving back to Clavadel towards the end of 1989.

The Wests had therefore been at Clavadel for almost forty years, with an 8-year break while Basil was in the Gulf, and were amongst the longest-resident families. They moved in 2002, and Basil died towards the end of 2005.

The current owners are Andrew and Julie FINDLAY.

Oakwood (1905)

According to the electoral rolls, Louisa Mary and Percy Rowland SAVILL lived in the house from at least 1910 to 1918. Sidney Rowland SAVILL is shown (as a lodger) in 1915. However, the register at St Katharine's shows the birth of a son, Rowland Alexander, on 20th June 1917 to Alexander Croydon and Geraldine Louise PALMER. Alexander was a Captain in the RAMC and it is possible that the family had been billeted at the house during the war.

There is no entry for 1920 but the next residents, who were to stay for over thirty years, were Amy Margaret (shown as Annie Margaret from 1932) and Ernest Stapleton WARD, with son Ivan. They first appeared in the roll of 1921 and were still listed in 1950. Ernest, besides breeding pigeons, was a member of the MCC. From 1929 onwards Alice Mary DUDMAN is also shown and, since she forms part of the household for the next twenty years, it is possible that she was a relation. In 1929 and 1930 they were sharing their house with Lily Rose BROOKER and Mercy Ellen TERRY. Two years later Lily had gone and by 1935 Alice was the only other occupant besides the Wards. In March 1936 Ivan was confirmed in St Katharine's at the age of 16.

Margaret Elizabeth Gilmour, the elder daughter of Annie and Ernest, married George Stuart STEPHENS on 29th September 1937. She had, presumably, been given her third Christian name after her maternal grandfather.

Two more names, those of Irene Florence Harriet LEGGETT, a maid, and Margaret STONE, who was the cook, appeared by 1938 but by the following year they had been replaced by Marie Irene HOUGHTON.

By the end of the war, together with the Wards and Alice Dudman there were two new names on the electoral register: Rebecca BROWNE and Margaret Ann WILSON. Margaret was the widow of William Gilmour Wilson FRIBA, who had died on 12th May 1943 aged 87; they were the parents of Nan (Annie or Amy) Ward.

On 27th December 1947 the engagement was announced of Joan Stapleton Ward, the younger daughter, to Roger Crawford BLACKNEY, of Bigbury-on-Sea. They were married on 10th April the following year.

Ernest died on 25th February 1950. Later that year Nora R BALCHIN and May K S PAY are shown on the electoral roll; Rebecca Browne and Margaret Wilson were no longer listed, having perhaps moved away or died.

The entry for 1955 shows that the Ward family had left. The new occupants were Winifred N and Norman M WALKER and Margaret E CORKE. They in turn sold the house to a Mr and Mrs LUIDERVELD, although after only a few years they moved to London and in 1961 Sheila and John ALEXANDER moved to Oakwood from West Cross. John owned a horticultural company; he was also the President of the Village Hall and gave that concern much time until his early death in the 1970s. On 12th July 1975 their only daughter, Cheryl, married Geoffrey VAN-HAY; their engagement had been announced in March. She was given away by her brother Stuart. Geoffrey and Cheryl now live in Quality Street.

Sheila also moved to Quality Street, where she still lives.

The current owners have requested that their names are withheld from this history.

Heronswood (after 1950)

The land to the west of Albury Edge, and the lake, was sold by David Dundas SELLON to Leonard Greenwood BARTON and his wife Merle in 1945, when David's mother Gwenyth, widow of Percy Sellon, died. Heronswood is one of the more recent houses to be built in the road, and does not appear in any electoral roll before 1956. A Margaret Mary Barton had been living at Ash Pollard some 25 years earlier, although there is no reason to suppose that she was related.

Leonard was a Cambridge Food Scientist who, during the War, worked on the staff of Lord Woolton, Churchill's Minister of Food. Heronswood was one of a number of houses in the road from which trees had to be removed from the front garden; they were impeding the flow of air over the roof, causing the tiles slowly to flake away. While he was doing so, Leonard realised that a number of silver birch tress had been planted along the frontage and these had become hidden.

The Bartons lived there with their two children until the early 1970s, when Jock and Dulcie ARCHER moved in. They were there until they died in the late 1990s and Andy BARKER became the new owner. He has enlarged the house considerably, winning an award from the Reigate Society.

Albury Edge (1903) . . .

An indenture dated 1900 (see below, under Noddyshall) indicates that the land to the west of the cottages, on which Albury Edge was to be built, was owned by Robert Percy SELLON (born 1864). He was, by trade, an electrical engineer and prospered during the electrification of London at the end of the 19th century. Later in life he became a director of Otis Elevators and various other companies, and Managing Director of Johnson Matthey & Co.

Albury Edge, designed by the architect Paxton Watson (of Pickett Wood), was one of the first houses (see also Clavadel) to be built along the road, and in the opinion of some remains the best example of Watson's local work. The 1905 electoral register shows Percy Sellon living at 'Albany House, Merstham' but this may have been a misprint for 'Albury Edge': certainly Percy and his wife Gwenyth Annie (nee DUNDAS) were living at Albury Edge by 1st June 1907, when their first son Robert Dundas was born, as the announcement in "The Times" of June 4th makes clear. However, the family does not appear on the electoral roll until 1915. Gwenyth, born in 1868, was the daughter of Canon Robert James Dundas, the Vicar of Albury (from where, presumably, the name of the house was taken). Their second son David Dundas was born on 16th June 1912; they also had a daughter, Rachel Dundas, although she was not baptised at St Katharine's. Another Sellon family, Ernest Marmaduke and Barbara Ann, were living at the Old Manor House in Quality Street in July 1906 when their daughter Elizabeth Margaret was born.

A few years after the initial construction of Albury Edge some alterations enlarged the back quarters and created the marble-floored sun porch. Percy Sellon and his wife loved trees and clothed what may earlier have been a bleak hillside. Some time before the 1987 storm the then owners, Mary and Alan FOGG, counted the mature trees in the garden and found about 60 different varieties.

Percy Sellon was active and generous in the village, and in 1925 he, together with Mr W J Stevens, of Court Lodge, was a committee member of the Merstham Housing Society Ltd. He was, at that time, a Director of the County of London Electric Supply Company Ltd., as shown in share offer notices carried by "The Times" on July 2nd 1925 and May 3rd 1927.

Percy suffered from a mental problem in later years – he was found on several occasions by William PORT, the head gardener, standing in the pouring rain watering the flower-beds with a hosepipe. He died on 11th January 1928 of a heart attack, aged 63, and was buried on the 16th, although he appears on the electoral roll for that year. He left an estate valued at £105,932, and gave £1,000 'to the executors for such societies, institutions and charities with which he had been connected', £200 to his secretary, Edith PATTINSON; and £1 a week for life to his children's nurse, Alice WATERER.

Rachel married Robert Stephen McNAUGHT, a lieutenant in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, on 16th July 1927 at St Katharine's and the announcement was placed in "The Times" of 18th June. Robert's father was a Lieutenant-Colonel. They had two daughters, both of whom were baptised in the church: Sheila Rosemary Sellon, born 10th April 1928, and Margaret Gillian Sellon, born on 2nd July 1933. For both of these baptisms the address of the family is shown as Albury Edge. Later, when Robert's regimental depot was stationed at Ayr, they had a son Michael, born in 1939. When war broke out the family moved back to Merstham and lived at 'Wayside', a house on London Road south of the village. Rachel died in 1994 and is buried, next to her parents, in the churchyard at St Katharine's, where her husband Robert and younger daughter Jill are also buried. The older daughter, Sheila, was buried at St Mary's, Bletchingley. Michael now lives in Cape Cod (near Boston) in Massachusetts.

In "The Times" of June 20th 1930 the Sellon family was advertising the sale of Centre Court tickets for Wimbledon at £1 each for the first week, £2 for the second.

In 1929 Robert Dundas reached the age of 21 and made an appearance on the electoral roll for the first time, and he was recorded each year until at least the start of the War. In 1931, when he was in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, his engagement was announced in "The Times" and he married Joan Alice Vera RENNY. Joan was a daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel and Mrs G. S. Renny of Whinrood, Fleet. They moved to Kenya, but he was forced by the Mau Mau rebellion to sell his farm and shortly afterwards moved back to England. He died in Swanmore, Hampshire, in 1974, leaving three children of whom one, Andrew, survives and now lives in Ipswich.

Alice MORLEY was also living at Albury Edge in 1930, and Alice Ruth WATERER (the children's nurse mentioned earlier) was resident in the house from 1930 until she died, just after the end of the War. Another Morley couple, Rose and Arthur, lived at 65 Noddyshall between 1918 and 1945 and a Morley family had lived at 6 Ashcombe Road since 1936.

Robert Dundas's younger brother David Dundas had appeared on the electoral register by 1935. Alice Waterer was still present; so too were Annie REDDER and Winifred STANDEN (see Noddyshall). In the years leading up to the War Jane QUIN and Reginald Da Costa PORTER were living in the house along with the three Sellon family members and Alice Waterer; both Robert Sellon and Reginald Porter were shown as 'absent voters'. Reginald Porter was a cousin twice over, both on the Sellon and Dundas sides. He was in the Royal Navy and retired from the service as a Lieutenant-Commander, and died at the end of the twentieth century.

John PORT, son of the head gardener William Port, who grew up in what is now Orchard End, told how, on wet days when Mrs Sellon was confined to the house with arthritis, the gardeners of the road would gather in one of the orchard-level huts and he (John) would be sent off to buy beer. He also told us of her love for a particular apple, ‘American Mother’. He told later occupants, the Foggs, a little of life ‘below stairs’, or perhaps ‘behind the green baize door’ in friendly terms. This was confirmed by a lady who had been a domestic part-timer in the house. Another glimpse of the past was given by the Sellons’ daughter, in later life Mrs McNaught. She was a spirited lady who entertained the Foggs with the parallel life to that of Mr Port. She told them of spying on, and even interrupting, the servants’ courtships from her bedroom window; and also of her mother sitting, in old age, by the smoking room (now the sitting-room) fire with a high pile of magazines, which nobody might throw out because those at the bottom became the most interesting.

During the war, according to David Sellon, Canadian convalescent officers stayed in the house. As well as pieces of shrapnel the Foggs found a pig trough and a duck-pond in the orchard, suggesting some war-time self-sufficiency.

At the end of the War Gwenyth was the only Sellon in the house, although Alice was still with her; the other occupants were Edith M GOLSBY, Margaret H RILEY and Mary F E WEBB. Margaret (Peggy), though employed as a cook, was really more of a housekeeper as – according to Michael McNaught – her cooking was not up to much! Mary Webb (Webbie) was Gwenyth's companion. Gwenyth died on 9th November 1945 (after, according to "The Times" of November 10th, 'years of suffering heroically borne') and was buried on the 12th; she was 77. She left £46,515, including a bequest of £500 to Brabazon Home, Reigate. Alice was buried a little over six weeks later, on 31st December 1945, leaving the younger son David Dundas Sellon in the house.

"The Times" of January 22nd 1946 reported the death, at the age of 73, of Mary Winifred VESSEY, wife of Canon George Vessey, late Vicar of Lenton, Lincolnshire, and one-time a Canon of Lincoln Cathedral. The funeral, which took place at St Katharine's church, was from Albury Edge. Mary Vessey, known as 'Polly', was the youngest sister of Gwenyth, and George and Mary lived in Quality Street during the war. George died in 1956.

David divided the property, believing that the house was too large to sell as it was: at the time, just after the war, there was considerable uncertainty as to how property prices and the economy as a whole would perform in the future. About the same time he sold off the wood, the lake, and the gardener's cottage; he retained the croquet lawn and other portions of the garden with the possible intention of 'returning, like an elephant, to die in the place of his birth'. In December 1955 he placed an advertisement in "The Times", selling a 1955 Humber Hawk - 'as good as new' - for £950. The announcement of his engagement appeared in "The Times" on January 3rd 1956, and he later married Gwendolyn Kathleen BATTY, moving to Blackheath; George Vessey, whose wife Mary had died in 1946, presided at the service, which was at St Katharine's. Gwendolyn was the only daughter of the late Bishop Staunton Batty of Horsell, Woking. She and David had no children and they moved to Bexhill in the early 1980s. David died in 1987, followed by his wife six years later.

The land to the west, and the lake, was sold to Leonard Greenwood BARTON, who built Heronswood. The main house, Albury Edge, was divided into two substantial semi-detached dwellings, sharing the driveway.

became Albury Edge West

In 1950 David SELLON was shown on the electoral roll, with Margaret Riley and Mary Webb still there, and there were five other occupants in the house, which had by now been divided into flats: Wilfred Howell COOKE and his wife Lilian Maud were in Flat 2, and the other occupants were Phyllis G BRIDGEMAN, Vivien L H MOSTERT and Adeline C WIGG. Adeline, the widow of George Lloyd Wigg, had previously lived in Mill House from 1939 to 1945, and she later moved to Kingsbridge, in Devon, where she died on 9th December 1967 at the age of 84, without re-marrying, leaving an estate of some £10,000.

Lilian Cooke died on 7th August 1950 after a long illness.

In 1955 the electoral roll shows four occupants (of voting age). Vera JENKINS was in Flat 1, Wilfred Cooke, who had married again, was still in Flat 2 with his new wife Sissylt , and Evelyn MONTAGUE in Flat 3 (also known as the Garden flat). Wilfred died on 23rd July 1959 aged 79.

Five years later, in 1960, the registered voters were Vera Jenkins, Sissylt Cooke and Ernest BLOWES (who had moved from Fairmead via The Firs to occupy Flat 3 over the double garage). Ernest later married Hilda BARNARD.

A few years later still Albury Edge West was occupied by Joan and Peter ORAM with their friendly Afghan hound. Earlier one of the flats had been used at one time by Eleanor Brent DYER, who wrote girls’ school stories that still had a fan club and new editions produced in the 1990s. Sidney MATTHEWMAN was also a one-time tenant, living there at the end of the 1960s, as was Bryan T HALL.

Until 2006 the occupier was Bernard THORNTON, although the house was frequently let out; Bernard now lives in the former Garden flat, now renamed to 'Little Albury'.

and Albury Edge East

Following the division of the house Albury Edge East had, roughly, the servants’ and nursery quarters together with the billiard room. This became a fine sitting-room leading on to the sun porch. The first owners after the house was divided were the MARSHALL family, to be followed by the SOMAKs. Mr Somak was an architect and he specialised in shops; he was responsible for much of the then very fashionable glass mosaic decoration in London. A gift from his Italian suppliers was the complete floor and wall covering, in glass mosaic tiles, for the bathrooms – totally child-proof and flood-proof!

Alan and Mary FOGG bought the house in 1961 and stayed for 41 years, bringing up three children in the house. Alan was a Cambridge graduate in chemistry, and commuted to Philips in Holland in a major management consultancy operation. They made only minor structural alterations and added a carport; their main contribution was to the garden. Percy Sellon had planted a fine Edwardian garden but he had died in 1928 and it seemed that from about 1940 only the top lawn had been properly cared for; much of the rest of the garden (some two acres) was a mass of nettles and brambles. It was an interesting challenge but Alan had limited free time and was often away on business. However, when they had established reasonable control they became enthusiastic enough to double the size of the garden by buying the patch of land to the east that David Sellon had kept, hoping to build for his retirement. In earlier years this had been a croquet lawn but it had long since become overgrown. Repeated building applications had failed to produce planning permission and although the Foggs took it over in 1976 it became another wilderness of nettles and brambles. Purchase of the land did, however, give access to the lake at the bottom of the garden and a splendid Edwardian greenhouse with the ruins of a 6in heating pipe fed by its own furnace. The woodwork seemed to be on its last legs, but it survived more than 25 years despite more than one large tree falling on it. Now, however, it is beyond repair.

The 1987 storm did enormous damage. A large wellingtonia, and other large trees, lay across the lawn and two blue cedars fell next door in Albury Edge West. About 26 mature trees came down or were broken. It took Alan, by now retired and with an MBE, over a year to clear away the mess and to replant.

The Foggs moved to Nutfield Road in 2002.

Albury Edge Lodge (1913) became Orchard End

Percy SELLON, the first occupant of Albury Edge, built the lodge at the eastern end of the property as a ‘tied cottage’ for staff. In at least two electoral registers there are two distinct dwellings listed; Albury Edge Lodge and the Lodge, Albury Edge. Further information has revealed that this was, however, the same dwelling.

The first occupants seem to have been Jeanette Anne and Albert Silbourne SLOGROVE. Albert was baptised on 27th July 1879 at Gatton, while his family was living in the Lower Park Lodge. He was the fifth child and fourth son of William Slogrove (born 2nd May 1844 in Ashdon, Essex) and Ruth Ellen ROSE (born 1850 in Gainsborough, Lincs.).

He married Jeanetta Ann JONES on 1st January 1906 at Hanham, Gloucs., when his occupation was 'market gardener'.

Albert and Jeanette are shown in the electoral rolls in 1915 (at Albury Edge Lodge) and in 1920 (at the Lodge, Albury Edge). Albert was employed as the Sellons' gardener. They had two (known) children: Marjorie Edith and Cyril Walter.

On 31st May 1915 William, Albert's father, died at the age of 71 and was buried at St Katharine's church. His address at the time was given as 'High Street'. Almost two and a half years later, on 8th November 1917, George Silbourne Rose was buried at St Katharine's; he died at the age of 70 and the address was given as Albury Edge Cottage. He was the brother of Ruth Ellen Rose and thus Albert's uncle.

One of the other gardeners employed at Albury Edge was William PORT, who lived at Chaldon. He fell in love with and courted Gertrude COLLINSON, from Newdigate, who was employed at the house as a parlourmaid. On Albert Slogrove's death in 1919 William was promoted to Head Gardener: he and Gertrude married and moved to take up residence at the Lodge.

The Lodge had no hot water or heating; just a cold tap and a rather ugly plain mustard-coloured sink. There was no bathroom, just a tin bath and the water was heated in a copper. There were two large wooden troughs adjacent to the sink. Mrs Slogrove used to do the Sellon’s laundry – there was also a mangle in the scullery and the lawn next to the cottage was always referred to as the ‘laundry ground’. When the Sellons asked Gertrude to take on the task William flatly refused to let her do it and that was the end of the matter.

William was the head gardener over a team of three others, one of whom, Gertrude's brother Arthur, also carried out chauffeuring duties and lived at the Lodge for a few years from 1926. Possibly his services were not required after Percy Sellon's death as he does not appear after 1929. The others were Ernest PAYNE, the under-gardener, and Jack MORLEY. There was also a gardener’s boy, Sydney. There were four staff in the house: a cook, two maids and a Nanny.

William, as head gardener, had a responsible job. Albury Edge had a very large garden with a rose garden, croquet court, tennis court, a large vegetable garden with a fruit enclosure, poultry, geese and ducks. There were swans on the lake, a very large orchard and cultivated hazel trees. The lake had a dam at its west end and this had to be maintained. There were clusters of bamboo canes by the water’s edge and masses of rhododendrons. It was a beautiful place, especially in the springtime. He was also responsible for the central heating; that was, keeping the large coke-fired boiler going and also supervising the large greenhouses that were heated by a similar boiler.

The Ports lived there until at least the end of the war. They had a daughter and five sons, one of whom died after only a few weeks. The eldest, John, was born in 1920; he now lives in Maidstone but lived until recently in Warwick Wold and used to visit the house regularly. Edith Margaret Emma was born on 27th July 1923, Cyril on 25th February 1927 (died in 1990), Dennis Basil on 3rd September 1929 (and died four years later) and Ronald Keith on 31st May 1934.

After the war, when Gwenyth Sellon had died and the main house was divided, the cottage was also sold. William and Gertrude had to leave the Lodge to live elsewhere, and he became green-keeper to the bowls club in Reigate.

By 1950 Beatrice and Henry NOYLE were living in the house, at which time it was still known as Albury Edge Lodge and it is shown with this name on a map dated 1964. The MASSEY family were resident in 1963, as evidenced by the death of Edmund Ingoldsby Massey on 5th February 1963; Beatrice and Henry Noyle were executors of his will.

By 1966, however, the name had been changed to Orchard End and the occupants were Mary and John BELL, who moved to Rockshaw Road from Grange Close.

In September 1979 the Bells moved to Devon and sold the house to Molly and Ken BIRCH. They extended the house from its original size of 2-up, 2-down. Molly's mother, Rose JENNER moved in during May 1980, to live in the flat above the garage, and lived there until her death in 2001. In 2004 the garage and the flat above it was extensively renovated; it became home for Molly and Ken while their daughter and her family moved into the house.

The hamlet at ‘Noddys’ (c1590)

David BYLETT, probably a grandson of the Abraham and Mary who were buried in the 1820s (see the History), and his wife Rosannah are recorded as living in one of the cottages from 1841 (and probably earlier) until at least 1891. Evidence indicates that the Bylett’s cottage was probably the present Noddyshall. The name of the dwelling changes over the years, being shown as ‘Noddes Hall’ in 1841, ‘Noddy’s Hall’ in 1851, and the more familiar ‘Noddyshall’ from 1861 onwards. Another branch of the family were living in the present Noddyshall Cottage.

The history of the BYLETT family, and those related to them, is examined in a separate section. Click here to discover more about them.

The East Surrey Water Company connected mains water to the two southernmost cottages in 1899; a document to that effect is still in existence. At that time the occupants of the four cottages were John BYLETT and George BALES (southern cottages) and George MARTIN and Harry MORLEY (northern). Although the Water Company shows George Bales as the occupier of the cottage, the electoral roll for the same year shows his son James.

An indenture dated November 1900 transferred the two southern cottages, together with the adjoining land down to the Mere, from the ownership of the Rt Hon. Hylton George Baron HYLTON to that of Mrs Annie Laurie STONEHAM of Godstone Court, although it appears that she continued to live at Godstone Court and rented out the cottages, as indicated by the census return for 1901.

This shows three families resident at Noddys Hall. The occupants of the present Noddyshall seem to have been James and Harriet KING, both from Essex, with their children Emma (aged 44, a domestic servant) and George, aged 29. However, the King family appears to have moved on soon after the census date in April as they are not shown in the electoral roll for the same year: instead, James Bales had reappeared. The present Noddyshall Cottage was home to Arthur CHEASLEY, a local man, who was a gamekeeper, together with his wife and daughter, both named Blanche. At the time of the census the third cottage was uninhabited, while the northernmost was occupied by the JODE family. John Jode, the father, was a stockman on the farm and came originally from Merthyr, in Glamorgan; his wife Francis [sic] was from Gatton, and they had six children living with them, ages ranging from 16 to 1. Harry Morley had moved to Albury Road.

A year later, both John Bylett and George Martin appear elsewhere in Merstham, the former in Elm Cottages and the latter at Hoath.

The electoral roll of 1903 shows only four names on the Electoral Roll for that part of Reigate ward, and all four were shown as living at Noddy’s Hall. They were (in order from south to north) James BALES, Arthur CHEASLEY, James GRADY and John JODE (or Joad). However, the register may have been a little out of date as on 12th April 1903 a daughter Lily was born to Ernest ELLIOTT, a gamekeeper, and his wife Edith Gertrude; sadly, Lily died at the age of only 14 days and was buried on 1st May. The baptism register for Lily records the address of the Elliott family as 62 Noddyshall, although the burial register shows simply Noddy's Hall. The following year another daughter, Dorothy Florence, was born on 28th June.

Two years later, in 1905, the electoral register reflected the changes: Arthur Cheasley and James Grady had been replaced by Ernest Elliott and Thomas DEVERALL.

On 09 JUL 1907 the two southernmost cottages and the adjoining land, with a southern boundary of the Mere, were sold by Mrs Stoneham to Jessie Mackinnon SCOTT, wife of Walter de Hylton SCOTT, for the sum of £500. James Bales was still on the electoral register until 1908, in which year he moved to live at Worsted Green. Edmund PHILLIPS, a shepherd, first appears at Noddyshall in this year, although Edmund is probably a misspelling of Edward, as Edward was to remain at the house (see the “northern cottages” below) until the late 1920s. In the same year (1908) the St Katharine's register records the marriage of his daughter Charlotte Mary Kate Phillips, aged 27, to Charles William PRICE, a 25-year-old widowed engineer, on 26th December.

The Scott family first appears in the electoral registers in 1910, although the address is listed only as 'Rockshaw Road'. In the same year Edward Phillips at 64 Noddyshall and James COCHRAN at 65 Noddyshall were shown as voters.

Noddyshall — the ‘northern’ cottages

Although this section properly appears later, with the houses on the north side of the road, it is included here for ease of reference. The photograph is one of the few known pictures of the cottages to the north of the Road.

The cottages were known as ‘64’ and ‘65’ Rockshaw Road – although no explanation for this has been found – and appear as such in the electoral rolls from 1910 until they were no longer inhabited. It has already been noted (above) that St Katharine’s register shows an entry for ’62 Noddyshall’ and it is therefore possible that the four cottages were shown, for some reason, as ‘62’, ‘63’, ‘64’ and ‘65’. Unlike the two to the south, the two northern cottages were semi-detached. One possible explanation is that the numbers refer to references on an estate map, although no such map has been found.

As indicated above, in 1910 James Cochran and Edward Phillips were shown as voters. By 1918 Jane, Edward's wife, was also shown as a voter and they continued to appear each year (at 64 Noddy’s Hall) until the mid 1920s. The occupants of 65 were Rose Ellen and Arthur MORLEY.

1918 a third name appeared at 64, that of Harry Phillips, who was presumably a son reaching his majority in that year. He was not present in 1919 or 1920 but returned the following year. Jane Phillips died aged 78 and was buried on 19th March 1925, but Edward remained in the cottage (64) until about 1928. In The electoral register for autumn 1926 shows Edward as the only voter; Harry does not appear again. In 1928 Edward was sharing the cottage with Ellen and Edward Charles WATTS; the roll for 1929 gives Ellen and Edwin Charles but no mention of Edward Phillips.

From 1930 to at least 1935 the occupants of 64 Noddyshall were Clara and Alfred George STANDEN. A son Reginald James died at the age of 12 and was buried on 26th July 1932. The 1935 electoral roll shows a third Standen, Alfred George; he is, presumably, a son who achieved his majority in this year. A Winifred Standen is shown at Albury Edge in 1935, although of course this may not be the same family.

The next occupants were Bertha Ethel and Frederick William HOLDEN, a van driver. Bertha (née Morley) had previously lived with her family next door, at 65 Noddyshall, while Frederick had lived at 14 Ashcombe Road. A son Robert William was baptised on 28th November 1937 at St Katharine's church; although Bertha's father was against this, having been brought up 'chapel' (see below), Frederick was Church of England. Frederick’s mother Nellie, aunt Mildred and brother Anthony were still living at 14 Ashcombe Road in 1955.

Neither of the cottages had ever had running water or proper sanitation and in 1937 64 Noddyshall was deemed unfit for human habitation by the Council. The Holden family moved to Wood Street. By this time Frederick was a lengthman on the railway, a job arranged for him by his father who was a relief Station Master.

The electoral roll for both 1913 and 1914 shows Walter CRATE as the sole voter at Noddyshall Cottage, although it is probable that the address refers to the other 'northern' cottage, elsewhere referred to as 65 Noddyshall. A couple of years earlier, on 13th April 1911, a daughter Mary Elizabeth had been born to Walter and Helen Crate, living at the “Old Mill”. Walter was a chimney sweep, and it is likely that this is the same family. In 1915 the Crate family had left, to be replaced by Edgar Thomas COOK, but from 1916 the MORLEY family was resident. An Adelina Cook later lived at Noddyshall, in 1929; she was just possibly a daughter of Edgar.

The Morley family, albeit with slight changes to its composition, is shown at 65 Noddyshall from 1916 to 1945 – and a Harry Morley had been living in one of the cottages in 1899 (see ‘The hamlet at Noddys’). The 1901 census records Henry and Catherine Morley living in one of the cottages with seven children, ranging in age from Henery [sic], 15, to Elsie B aged 1.

On 19th February 1916 a son Lennard [sic] George was born to Percy Sidney Morley, a gardener, and his wife Elizabeth Mary. Percy, born in 1899, is likely to have been another son of Henry and Catherine. The British Legion Debt of Honour Register records him as a wartime fatality.

From 1918 to at least 1939 the electoral register records Rose and Arthur Morley (another son?) at the address; there were, in total, twelve children in the family. In 1930 George Frederick is listed; he achieved his majority in that year, having been born in 1908. In the same year an Alice Morley was living at Albury Edge; she may well have been part of the same family but it is difficult to tell: between between 1885 and 1908 over 100 Morley births were registered in the Reigate district alone! In May 1931 a P. S. Morley was confirmed at St Katharine's at the age of 15.

The electoral register for 65 Noddyshall also shows Margaret Edith MORLEY in 1932. Three years later, in 1935, George had left; Margaret was there still with her parents, together with her sister Bertha Ethel who had been 'in service' to the Coleman family at Gatton since the age of 12; she had (probably) been born in 1894. In the mid-1930s Bertha left home, to marry Frederick William HOLDEN whose family lived at 14 Ashcombe Road, but following their marriage they moved next door to 64 Noddyshall. In that year, 1938, Percy Leonard was listed along with Margaret and his parents Rose and Arthur; Arthur died, aged 75, in December 1942.

In April 1907 George and Alice Maud Morley were living at Parkstyle Cottages, when their son Ernest George was born; this may have been the same Alice who is shown on the electoral roll at Albury Edge in 1930, although by this time she would have been in her mid-40s, and later living with her brother-in-law William: a William and Elizabeth Ann Marie Morley were living at 6 Ashcombe Road in April 1940 when their daughter Muriel Irene was baptised at the age of 24. William was still at the same address in 1955, together with Alice Morley.

By the end of the war Percy was the only Morley still living at 65 Noddyshall; he was sharing it with Margaret E and James JOY. There is no entry for the house later than 1945.

After the war the two northern cottages slowly fell into disrepair and at the end of the 1950s they were demolished. The land was bought by Mrs de Rose (of The Firs) and when that house was sold, part of the land was used for a new house, Shepherd's Corner, and although the land had now become part of the Green Belt, because there had previously been buildings in that position permission was obtained for two bungalows, Sarum and Fircroft, to be built.

Noddyshall (c1590)

The photograph shows the house following the division into two dwellings in the early 1970s - see later. The original cottage is that part to the right of the brick chimney stack shown.

Documentary evidence shows that from 1841, and probably earlier, the present Noddyshall was occupied by Rosannah and David BYLETT and their family. They had a total of 12 children, all born in Merstham and baptised at the local church. David was an ‘agricultural labourer’, working for Michael Stacey who was the tenant of Home Farm at the time. The 1851 census records that in that year the cottage was home to 11 children and their parents (the youngest, Caroline, was born later that year)! Eventually all but one of the children left home, the boys to become labourers and the girls perhaps to go into service; the exception was Matilda, born in 1835, who was a cripple. By 1871 David, aged 66, was blind and – presumably – no longer able to work in the fields. Further details of the Bylett family can be found here.

In 1899, when mains water was connected to the cottages, George BALES was living in the cottage; he was succeeded by his son James who later moved to Worsted Green.

Following their purchase of the cottages in 1907, Jessie and Walter Scott took up residence in one of the southern cottages and they – or at any rate Walter, since few women were entitled to a vote at this time – appear in the electoral roll for 1910. Perhaps surprisingly Scott is listed as an occupier, rather than as an owner. Very son after the Scotts' purchase of the two cottages they were converted into one large house by the addition of a substantial structure joining the two. This addition was designed by M. H. Baillie-Scott, a renowned architect of the time (see also Little Shaw), and the result is documented in several books and periodicals of the 1920s and 1930s.

The entry for Noddy's Hall in the 1911 census lists the occupants as Charles Alexander and Charlotte Dorothy SOUTER. They were both 33 years old and had been married for just one year; Charles, whose occupation is shown as 'sub-collector, Indian Civil Service', had been born in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) while Charlotte was from Brighton. Living in the house with them was Charlotte's 62-year-old mother, Charlotte Anna JESSON, who was originally from Dublin. They must have had rooms to spare, even with two live-in servants, Kate BATEMAN and Rebecca ROFFEY, as the house boasted ten rooms. Although Roffey was a very common Merstham name Rebecca, a 33-year-old cook, had been born in French Street, in Kent. One detail that the census entry does not reveal is that Charlotte was heavily pregnant, for an entry in the baptism register at St Katharine's records the birth of a son John Alexander Fyffe to Charles and Charlotte on 6th May 1911. It is likely that Charles was a descendant of Thomas Alexander Souter, a Captain in first the 44th, later the 22nd, Regiment of Foot who was one of only two survivors of the Battle of Gundamuk (1842) in which over 60,000 were killed. Thomas was also grandfather of Robert Percy Sellon (see Albury Edge) so it is possible that Charles Souter and Robert Sellon were cousins. The Souter family appears in no electoral register and it is possible that they were staying in the cottage just while the baby was born.

Walter Scott is shown as the resident voter (still as occupier, rather than as owner) on the electoral registers for both 1912 and 1914; no entry appears against either of the southern cottages for either 1911 or 1913. In 1915 Harold Livingstone ADAM was listed as a lodger at Noddyshall, paying 10/- per week for ‘one room, first floor, furnished’.

Scott appears in the electoral roll for 1915, but this is his last appearance; his wife Jessie does not appear in any electoral register, probably because she was not eligible to vote. The register for 1919 shows Walter and Edith Mary SOUTHEY resident at Noddyshall and it seems that for the next few years the house was rented out.

By 1920 the house was occupied by Margaret Major and Richard PRYCE, who were tenants, together with Walter Browning Pryce, perhaps a son. Richard Pryce worked for Hambros Bank. The baptism register for St Katharine's shows the birth of a daughter Dorothy Pamela to Jack Mackey and Dorothy Margaret WOOD (of Noddyshall) on 3rd July 1921; it is likely that Dorothy Margaret was the daughter of Margaret and Richard. The Pryce family was at the house until 1924, but the occupant in 1925 was George HETHEY, presumably another tenant.

'The Times' of July 27th 1925 carried the following advertisement: For Sale, with possession September, charming freehold old-world cottage residence, "Noddys Hall", Merstham, Surrey. Three sitting, six bedrooms, usual offices, garage, tennis lawn, garden about two acres. Price £3,500. The appointed solicitor was named Pryce, of Abingdon, Berkshire; this may have been a relative of the Pryce family who lived in the house five years earlier.

There is no entry in the electoral register for Spring 1926; that for Autumn of the same year gives Jack TATHAM as the sole voter.

There is only one name listed for 1928, that of P Morris SANGER, perhaps another tenant. The electoral roll for the next year, 1929, shows that Jack Tatham was again living there, together with Adelina Patti COOK. Another Cook family was at Withyshaw in the 1960s although these families are unlikely to be related.

Five years after the advertisement in "The Times", the same newspaper of September 16th 1930 announced that "Noddys Hall, Merstham, a house restored by Mr Baillie Scott, has been sold by Messrs Moseley, Card and Company (Reigate) . . .". The purchasers were Margaret and William Philip SCOTT, who were resident during the 1930s and 1940s – from at least 1932 until the end of the war. They are possibly relatives of Jessie and Walter Scott, although this has not yet been proved. Information suggests that William Scott was an air-raid warden during the war; also that Margaret was from Iceland. Their younger son (as yet unnamed) was an artist. During the latter half of the decade a Margaret (sometimes Margrit) Jane BRADFORD was also shown as living in the house with the Scotts. Another Bradford family was living at Bytheway Lodge during the 1920s, although there is no reason to suppose these families were connected.

During the 1930s the SEEX family were living here: on 4th June 1932 Christina Anne Seex married John THOMAS, a surgeon from Norwich, and three months later, on 3rd September, her younger sister Victoria Katharine McKinley married George JOHNSTON. Apart from knowing the name of their father to be Henry William, and that he was a civil servant, there is no other occurrence of this family.

Although the name of the house was shown in Noddys Hall in 1932 and 1934, by 1935 – and for the next ten years – it was known as Noddys.

By the end of the war the occupants were William Scott, and Hilda M and Frank J STONE. A Margaret Stone was living at Oakwood in 1938.

In November 1948 the property was offered for sale by auction by Harrods; the vendor was Derrick Robert MORGAN. The price was £7,000 and the successful purchasers were Philip George and Susan Rowena RICHARDSON, from Windlesham. They lived there until at least the end of the 1960s; with them during the mid-1950s were Violet MOODY (1950) and Pearl TYLER (1955).

For about seven years from 1965 the house was rented and occupied by the RILEY family, which comprised eight children - five boys and three girls. Tom, the father, was a chemical engineer whose speciality was designing oil refineries. He travelled extensively while the family was growing up. When the rental lease expired they moved to Saranda Hill, further along the road.

In the early 1970s, when it was bought by the DAVIS family, the house was again divided into two dwellings. The cottage nearer the road became much as it had been before the ‘join’ while the rest of the building (less, of course, the ‘join’ itself) became Noddyshall. It was sold again in 1981 by Vernon Smith, a firm of estage agents in Reigate, for £110,000. The new owners were the GOLDSMITH family; following a divorce Trudy Goldsmith remained in the house until 1995 when it became the property of the current owners, Libby and Chris GREEN.

Noddyshall Cottage (c1590)

The second cottage from the south was also occupied by a BYLETT family; in 1841 David and Richard Bylett were living there with wife Mary (although whose wife she was isn't clear). It is likely that David and Richard were brothers, and uncles of the David living in the neighbouring cottage. Ten years later, the cottage was home to James Bylett and his wife Mary; they had six children and David – probably James’s father – was also living there. The two oldest children had been born and baptised in Chaldon while the others had been born in either Bletchingley or Merstham.

James and Mary continued to live in the cottage, producing one more daughter. Mary died during the 1870s, and by 1881 James was sharing the cottage with their son John and his wife Elizabeth. She had been born in Shere, in 1852; her maiden name was PORT (see Albury Edge Lodge). By the time mains water was connected to the cottage, in 1899, James too had died.

The cottage, together with the adjoining one to the south, was bought in 1907 by the Scott family. See under Noddyshall for the history until 1970.

From Autumn 1926 Albert Victor WALTUS was shown as living at Noddyshall Cottage. However, there is no doubt that the two cottages to the south of the road had been joined into one dwelling by about 1920 – so where was this family living? Further research has shown that this cottage was not, in fact, one of the Noddyshall group at all, but the building that later became Uplands Cottage in what is now known as ‘The Close’.

When the house was once again divided into two cottages (about 1970 or shortly thereafter) the smaller and more northern of the two, now named Noddyshall Cottage, was bought by Peter WHEELER, a quantity surveyor, and his wife Joyce. Peter, who owned his own company, retired in 1983. Joyce, who for some years had become increasingly agoraphobic, died in 1997 and Peter was persuaded to move south to Steyning to be closer to his sister and her family.

The house was bought by Edward MARSTON, a London solicitor, and Anita MAYHEW.

The Mere (1905)

The indenture of 1900 (see Noddyshall) shows that land to the east of Noddyshall was owned by Lord Hylton and leased to Thomas Robert MALTWOOD, who is shown on the electoral rolls of 1910 and 1915 as living in The Mere. Earlier than that, however, the birth of a son Ryder Landyne on 12th April 1906 to Thomas Robert and Blanche Gordon Maltwood is recorded in the baptism register at St Katharine's church. The birth was also announced in "The Times".

The house was therefore built prior to 1906. It comprised three reception rooms, the largest of which was 20ft x 15ft, six bedrooms - four on the first floor and two on the second floor - and the 'usual domestic offices', which included a maid's sitting room and WC.

From 1918 until 1935 the house was occupied by Charles John and Horace Carew ELTON, although for practically all of this span Horace was listed as an ‘absent voter’.

In October 1925 the house was to be sold by auction, which implies that the Elton family were living there as tenants. In 1929 an additional voter, Margery Alys Eveline Elton, was listed and in 1930 they had been joined by May CHARMAN and Alice STANBRIDGE. Two years later Horace (still listed as ‘absent’!) and Charles were alone in the house with only Winifred HANDY and Eva Madaleine HORSLEY for company.

Winifred had left by 1935, although Eva was still there. Another family had moved in together with the Eltons: Alice Elizabeth, James Harold and James Henry WORTHY. By 1939 Eva had gone to live at Relf House, presumably when the Eltons moved house, with Margaret Horsley, perhaps a sister.

A year or two before the outbreak of war Ian CLUNIES ROSS moved to The Mere with his wife Janet and daughter Hannah Elizabeth (named after his mother); the electoral roll for 1938 shows this family, but continues to show Horace Carew Elton as an absent voter. Ian was 39 at the time; he had been born in New South Wales in 1899 and in 1937 had been offered a three-year post as the Australian representative on the International Wool Secretariat in London. He sponsored the admission to Britain of a Viennese Jewish couple whose only daughter Lisl had come to the family some months earlier as a maid. Although the mother was interned in 1940, the family stayed at The Mere until Ian’s departure from Britain in July of that year – he returned to Sydney, as a professor of vetinerary science. Janet and their children had already left in June for New York.

During the war years the house was occupied by Canadian troops. There was no voter registered at the house for 1945.

In 1949 Joan Kathleen Moncaster and Pierre Joseph Augustin LACHELIN moved to The Mere. With them were son Thomas Pierre Hilbury and daughters Patsy and Gillian. Pierre was a Director of a group of companies with strong Australian connections, including Philip Hill, Higginson, Erlangers Ltd which later formed part of Hill Samuel, and had extensive business interests in Australia; he was also a Director of Elliott Brothers (London) Ltd and British Relay Wireless and Television Ltd. Patsy later married Christopher WATNEY (of Chaldon Rise), and on 13th September 1962 Thomas announced his engagement to Prudence VAN DER LANDE, from Reigate Heath. Joan died in 1963, leaving some £43,000, and Pierre later married Lettice WARDELL, who already had a son John David Meredith.

Pierre survived Joan by some 14 years, dying on 6th October 1977, and leaving a little over £143,000. Some time later Lettice moved to South Nutfield.

During the late 1960s the owners were May and Ron WINTERS, with their two daughters and son David. Ron was a D-I-Y fanatic and the dining room was – as was the fashion at that time – papered in red flock. The sitting room, a fairly long and spacious room, was full of onyx figures and tableware. With the advent of the M25 construction the family decided to move, and set up house in Wallington. Very sadly, while out walking with one of his daughters, Ron was killed by a drunk driver; his daughter escaped but with severe injuries.

The current owners have requested that their names are withheld from this history.

The Red House (1910)

It is possible that the house was built during the first few years of the century, in the same phase of construction as Albury Edge and Clavadel, although the house was certainly in existence by 1910 at which time the occupants were Violet and William Henry EDINGER. A Louie BATTERS was confirmed at St Katharine's in March 1918, although the register states only 'Red House' as the address without specifying Rockshaw Road.There is no entry in the electoral registers for either 1919 or 1920. William died aged 57 and was buried on 21st August 1914 and in 1926 John Philip Edinger appears as a voter, presumably having reached the age of majority, together with Violet.

Ethel and Elizabeth PORT, two sisters of William Port (at Albury Edge Lodge) were employed in domestic service and their rooms were on the third floor, with small windows. They were summoned each morning by a bell to ensure that hot water was ready for Mr Edinger.

In 1925 John Edinger bought Oakhanger on Church Hill, where he and his wife Joy stayed until his death in 1968, although he continued to appear on the electoral roll at The Red House until 1928. In 1929 Violet was still living in The Red House, and the register for this year also shows her daughter Ruth, who married Kenneth NICHOLSON, from Clavadel, on 20th June 1929. Maud BANKS was also listed in the electoral register; she was to live in the house until at least 1935. A Harriet Banks was shown at Valencia in 1928 but there is no reason to suppose that the two were related.

In 1932 Violet Edinger and Maud Banks were joined by Alice HAZELDENE, although she had left a couple of years later and was perhaps a servant or companion. The electoral register for 1935 shows a Hannah Ruth Violet Edinger – presumably the same Violet? – with Maud and Florence Banks, the last perhaps a sister to Maud. Hannah Ruth Violet Edinger died aged 63 and was buried on 24th May 1937.

By 1938 the occupants were Dorothy Campbell and David Sidney LAMBERT (1885-1966). David was promoted to Rear-Admiral and received the KCB, OBE and DSO; he was the Naval Paymaster General and head of naval accounts until 1942 and the most senior British serving officer. The Red House remained their home until after the end of the war; they had no children. By 1951 they were living at Pilgrim's Hill, Hill Top Lane and later, after Sir David had died in 1966 leaving an estate of some £20,000, his widow moved to Priors Mead in Quality Street.

The electoral roll for 1950 shows the new owners to be Anne Virginia (née McLeod) and Henry Alexander BENSON (1909-1995), later to become Lord Benson. Born in Johannesburg, he was brought to England at the age of 14 and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1932. His mother Florence's cousin was the senior partner of Cooper Brothers, and no doubt this helped in his attaining a position in the company and an annual salary of £250. Only two years later he was promoted to salaried partner, on £1,000 per year - at the age of 25. Henry and Anne had three children: Peter Macleod (1940) and twins Michael and Phyllida (1943).

He was a member of the Crawley Development Board at the time when Crawley was indeed one of the New Towns. Together with John Pears he turned Coopers from a modest domestic firm into a leading international one. He is remembered as a leading figure in the accountancy profession and in 1964 was knighted and later elected President of the English Institute of Chartered Accountants. He was the industrial adviser to the Bank of England.

In June 1966 the Benson's only daughter, Phyllida, announced her engagement to Simon J. St F. DARE, of Georgetown, Guyana. They were married on 6th January the following year. Her brother Peter, the elder son, became engaged to Vanessa BEALE, of Poole, in December 1968. Michael, their younger son, married Rachel WOODS on 28th November 1969 in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Rachel was the eldest daughter of the Dean of Windsor. Peter Benson was the Best Man and the wedding was attended by the Queen. Their elder son Peter's engagement to Hermione Jane BOULTON, from Rutland, was announced in September 1970.

After the motorway had been built Sir Henry Benson said that he disliked eating his breakfast looking down on the passing traffic; he sold the house and moved to Emsworth, near Chichester. He died on 5th March 1995. During the 1970s the house was home to the GINZLER family.

Later occupiers were Jane COLEBROOK-TAYLOR & Nick DEFRIES and Nick is the current owner.

During 2006 a quadruple garage, with living accommodation above, was built to the west of the house.

The Georgian House (1910)

The house is first shown in the electoral roll for 1914, although it appears on a map dated 1912. The voter at that time was listed as Walter Erskine MENTETH-STUART. The family was there for several years, although the rolls for 1922 et seq show the name as STUART-MENTETH. Prior to that, the first record of this family appears in the baptism register for St Katharine's church, when it records the birth of Lucy Violet on 3rd September 1911, a daughter for Walter Erskine and Violet Grace STUART-MENTETH. A son, Henry Alexander, was born on 26th August the following year.

Walter Erskine Stuart-Menteth was a son of Lord Menteth. He was born in 1877 and married Violet Grace LAFON in 1905. They were responsible for the building of the house. Their four children, two boys and two girls, born between 1906 and 1912, were brought up here. Both sons, Maj. W.G. and Cmdr Henry Alexander Stuart-Menteth were later separately mentioned in despatches in the Second World War. One daughter married Lord Hankey, the other married a served officer during the war, only to lose him, killed in action at Tobruk, the following year.

Walter’s father died in 1926, leaving the title to his elder surviving brother, but enough money to Walter for him to move to Godstone where ‘Bransfield’ was to be their family seat for at least three generations. He sold The Georgian House to Cyril Bowring.

There is no entry in the register for the first part of 1926 but by the autumn the residents were Clara Maria and Cyril BOWRING (of C T Bowring, the shipping and insurance group) and their three children, Derrick, Norman and Sonia. In the mid 1930s two other women, Helen Maud BARBER and Gladys HUMPHREYS, were in the house, perhaps as domestic staff.

On 30th December 1939 "The Times" announced the engagement of Paul Derrick Bowring, the elder son, to Moira GORDON, the younger daughter of the late D. M. Baird and Mrs Baird, of St John's, Newfoundland. The wedding took place at St Katharine's on 15th August 1940.

Soon after the outbreak of war Cyril offered all the village children the chance to sail to Newfoundland, where his brother lived; homes for them would be found ‘for the duration’. Nobody took up his generous offer which was just as well, as the evacuee ship was sunk by the Germans not long after leaving Liverpool. Cyril was in command of the Merstham contingent of the Home Guard, whose local headquarters was in Reigate.

Norman Harvey BOWRING, their younger son, is listed in the British Legion Debt of Honour Register for the 1939-45 war; his death was announced in "The Times" of 7th February 1944 as 'missing from air operation, now believed to have lost his life'. Sonia Clary Bowring made her first appearance as a voter in 1945; her engagement to Ronald Russell PRENTICE, younger son of Mr and Mrs Robert R Prentice of Rio de Janeiro, was announced on 27th August 1947. The wedding took place on 26th June 1948 at St Katharine's, the service being conducted by Revd F. L. MacCarthy, chaplain of Balliol College, Oxford. Ronald and Sonia subsequently moved to Standish.

Cyril died on 28th October 1949, aged 63, and shortly afterwards Clara moved to Bartonbury. "The Times" of 20th March 1950 advertised the sale by auction of the property on 17th May. The new owner of The Georgian House was Major Anthony P R ROLT. He had been an inmate of Colditz Castle and was a racing-car driver - every schoolboy's hero, according to Shaun Hagerty, who used to deliver newspapers along the road. Mr Rolt was the co-owner of a motor car development company in Frenches Road; the company developed a 4x4 traction system for cars but eventually sold out to Fergasons of Triumph Motor Cars.

The house was again advertised for sale in May 1953 and by the end of the year the PRESTON family – Agnes Evelyn and Ivor Kerrison, with daughters Phoebe Veronica, Jean F, Angela M and son David Christopher – had moved in, together with Iris SANDERSON. Kerrison was a collector of some note. Like the Bowring family, the Prestons had also lost a son during the War.

Phoebe, their eldest daughter became engaged to Francis Eugene ROMER, from Norfolk, and the engagement was announced on 21st January 1954. David followed suit soon afterwards by marrying Gillian Hawke COLTART at St Johns' Church, Hampstead on 3rd April 1956. The youngest daughter, Angela, announced her engagement to Adrian ALABASTER, son of Dr Alabaster of Pretoria and Mrs Alabaster of Coulsdon in February 1970.

Agnes died on 29th May 1968, aged 81 and Kerrison was there until the end of the 1960s.

In 1974 The Georgian House became home to Anne and Dudley THOMPSON. Anne now lives in Horley and Dudley in Fetcham.

Until 2006 the owners were Mandy STONE & Jes NAGEL.

The White House (1909) became Matson . . .

The house appears on a map dated 1910. The first occupants appear to have been Geoffrey Harvey and Alice Phillipa DREW. Geoffrey's occupation was shown as “gentleman” when their daughter Daphne, born on 3rd March 1910, was baptised at St Katharine's the following month, and the Drew family appears on the electoral register at this address from 1911 to 1914 after which they moved to Mill Ash.

The ROBERTSON family were living in the house in 1916; in June Mrs Robertson was advertising for a cook in a household that already included three servants.

Arthur James and Pearl WHITEHEAD were living in the house in February 1919, when their son John was baptised at the age of just two months.

The next resident appears to have been Florence Georgina RUSSELL, who is recorded as the only voter at the address in both 1919 and 1920. From 1921 to 1925 the occupants were Clara and Frederick William DUCKHAM. Frederick regularly cycled to the station, about a mile away. His brother Alexander Duckham was the 'oil' Duckham. There is still a family connection with Merstham: the Duckhams' great-grandson manges an estate agent office in the village.

In October 1925 the house was advertised for sale by auction. By 1926 Elizabeth and John MILLER had moved in, although they stayed only a few years. Mary and Frank JOSLIN, together with Eveline BARSTOW, were the occupants in 1930.

The name Matson appears for only a few years and is shown in the 1938 electoral roll as being between Tanglewood and The Georgian House, which is a clear indication that it was The White House renamed. In 1938 the occupants were Phillipa Ruth and Ruth Emily ROBINS, together with Gwendoline Violet RANSOM; the next year Christopher Edmund Ward Robins had joined the voters’ list but Gwendoline had left. In "The Times" of 23rd June 1939 Mr Robins was advertising Centre Court tickets at Wimbledon. On 27th September 1940 the engagement was announced of John KETTLE, of West Clandon, to Cynthia, 'second daughter of the late P. S. Robins of Hampstead and Mrs Robins, of Matson . . .'.

By the end of the war Edith ALLISON and Lily E GIBSON were residents. The house – by this time the property of W Gibson – was auctioned at the Market Hall, Redhill, on 27th February 1946. It was bought by the WOODYEAR family.

The house was divided into two some time after 1946.

became The Garth

The Garth first appears in the electoral rolls in 1950, when the occupants were Barbara J, Ethel M and Pamela M BUTCHER, together with Bertha L MANNING. A Margaret Butcher was living at Rondels in 1929.

The house was later occupied by three generations of the Woodyear family; in 1955 Louie, Raymond J and Sydney J D Woodyear were resident and they lived there until at least the end of the 1960s.

In the early 1990s Gillian DUNNET and her family lived at The Garth, from where Gillian ran a chiropody business.

The current owners are Clare CAFFREY and Jack PEASE.

and Garthside

Garthside first appears (in the electoral register) in 1955; the owners were Joan H and Donald H WARR, a bank manager and former RAF pilot. Joan was a daughter of the WOODYEAR family, which family lived in the neighbouring house.

The current owners have requested that their names are withheld from this history.

Tanglewood (1915) became Villa Katerina became Tanglewood

The first year for which Tanglewood appears on an electoral roll is 1915, when the occupant was Alfred (a mistake for Arthur?) MOY. There is no entry for 1918 (in common with several other houses in the road) but "The Times" of 23rd July 1919 carries an advertisement, placed by Mrs Moy, for a 'good plain' cook.

The baptism register for St Katharine's records, on 12th September 1919, the birth of a son Arthur Robert to Arthur, a stockbroker, and his wife Sybil Olive Alison. A daughter, Pamela Alison, was born on 18th February 1921. The Moy family was resident at Tanglewood until at least 1950. In 1929 and 1930 Margaret and Evelyn CONSTABLE were also living in the house; they had left in 1932 but in 1935 Annie Elizabeth HUNT and Doreen WILLIAMS had taken their place.

Pamela was confirmed at St Katharine's in March 1936 at the age of 15.

In 1930 a Mary Williams was at Innesfree, and in 1938 another Hunt family, Marjorie and Charles, was at Little Cottage.

In 1938 the only occupant of Tanglewood, apart from the Moys, was Ethel THOMAS (an Eileen Thomas was at Middle Fell in 1945). When war was declared the electoral roll recorded, as well as the Moys, May and Leonard Cecil DODD and Dorothy Myra PRICE.

On 13th October 1940 the death of Rose Rebecca JAAP (known as Cissie) was recorded; she was the widow of Thomas Jaap. No other occurrence of this family has been found.

At the end of the war the Moys once again had the house to themselves. Arthur was the Senior Partner of Moy Vandervell, Stockbrokers, and later became Father of the House in the Stock Exchange.

Although no record of his death has been found, Arthur had died by the time "The Times" of 13th November 1948 announced the engagement of the Moy's daughter, Pamela Alison, to Maxwell McGregor-Johnson, of Devizes. Two years later their son Arthur became engaged to Pamela Mary McKenlay, of Redhill.

Following Arthur's death Sybil, finding the house too big for her to manage, moved to Clavadel, exchanging houses with Grace and John ('Jock') HUNTER; in 1950 another Moy family, Ann and Cecil, was living at Kingsdown. The electoral roll of that year shows the Hunter family at Tanglewood together with Edith H LEIGH; by August 1951 Grace was advertising in "The Times" for a married couple as Cook-General and Houseman for a 'Scottish family in Surrey'. The wage was to be £6 10s weekly. By 1955 Edith Leigh had gone, replaced by David P SMITH and Mary BELL. During the 1960s a Mary and John BELL moved to Orchard End from Grange Close.

On 18th July 1958 Grace gave a dance for her daughter Priscilla at South Park, Bletchingley. Priscilla Mary's engagement to John PODE, of Glamorgan, was announced on 31st December 1959; and they were married on 17th December the following year in Eton College Chapel. The Bishop of Baths and Wells officiated.

In October 1966 David Haig, the Hunters' eldest son, announced his engagement to Julia Charlotte GASTON, of Sevenoaks. They were married on 17th January the following year, and went to the West Indies for their honeymoon.

The Hunters remained in the house until the end of the 1960s.

The new owners were the PEPPAS family, who moved from Villa Katerina (formerly Court Lodge) further along the road. They promptly renamed the house Villa Katerina but the name was changed back again to Tanglewood by the next set of owners.

For several years the occupants were Carol and Francis EVANS. Francis was chairman of the Residents' Association for a couple of years until the family moved in 2006. The present owners are Vanessa and Billy Valler, who moved here from Kenley.

The following 11 houses were demolished to make way for the M23 in the early 1970s. No photographs of any of the houses have been traced; if anyone has such a photograph or any further information then please contact <info@rockshawroad.org.uk>.

Ash Pollard (1925)

The house was built for Constance and William Harold WEBBE (later Sir Harold), who lived there from 1928. In 1930 they were joined by Margaret Mary BARTON, but she had left by 1935. By that year Rosemary Webbe, their only daughter, had come of age and two others voters were listed: Marjorie Sheeton RICE and Nora O'SHEA.

In 1934 Harold became chairman of the LCC, and he received a knighthood in 1938, by which time he and Constance were the only two voters shown at Ash Pollard. However, the following year John Harrison WEBBE (a younger son) had appeared on the list, and on 31st January 1940 the engagement of John Webbe to Barbara Alison COUZENS, of Ipswich, was announced.

On 7th January 1941 Rosemary married Thomas Anthony Stuart STEPHENS, from Coppice Lea. The service was held in St Faith's Chapel, Westminster Abbey, with the reception at the Savoy. Thomas, usually known as Anthony, was the younger son of Mr P. S. Stephens and the late Mrs Stephens OBE, from Coppice Lea. Their first son, John Stuart, was born on 3rd June 1942.

Mary UPTON was also shown on the electoral roll for that year and after the war a third Webbe sibling, William, was listed for the first time.

Harold was the Conservative MP for Westminster from 1939 and retired from the LCC in 1945. He was the founder of a hire purchase company that later became Mercantile Credit.

On 1st May 1946, during a debate in the house of Commons, Sir Harold referred to the National Health Service as containing “deplorable, reactionary and destructive proposals . . .”. He also compared Nye Bevan to Adolf Hitler, describing the creation of the NHS as a “hotchpotch of political prejudice”.

In 1950 the Webbes are shown together with Brian H WEBBE and Joyce PERRY; she appears on the electoral roll at Little Shaw five years later.

The Webbes (now listed as Lady Constance and Sir Harold) were still living in the house in 1955, together with Violet, George and John WAINWRIGHT. Horace AKEHURST (from Pickett Wood) became gardener to Sir Harold Webbe in the early 1960s, and he and other gardeners in the road carried off most of the Horticultural Society prizes. Ash Pollard was highly regarded for the beauty of its garden and many people walked along the road at the weekend just to admire it .

In the 1960 electoral register Sir Harold is the only member of the family shown. John Wainwright was still there, and two other voters were Harriet and Victor ROBINS.

Sir Harold Webbe died in 1965, leaving a little over £68,000. "The Times" of 22nd July 1965 carried an advertisement for the sale of the house, by directors of the late Sir Harold. The package, extending to 12 acres, included the house, with three reception rooms, seven bedrooms, a modern detached bungalow, a modern semidetached gardener's cottage in the village and four acres of Let Agricultural Land. The advertisement was repeated, this time without a photograph, in the newspaper of 7th October the same year. By that time news of the coming of the M23 had been broadcast, and no bidder was forthcoming; the house was demolished at the start of the 1970s.

After that time Horace Akehurst divided his time, working at The Mere and Heronswood among others. He was chairman and then president of the Horticultural Society for many years.

Little Pollard

There are no entries in the electoral registers for this house prior to 1960, when the occupant until 1969 was I M CHAWNER. She remained there until the house was demolished.

Withyshaw (c1905-)

Withyshaw is shown on a map dated 1910, when it is the only house to the east of The White House.

The first occupants to appear in the electoral register, in about 1915, were Annie Helena & Alfred Ernest PASSMORE. Six years later the electoral register added Bryan Alfred Passmore, their only son. Annie was, at one time, an opera singer and a small theatre was built into part of the house. Alfred wrote an early history of Merstham that was published in 1912. On 19th July 1924 Annie and Alfred's elder daughter, Margaret Annie, married Eric Adrian STANWAY at Chaldon Church; and the following year Bryan married Barbara CHURCH on 23rd June at St Peter's, Eaton Square.

The family remained there for many years, although there are no listings for the house after 1926 until Kelly's Directory for 1934 lists Alfred as a ‘private resident’. Annie and Alfred reappear in 1935 together with Mavis Christabel, a presumed daughter, and three other names: Kate CHAPPLE, Frances Laura KNIGHTS and Mabel Victoria SOUTH.

By 1950 the house had changed hands and the new occupants were Joyce M & Derrick J COOK together with Roxina E & Kenneth KEMP. The 1951 Kelly's Directory shows Derrick Cook as the owner, and the Cook family were there until the demolition of the house.

Withyshaw Way

This house does not appear in any list before 1960, in which year the voters shown there were Constance & Robert COUSINS. It is likely that it was built on a portion of land divided off from Withyshaw.

The 1966 Reigate Directory shows the occupant in that year as L J HOOK.

Running Moor

The house does not appear before 1950, when the electoral register shows Isabel F & George E MILLS and Patricia I WHYTE. Kellys Directory for 1951 shows the occupant as Lt Cmdr George Edward Mills, RD, RNR. The Mills family, together with Patricia Whyte, were listed in 1960 and presumably stayed in the house until its demolition.

Bytheway (1913) became Saranda Hill

ByTheWay (or By-The-Way) appears in some Kelly's Directory listings, but under 'Bletchingley' rather than 'Merstham', although the latter is the postal address. The house was therefore to the east of Ash Pollard and one of those demolished when the motorway was built.

Lewis Maurice HAWKINS and his wife Mary Woods were living here by 1913. Five years later they were still in the house but by 1922 the only name listed was Silvia May THOMPSON although, presumably, her husband Roger was still alive at that time. Kelly's Directories for 1934-1938 all show the 'private resident' as Mrs Thompson and the 1935 electoral register shows Silvia May with Anthony Thompson, her younger son, together with Amelia & Arthur SHERLOCK. On 19th November 1935 the engagement of Anthony Thompson to Ethel HEGINBOTHAM was announced.

"The Times" of 28th April 1947 carried an announcement of the death of Sylvia May Thompson ' of 'By The Way', the widow of Captain Roger E. Thompson. She had been the fourth daughter of William GARDINER, of Rockshaw (presumably Rockshaw House) and left a little over £60,000.

On 12th November 1947 the sale by auction of the house was announced in "The Times". The property was advertised as having two large reception rooms and six bedrooms, standing in over five acres. The announcement also included a 'cottage and second garage with large music room attached', for sale as a separate lot, but it was stated that the cottage would not be sold until the main house had been disposed of.

The 1950 register lists Alison F & Archibald W GILES and Dorothy M & William A HILL-UPPERTON as the voters. The Giles family continue to be shown until 1960 giving, in that year, Dr Alison F, Archibald W, Christopher P and Agnes G. Dorothy M PARSONS also appears as a voter in 1960. A Mabel and John Parsons lived at Mill Ash Cottage from 1929 to at least 1936, although there is no indication that Dorothy was part of that family.

There is no entry for 1965 or for any later year for ByTheWay. The first occurrence of Saranda Hill is in the 1966 Reigate Directory, which shows Basil W DENNING (the first Director of Studies of the London Business School) living there with his family. He had left the Royal Navy as a Lieutenant in one of the voluntary reduction schemes and gone to Harvard to study for an MBA. He is reputed to be the only Englishman to achieve a distinction on graduation.

It seems that the house was renamed sometime after 1960, either by the Giles family or by the Dennings. Saranda is a city in southern Albania, opposite the island of Corfu. It is an important town and where most Albanian couples spend their honeymoon. Is this the connection with the house?

In November 1966 the house was on the market with Mann & Co., at an asking price of £22,000; the advertisement confirms the occupants as Mr & Mrs Denning.

Later still, in 1971 or 1972, the house was rented to the RILEY family, who moved from Noddyshall. However, with the imminent demolition of the house, forced by the M23 construction, they moved once more to Lowood.

Bytheway Lodge (1922)

There are no entries either before or after the 1922 electoral roll, at which date the occupants were Annie & James Arthur BRADFORD; although these same two names are shown also at Mill Ash for the same year.

Guvesne

Guvesne is a most unusual name but one possible source is that Guvesne (now Assiros) was the site of the advanced HQ/supply base for the British forces in the Thessaloniki campaign. There is a possibility, therefore, that this house was named or built by someone who had served there during the First World War. Intriguingly, in the same theatre of war there is a reference to an attack on 'Picket Bank' and there is a possible connection here with Pickett Wood.

The house appears in the electoral roll for the first time in 1960, giving the registered voters as Janet E & Henry R FAULKNER. There is no entry for 1965 but the 1966 Reigate Directory shows the owner as E LEWIS.

Pickett Wood Cottage

This was a 'tied cottage' within the grounds of Pickett Wood. The first recorded entry is for 1925, when the recorded voters were Gertrude & Ernest POTT.

After 1926 there are no voters shown at the cottage until Margaret & George Frederick LUCAS appear in 1935. There is then a further gap until 1950, when Christiana & Frederick BEETON are listed; they too appear for only one year. From 1960 until demolition the owner is Norah I KIRSOPP, who moved to Greenacre.

Pickett Wood (1912)

Paxton Hood WATSON, who designed many of the earlier houses along the road, lived here although he does not appear in the electoral roll until 1913. In earlier years he and his wife Hilda Mary lived in The Barn House in Quality Street, where three of their children were born: Reginald Paxton, on 28th June 1905; Margaret Paxton, on 18th November 1908; and Elizabeth Louise Paxton on 16th November 1911. A fourth child, Peter Paxton, was born on 18th March 1914 by which time the family had moved to Pickett Wood. It seems that they employed Reginald JACKSON as a gardener, as a daughter Elsie Elizabeth Lily was born on 15th March 1915 to Reginald and his wife Lily Emma at this address, although they may have lived in the Cottage.

"The Times" reported the sale of the house on 16th February 1918 (although no price was given) and later that year the registered voters at the house were Dorothy Gertrude & Michael Bruce Urquhart DEWAR. George St Quinton BEASLEY and his wife Winifred May, originally from Hampstead, leased Lydiat (in Church Hill) from April 1914 for 21 years and lived there, renaming the house Ronda, until they moved to Pickett Wood in October 1921. On 9th March 1922 Mrs Beasley placed an advertisement in "The Times" for a house-parlourmaid and housemaid to work with the three maids already employed in the household. The house in Church Hill is now called Baddiley House. Notwithstanding these changes of occupants, the house remained the property of the Watson family.

Paxton Watson died in 1947, but in 1925 his sister Georgina, who still lived in Quality Street, sold the house to Gen. Sir Walter CAMPBELL, who became Quarter Master General to the forces. The house is not shown in the electoral register for the years between 1926 and 1935, although the family was still there at the time: "The Times" of 4th December 1930 announced the forthcoming marriage of Eileen Isabella, elder daughter of Sir Walter and Lady Campbell, to Charles DUNPHIE; this took place on 9th April 1931, and an extensive report of the wedding was published in "The Times" the following day.

The death, at the age of 52, and subsequent burial on 31st January 1934 of Ellen Jane HARLAND is recorded; she was possibly a servant living at the house.

Horace AKEHURST was employed as a gardener during the 1930s and lived on the premises, although he was not listed as a voter. On 1st April 1938 a daughter Marion Gladys Sheila was born to him and his wife Lucy. Horace was very much a character of Rockshaw Road during the post-war years and later he became gardener to Sir Harold Webbe of Ash Pollard.

In 1935 the voters at the house were Gladys Isabella & Walter Campbell and Mary Elsie FOWLER. General Campbell had retired in 1927; he died on 11th August 1936 aged 72, leaving Isabella and two daughters; he was buried two days later. "The Times" of 12th August carried a brief obituary. General Campbell left an estate of a little under £11,000. The house was advertised for sale 'at a tempting price' the following month. It included nine bedrooms, a 32ft lounge, three other reception rooms, two garages, a tennis court, and an excellent cottage, all in over seven acres of land. Lady Campbell also placed an advertisement in "The Times" for the services of her gardener, G. LUCAS, aged 37, recommending him as an 'excellent gardener'. This was George Frederick, who appeared on the electoral roll at Picket Wood Cottage with his wife in 1935.

Another Campbell family, that of Doon Campbell, chief correspondent for Reuters during the war, lived at Whitmore; and a later generation was at Quest Cottage towards the end of the century.

The house again appeared for sale in "The Times" of 8th June 1938.

Following General Campbell's death the house became the property of Gen. Sir John ANDERSON (of ‘Anderson shelter’ fame). He does not appear on any electoral register at the house, as he bought the house primarily as a home for his two children (he was, by that time, a widower). His ministry and parliamentary duties required him to live in central London; in 1941 he married Ava Wigram, and they continued to live in his Westminster house.

Pickett Wood was rented by Mr (Later Sir) Kenneth Preston (another Preston family lived at The Georgian House during the 1950s). He was Chairman of the Stone Group of companies, which was engaged in railway and marine engineering, and later became Chairman of the British Olympic Yachting Team after he and his two younger brothers Bryan and Richard all represented Britain as Olympic yachtsmen.

In March 1942 the BRAMALL family was advertising for a nurse or nanny to look after a 17-month-old girl and a baby expected in April.

In "The Times" of 9th June 1945 Sir John Anderson advertised the sale of a substantial quantity of furnishings and furniture prior, perhaps, to selling the house.

By 1950 the house was occupied by Alice M & John V BAINS, with Arthur C HEARN also listed. It was advertised for sale by auction in "The Times" of 16th April 1953.

After 1954 there is no further listing until 1960, when Kathleen M and Col Frederick C HILTON-SERGEANT CB CBE were living in the house with daughters Valerie and Stefanie. On 4th June 1958 Valerie's engagement to Ulrich ARNDT was announced in "The Times", and ten years later in May 1969 her younger sister Stefanie became engaged to Mark HARWOOD, from Forest Row. Ké (Kathleen) moved to 'Home Cottage', in Quality Street, where she died in 2005. She is buried in St Katharine's graveyard.

Mill Ash Cottage

On 7th July 1929 Enid Margaret PARSONS, the daughter of John and Mabel Rosina PARSONS, was baptised at the age of two months. John was a chauffeur. A further two children were born in the following years; Audrey on 27th June 1932 and Allan John on 24th March 1936. The electoral register for 1935 shows the voters as Mabel Rosina & John Parsons together with Joyce Jane WILDMAN.

Following 1935 there is a gap in the registers until 1950, when the registered voters are Jane & Charles BELSHAM. They are listed for just one year; the register for 1960 once more shows Mabel & John Parsons, so it is likely that the house was rented out for some years.

Mill Ash (1914)

This house appears for the first time in 1915, when the occupants were Alice Phillipa and Geoffrey Harvey DREW who had moved from The White House. Mill Ash was another of Paxton Watson's designs and the garden was inspired by Gertrude Jekyll. It was a large house, with eight bedrooms, four reception rooms and two bathrooms. Alice and Geoffrey's son, Jocelyn Harvey, was born on 13th December 1916 and baptised at St Katharine's.

In 1922 the BRADFORD family, Annie and James Arthur, were shown as the registered voters. They also appear, in the same electoral register, at Bytheway Lodge. It is possible that they lived at the latter address but worked at Mill Ash, as in 1925 the Drew family are listed once more. After 1926, however, there were no voters listed at the property until the appearance of Dorothy Elizabeth and Lacey Rushton REEVES in 1935; Irene Mary EVANS and Annie May JONES were also listed for that year. The Reeves family remained at the house for some years, and on 19th June 1943 N. James A. Lacey Reeves and Caroline E. Reeves celebrated their Golden Wedding, having been married in Highbury in 1893.

On 1st September 1948 James Lacey Reeves announced his engagement to Elise CARNIE, from Edinburgh. A son born on 24th February 1951 was followed by daughter Caroline on 18th February 1953 and by a second son, Cameron, on 2nd March 1955. The following year the family moved to Piemede. James died in 2002; Elise lives in Chichester and Cameron still lives in Merstham, with his three children and one granddaughter.

Dorothy and Lacey's daughter Elizabeth Ann was first listed in the electoral register in 1950, and her engagement to Peter ALLEN, of Croydon, was announced on 22nd June 1951.

New owners, Daphne B & Enid G BURTON, appeared in 1960. Enid was listed, alone, in 1966 and 1970.

Chaldon Rise

The house was used as Merstham’s VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) during the First World War. The VAD and a Red Cross Detachment (Surrey 84) were asked to equip the house as a hospital, primarily for the old soldiers who guarded bridges and for the wounded who returned from France. It held at least twenty-five men, and was always full. The medical officer was Walter Weir, the stepson of Dr Crickitt who had been Merstham's first GP.

During September 1922 "The Times" carried the news that Chaldon Rise, with nine bedrooms and ten acres of ground, was to be auctioned the following month.

By 1925 Chaldon Rise was home to Marion Sybil & Stephen Cecil WATNEY (associated with the Mercers’ Livery Company; Stephen was at one time the Master); other voters listed in that year were Dora Elisabeth GRANGE, Millie RANCE and Amy RAVEN. In 1926 a further voter appeared on the list; John Lewis Watney, a son. He married Margaret Adeline POPE, from Wellington, Somerset, on 18th April 1931. Kelly's Directory for 1936 shows Stephen Watney as the owner, but there are no further entries until 1950.

At the end of the second war it became a repatriation centre for war wounded, with Dr Weir, Merstham’s first G. P., as the M. O.

The 1950 electoral register continues to show the Watney family resident, now with Ellen M LAVER and Alice M WASHINGTON. The 1954 Kelly's Directory lists Stephen Watney as owner; but he died soon afterwards as "The Times" of 20th May 1954 listed his estate at just over £50,000.

The next entry in the electoral roll, in 1960, gives Wendy PRICE as the sole voter.

By 1966 it was occupied by Hope and Geoffrey P. ELIOT (Geoffrey was Head of Lloyds). On 21st July 1964 the engagement of their eldest son Robin Francis to Judith Mary BACKHOUSE, of Beaconsfield, was announced; five years later, on 31st December 1969, his brother Christopher announced his engagement to Jane HULTON, of Seaford.

The house is now once again a Nursing Home (see Standish).

Chaldon Rise Cottage

This, presumably a cottage in the grounds of the larger house, first appears in the electoral register for 1935, when the occupants were Rose & Frederick Charles KING. Another King family lived in Ashcombe Road from 1936 to 1965. The next entry for the cottage is in 1950, when an additional voter, Colin King, is listed. After that date there is no further listing for the cottage.

Little Piemede became The Croft

There is a mention of The Croft in "The Times" of 11th July 1941,when it was reported that the house had recently been sold.

The first appearance of this house in the electoral registers is for 1960, when the voter was Constance E HARVEY, who seems to have moved here from Piemede, the house next door.. She lived there until 1970, when she sold the house to the Buckland family from Fairmead.

Piemede

The house does not appear in the register until 1950, in which year the occupant was Helena AUERBACH, together with Lily BRIDGES, May BURRIDGE and Constance E HARVEY.

The house was sold by auction on 24th July 1956, and bought by Elise and James REEVES, the son of Lacey Reeves (see Mill Ash). Piemede was a little smaller than Mill Ash, having seven bedrooms, two of these on the third floor attic level. The Reeves family left in 1966, having advertised the house for sale by auction in July of that year, and the house was bought by Peter WYKEMAN. His career was in iron and steel, first in London and then with the EEC in Brussels. Most regrettably, a builder's blowlamp caused a serious fire in the loft of the house and all his family papers and records were lost.

Greenacre

Greenacre (sometimes Greenacres) first appears in the electoral register in 1935, listing Mabel Mary & Eric Hugh O'DONNELL together with Edward KETTLE. They celebrated their Silver Wedding on 17th June 1944, having been married in 1919 at Spanish Place.

"The Times" reported the birth of a son to Lady Elizabeth, wife of Captain W. W. DAVIS, on 9th September 1946. The baby was christened Hugh Ross at St Katharine's on 20th October.

In July 1949 the engagement was announced of Erica Marie-Josephe O'Donnell and Robert Theodore Holmes REDPATH, of Cambridge. Erica was the O'Donnell's only daughter.

Following a gap of some years with no listed voters, in 1950 Eric O'Donnell was still there, now with Erica H (his wife?), and Alexandra GRANT.

Following a rather longer gap Peter L MONEY (a member of the Coutts family) is shown as the owner from 1966. He was the only resident of the road (at the time) to cycle to the station each day, and he was easily recognisable with his long overcoat, which somehow never caught in the wheels, and his brown cap similar to that of a racing jockey.

"The Times" of 2nd January 1973 reported the death of Norah Irene KIRSOPP on the previous New Year's Eve. She was 80 and had previously lived in Pickett Wood Cottage.

North side, west to east

Heart’s Delight became Clouds (1921)

Before the second (now the ‘fast’) railway line was laid the site of this house was close to the Merstham windmill. When the latter was demolished, and the bridge built over the railway, parts of the mill including the grinding-stones were used to build the lychgate at St Katharine’s church.

The house was built to the design of Sydney William NEIGHBOUR in 1921-22. He, his wife Gwenydd Joyce and their son Jocelyn Rupert ("Jock") were the first occupiers, together with Olive MARCHANT. She was not a relative of the family and was presumably a nanny or other servant. On 12th April 1923 a second son, Oliver Wray, always known as Tim, was born. Colonel Sydney Neighbour was an architect and as well as designing Heart's Delight he designed the Village Hall and the Village Club, as well as providing designs for the first houses in Brook Street.

The Neighbours employed a governess, Miss Gittens, who lived in Reigate with her mother. Norman Bowring (from The Georgian House) was taught with Jock, and later Miss Gittens gave classes for Tim, Sonia Bowring (The Georgian House), Phillip Houlder (Little Shaw) and Jim Reeves (Mill Ash). Sonia remembers her as being very strict, but kind.

Gwen Neighbour never learnt to drive and was often to be seen cycling to and from the village. She attended St Katharine's regularly and belonged to the Mothers' Union. Gwenyth Sellon, from Albury Edge, was a great friend. Col Neighbour was very friendly with Revd Wilkinson, the Rector at St Katharine's and chaplain to the forces.

Jock, born about the end of WW1, followed his father into the army.

Olive Marchant died in 1959 and Sydney William on 5th June the following year. In July 1971 the engagement was announced between Lieutenant-Colonel Jocelyn Neighbour and Pamela WHITE, from Northumberland. Gwenydd survived her husband by 20 years, dying on 29th December 1980.

In November 1981 Jocelyn and Tim sold the house to Brenda and Terence SMITH. It was the wish of the Neighbour family that the new owners should not continue to call the house Heart's Delight, so they chose the name of Clouds for it.

Tim worked in the Music Manuscripts department at the British Library and now lives in London.

Opsis became Badgerwood (1939)

The first record of the house (Opsis) dates from July 1938, when Merstham Manor Ltd. sold one acre of land to a builder named Guy Morgan for £350. The house was built during the following year and sold, on 14th November, to Ivan Collingwood BARLING and his wife Mabel. Mr Barling, born in Hawkshead, Lancashire, in 1865, paid £2,400 for the house; he was a Civil Engineer and Barrister from Devon.

Ivan died on 30th May 1950 aged 84, leaving a little over £94,000, but Mabel remained there until she too died two years later, on 10th July 1952. She was 83. Their son Ivan Theodore, born on 15th December 1900 in Tynemouth, inherited the house. He was a GP and lived in Devon; he sold Opsis to Thomas Henry MAYER and his wife Lilian on 2nd February 1953. The Mayers were comparatively local, from West Wickham; they paid £5,750 for the house. Thomas was the chief architect for Marks & Spencer; he and Lilian had three children, the eldest of whom was Alan, who attended Whitgift School. Five of the family were confirmed at St Katharine's: Sandra in May 1956; Thomas and Lilian in December 1960; Nigel, aged 15, and Colin, aged 13, in May 1961. The family lived there for ten years and in March 1963 put the house up for auction in Redhill Market Hall.

The successful bidder was Nora Patricia ROBERTS, a spinster from Wimbledon. Her bid was £12,000. However, she stayed less than a year and sold for not much more (£12,750) to Christine and Christopher GLOVER in February 1964. The Glovers, with their three daughters Jennifer Imogen, Beverly and Nicola, remained at Opsis for twenty-five years. Chris had been an RAF pilot during the war and later, following a degree at Cambridge, managing director of an international management consultancy. In October 1975 Jennifer, the eldest daughter, announced her engagement to Michael BURKE, from Mansfield.

In October 1989 Beverley and Martin BURR, a local businessman, bought the house. Very soon after moving in with their two sons, Christopher and Daniel, they extended the house considerably and renamed it Badgerwood, a name chosen by Christopher.

Dormers (1938)

Dormers was built in 1938, and first appears on the electoral roll of 1939, showing the occupants as Mary and Harry Archibald SPARKS. Also listed is Mary A Sparks, presumably a daughter. In April 1963 the property was advertised in "The Times", for sale by auction on 3rd May.

Following the Sparks Benjamin and Muriel CHRISTOFORIDES, originally from Greece, with children Susan, David and Elleni, were in residence. Muriel died on 10th April 1969 following a long illness. The family moved in 1972, when Mr Christoforides's business moved from London to Cornwall.

From that time until 2001 the residents were Christina and Mike BANCROFT, with Anna, Nicola, Juliet and Sophie. Mike was a chartered accountant, and Christina had been a nursing sister in London. The Bancrofts moved to Somerset.

The current owners are Chelle and Adrian ALLSPACH-BLADES, with baby Kobi.

Russet Cottage (1938) became Russetts

A document from the Land Registry records the purchase of the land by Charles and Edith Lilian SELL from Merstham Manor Ltd. The frontage was 120ft and the depth 363ft, giving an area of exactly one acre. The cost was £350.

The first electoral roll entry is for 1939. Edith and Charles lived here until at least 1950, after which time they moved to Marlpit Avenue, Coulsdon, where Charles died in August 1957.

The house was slightly damaged by the doodlebug that hit Innesfree in August 1944.

The next occupiers, by 1955, were Muriel and Ernest BATES. The name of the house was changed to Russetts some time after 1964.

During the 1960s and 1970s the owners were the BRODIE family, whose daughter married Mr A Logie and moved to Relf House.

Later owners were Shaun and Sandy METCALFE; following Sandy's death in 2003 Shaun moved to Worcester Park and the current owners are Nigel and Marilyn LUSON.

Innesfree became The New House (1925)

The source of the name Innesfree is uncertain, but it was possibly taken from the poem The Lake Isle of Innesfree by W B Yeats.

The first voter to be recorded in the house, in 1925, was Adelaide SPALDING. The electoral register for 1928 shows three Spalding women (Adelaide Frederica, Adelaide Frederica Howard and Cicely Joyce Howard) and Caroline GARLAND. It is likely (see below) that the two with the name of 'Howard' were daughters of Adelaide Frederica.

In 1930 Adelaide Frederica Howard was living in the house with Cicely Joyce Howard Spalding and Mary WILLIAMS.

Two years further on again, in 1932, Mary Williams had left and the three Spalding ladies were resident again. They had been joined by a further three Spaldings – Olive Grace, Phyllis Ellen Howard and John Howard. Kelly's Directory shows the 'private resident' as Mrs Howard Spalding – not very revealing.

In 1935 Phyllis had left; John Howard Spalding, by this time married to Kathleen Maud, lived at Lynwood between 1935 and 1939. At Innesfree there were just four voters resident in the house in 1935 but by 1938 Phyllis had re-appeared.

In February 1942 the family was advertising for a nurse-companion for an 'old lady'.

The house was hit by a doodlebug at about 10.00 a.m. on Thursday 3rd August 1944 and all those inside were killed; Adelaide, Cecily and Olive Spalding are recorded in the British Legion Debt of Honour Register (as civilian deaths). Adelaide Frederica, whose funeral was on 9th August, was 84 and the widow of John Howard Spalding. The burial register at St Katharine's confirms this age and it is possible that Adelaide Frederica was the mother of Cecily (47) and Olive (50), who appear to have been spinster daughters. A Margaret Clara GIDDINGS, aged 78, was also killed in the same incident; she may have been a sister of Adelaide.

Innesfree was rebuilt as The New House (shown in the photograph). By 1950 the new occupants were Dorothy and Robin A F JOHNSTON together with Evelyn M O BROWNE (a Rebecca Browne was living at Oakwood in 1945) and they lived there until at least 1955, after which they moved to Rondels. During the same period a George and Barbara Johnston were living at Lowood, practically opposite; whether these two families were unrelated has not yet been established.

Towards the end of the 1960s the owners were R P MERRITT and family and at the end of the 20th century the owners were Freda and Eric PHILPOTT.

Spaxton (1935)

In October 1930 Merstham Manor Ltd. sold the land for this house to Carl Ian Victor GIBSON.

However, no house was built until 1935 when Mr R J S LUND commissioned an architect, Edmund B Clarke, to design the house, which he named Spaxton. It seems that Mr Lund moved into the house in 1937, possibly bringing the name of the house from the village in Somerset about 17 miles south of Weston-super-Mare whence he came.

The house had been sold by April 1938, and the new owners were Gladys Louise and William Herbert STACEY. The birth of a daughter Jennifer Ann on 7th March 1939 is recorded; Vera Mary PAGE was also a voter at Spaxton in that year.

On 28th May 1941 Cecil Emily Stacey, youngest daughter of the late William Stacey, died at a nursing home in Reading, but no connection with the family at Spaxton has been established.

There is no entry of any voter living at the house in 1945. Gladys and William Stacey reappeared in 1950 and were there until at least the end of the 1960s. William was a Director of Troughton & Young (Holdings) Ltd. Their daughter Jennifer, by now aged 26, announced her engagement to John MELTZER, of New York, on 28th December 1965.

Later owners were Marjorie HANAN in April 1971, and Mary Elizabeth and Eric Gordon WOOD from October 1977.

The present owners, Beverley and Phil HITCHINS (Phil is a former local government councillor), moved into the house in January 1994.

Lockhart became Ganymede became Kingfisher Cottage (1957)

One of the first families to live in the house was that of Louisa E and William F S SALMON. They are shown in the 1959 Kelly's Directory and in the electoral register for 1960.

The name was changed to Ganymede some time after 1964, perhaps by John H SYKES and his wife Jane R, who are listed in the 1965 electoral register, and later still to Kingfisher Cottage.

The current owners are Susan and David MORTIMER, who have extended the cottage.

Roemarten became Beechside (1928)

The first record of the house appears in the electoral register for 1928, at which time the occupants were Sybil May and Frank Harold SMITH. Sybil had been born in Merstham and was educated at Roedean.

In 1930 another name appeared, that of Florence May ROBERTS; possibly she was employed as a maid. She had gone two years later, to be replaced by Gladys Hilda HILL; three years earlier she had been living at Kingsdown and was, presumably, in domestic service.

On the outbreak of war Harold’s business was evacuated to the West Country; however, Sybil’s love of Merstham was such that she refused to join him and, despite serious injuries that caused her to walk with her upper body parallel to the ground, insisted on continuing to live at Roemarten. Harold travelled to Merstham when he could. After the war his business remained in the West Country and he spent many years commuting from Merstham for the working week.

Mrs Brodie, who lived at Russetts during the 1960s and 1970s, often visited Sybil and showed her much kindness.

Harold predeceased Sybil and she died, still at Roemarten, in the 1970s. She appears to hold the record for longevity in the Road.

The name of the house was changed after her death.

The current occupiers are Andrea, Dawn, Kevin, Martin and Paul KEEP.

Sarum and Fircroft

Sarum and Fircroft occupy part of tthe site formerly occupied by two of the Noddyshall cottages. They were demolished towards the end of the 1950s, and the land was then used to build the two bungalows. The current owners of each house have requested that their names are withheld from this history.

‘The Close’

'The Close', so named (unofficially) by the residents, is a private road. The houses are listed starting from the south-western corner, proceding along the western side of the road to the far end, then returning towards the major road along the eatern side.

Shepherd’s Corner (1964)

Shepherd’s Corner does not appear in the electoral rolls until after 1955; it was built on part of the land released by the demolition of two of the Noddyshall cottages. In the Reigate Directory for 1966-68 it was owned by Anwyn and Nicholas O DANIELS. Nick was an insurance broker and became Director in charge of the US business of insurance broker Sedgwick. They later moved to Turner's Hill.

The house has been considerably extended by the present owners.

Mon Repos became The Firs (1929)

Mon Repos appears in the electoral register only between 1929 and 1939. Eleanor and Albert Edward de ROSE were the first occupants shown on the electoral register, with Mary POTTINGER also shown for 1929.

Albert Edward had been born in Stepney in 1890; Eleanor (née SHEPPARD) was a year younger. They had four children; Eric, Guy (born 1920, died 1922), Vincent and Monica. There is no entry for 1930 but Mary Pottinger appears at Mill House in 1932. Eric was confirmed at St Katharine's in May 1931 at the age of 14.

Albert died at the age of 44 and was buried on 24th December 1934. The register for the following year shows, as well as Eleanor, a further two voters; Edith Mary and Ruby Margaret Annie SHEPPARD. It is possible that Edith and Ruby were sisters, or sisters-in-law, of Eleanor, for three years later the families in the house were Ruby Margaret Annie and Edward Charles MORGAN, and Edith Mary Elizabeth and Richard Lionel SHEPPARD. Vincent de Rose was confirmed at St Katharine's in March 1936 at the age of 13.

On 17th February 1937 a daughter, Wendy Margaret Elizabeth, was born to the Morgans. Eleanor de Rose was still there then and in 1939, by which time the Morgan family had left leaving just the two Sheppards with Eleanor de Rose. Five years later, on 3rd April 1944, the register at St Katharine's records the burial of Jane de Rose, Albert's spinster sister; she had died aged 51, just three weeks after Monica had been confirmed at the age of 15.

In 1951 there was an Edith F and Sidney Arthur SHEPPARD living at 13 Ashcombe Road.

The name of the house was changed sometime during the war, for by 1945 there is no record of Mon Repos but the occupants of The Firs were Eleanor and Horace de Rose. Five years later there was no mention of Horace (perhaps a son who had left home) but daughter Monica had appeared as a voter. Also shown on the electoral register, and lodging in the house, were Margaret S and Victor JACKSON. Vic was the son of the Jackson family that owned a small shop on the corner of Brook Road in South Merstham. The family had moved to Clavadel by 1955; Vic died a few years ago in Norfolk, having been widowed for many years.

By the early 1950s Monica and her doctor husband Peter VENABLES, together with their children Christopher, Mark and Rosemary, were living in the house. Although it was still owned by Eleanor de Rose she moved away to live with family elsewhere (she died in 1983). In September 1955 Peter's work took him to Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, and after only a few days Ernie and Ethel BLOWES and their daughter Patricia moved to the house from Fairmead, threee doors away. Peter and Monica Venables now live in Cranleigh, Surrey.

When the Noddyshall cottages were demolished at the end of the 1950s Eleanor, who still owned The Firs, acquired the land. On her death the parcel of land was split and Shepherd's Corner was built, along with the two bungalows Sarum and Fircroft.

Patricia Blowes was married from the house in 1957, to J. J. (Gerry) Gerritsen and they went to live in his native South Africa for over 18 years. She now lives in Worthing.

When Guy Savory (of Rondels) died, his widow sold the house. Ernie Blowes took on the job of groundsman at the new Comprehensive school in South Merstham. Ethel died at the beginning of April 1959 and a few months later Ernie moved to the Garden Flat at Albury Edge. In May 1962 he married again, to a Hilda BARNARD, and moved to her rented house in the High Street. He died in November 1973 and Hilda survived him by over eleven years, dying on St George's Day 1985.

The 1966 Reigate Directory shows the occupant as Colin W STRADLING and his wife June G; Colin, now widowed, lives there still.

Ockley Wood Cottage became Ockley Wood (1933)

The first entry for Ockley Wood Cottage was in 1935, when the occupants were Sarah Jane and Frederick George COCKS. They were still living in the house in the late 1960s, the only change being to the name of the house some time between 1939 and 1945. On Sarah's death Frederick moved to a residential home and the house was bought by the TICKNER family. Kate S and Albert F TICKNER were living at Relf Cottage in 1950, although this may not be the same family. On Mr Tickner's retirement the family moved to Reigate.

Noddys Cottage became Uplands Cottage (1926)

This cottage is one of two in ‘The Close’ that were built as ‘tied cottages’ to serve as accommodation for staff working at the larger houses in the road, the other being Fairmead.

The 1938 electoral roll shows Noddys Cottage between Ockley Wood Cottage and Fair Mead. Assuming that these two houses are the present Ockley Wood and Fairmead, this indicates that the house now known as Uplands Cottage was once – during the late 1930s and 1940s – known as Noddys Cottage. It was built as a tied cottage to serve as accommodation for the gardener at Noddyshall, across the road.

From Autumn 1926 Albert Victor WALTUS was living at Noddyshall Cottage (for some years the electoral roll shows Noddys Cottage); it has already been established (see Noddyshall Cottage) that this was not the present cottage of that name and, indeed, was not part of the Noddyshall hamlet at all. 'Waltus' is undoubtedly a mis-spelling of WATERS as from 1929 until the end of the war Daisy Elizabeth and Albert Victor Waters, a gardener, were shown as occupants.

For some reason Albert was known to all as 'Cronje'. Their first child, Victor Albert, was born in 1925, followed in December 1926 by a daughter, Betty; she now lives in Wood Street. A second son, Christopher Frederick Reginald, was baptised at St Katharine's on 21st May 1930; and another son, Bernard Raymond, was baptised on 4th October 1932 just a fortnight before their elder brother Victor died, aged only seven, and was buried on 19th October. Daisy was still living there in 1945 but Albert was not shown on the electoral register. Like Ernest Blowes (next door at Fairmead), he was too old to be called up during the war, but he joined the local "Dad's Army". He died in 1966, and Daisy survived him for a further 20 years, dying in 1987 at the age of 89.

There is no entry for a house in this position in the 1950 register; the first entry for Uplands Cottage is in the electoral roll for 1955, when the occupants were Daisy K and Alfred H OSBORNE, with William A MARTIN. Ten years later the owners were H R M JENNER and family.

From the early 1970s Uplands Cottage was home to John HARRISON; he had previously been joint owner (together with his brother Richard) of Quarry Dean Farm, which was destroyed with the coming of the M23. John and his wife Yvonne stayed in the cottage until 1993, when he retired and they moved to Devon. John died early in 2006.

Fairmead (1933)

This was another ‘tied cottage’, this time serving as accommodation for staff at Rondels.

The first occupants of Fairmead, in 1933, were Ethel May and Ernest James BLOWES, together with daughter Patricia who was born in 1930. The small photograph is a picture of the house in 1933; Pat and her mother are standing in front of the door.

Ernest was the gardener/chauffeur-cum-handyman for Rondels. Although Ernest was not eligible for National Service because of his age he had to do 'war work' and it was agreed that during the summer he would help with the harvest and other farm work at the Savory's farm in Norfolk, and during the winter he would work at the flour mill at West Croydon. He was fire-watching from the top of the silo when the first flying bomb fell on Croydon. Ethel was 'Brown Owl', leading the Brownie pack from about 1937 to 1940. Patricia was confirmed at St Katharine's in March 1946 at the age of 15. The family lived at the house for over twenty years, and in 1954 moved three houses along to The Firs, which was owned by Eleanor de Rose.

Alan F BUCKLAND, his wife Rita and their family moved to Fairmead – he is listed at this address in the 1959 Kelly's Directory – and lived there from the mid-60s until at least 1970; the family later moved to Little Piemede. Alan was a partner in W E Bucklands, the furniture shop in Redhill.

Lynwood (1935) became Gayhurst became Beech House

Lynwood is another house name that makes only a few appearances in the electoral rolls. It appears for the first time in 1935, when the occupants were Kathleen Maud and John Howard SPALDING, with daughter Bridget; John Howard moved here from Innesfree. A second daughter was born on 8th July 1937, and baptised Frances Bridget Howard at St Katharine's.

They moved shortly after the start of the war and the new occupants were the MOWBRAY family, with two children. By 1945 the sole occupant (shown thus on the electoral register) was Patricia de HAUTEVILLE-BELL. There is no further mention of the house under the name of Lynwood. The grounds were quite extensive and at one time the owners kept several pigs, much to the discomfiture of the neighbours.

The first mention of Gayhurst in the electoral registers is in 1950, when the occupants were Patricia M and George R WIGG. An Adeline Wigg, widow of George Wigg, lived at Mill House between 1938 and 1945 and at Albury Edge in 1950. By 1954 the Wiggs had moved, to be replaced by Pamela A, Ivy M and John H WILBY.

At the end of the 1960s the owners were Danny and June KEE, who moved to Lowood in 1975. The house was renamed Beech House by the current owners.

Dell House (1972)

Dell House was built during the 1970s by a son of the Kee family, on land that had formerly belonged to Gayhurst (now Beech House).

Knightons became Wendrich became Glaramara (1945)

Knightons does not appear in the electoral registers before 1945, but in that year it is shown between Lynwood and Ash Pollard, indicating that it was at that time the last house on the north of the road. However, Jessie and Samuel BACON were both confirmed at St Katharine's in March 1944; they were in their mid-50s. They were the first occupants, and appear in the electoral registers of both 1945 and 1950.

There is no record after 1950, apart from Kelly's Directory of 1951 (recording Samuel Bacon), of any residents at Knightons but it is likely that the name of the house was changed. Several sources indicate that Knightons was the original name of the house later called Wendrich.

There is no entry for Wendrich before that in Kelly's Directory of 1959, which gives Richard GOFFIN as the owner. This is confirmed by electoral registers showing Lydia A, Violet L A and Richard F A Goffin. It seems that Mr Goffin gave his name to the second syllable of the new name for the house, but there does not appear to be a Wendy, unless she was a daughter not yet old enough to vote.

Later still the name was again changed to Glaramara. The present owners are Suzanne and Jim DUFFY.

Bentley became Mulberry (1950)

Bentley is listed in the electoral registers only from 1950, showing the occupants as Florence A and Frederick W A ALFORD until at least 1970. They had a son Richard.

Red Gables (1950)

The house was owned by Mary and John E GOMERSHALL from 1959 to at least 1970. They were the parents of Florence Alford (Bentley).

Christow (1950)

The first family to live here were Joan M and William H C JONES. There is no mention of the house before 1954. The Jones family were still there in 1970.

Kesteven (1950)

In 1950 the occupants were Ruth M and Edgar BLAND, with sons Christopher and Bernard. Ruth worked at a nursery close to Pendell Camp. The elder son, Christopher, was killed in an avalanche in Switzerland. The family moved to Sleaford and from 1955, until at least 1970, the owners were Edith A and Christian F DITTERT. They were a local family and when Edith died Christian moved to South Merstham.

Later still the residents were Yvette and Steve LAIFLAIN, who in 1999 sold the house to Julie and Gary RAMSDALE.

Franklands (1950)

There is no record of occupancy before 1954, in which year the residents were Margaret A and George E MORRIS. By 1960 the Morris family had left, to be replaced by Eileen M and Bernard E ROLFE. The 1966 Reigate Directory, although listing the house, shows no owner.

Bedlam’s Wood

Bedlam's Wood is shown on a map dated 1964; it was opposite Pickett Wood and was thus in the borough of Tandridge. The first owners, listed in the electoral register for 1935, were Bertha and William Frederick TAYLOR.

The Taylor family owned Colley Farm, including the hearthstone mines at Colley Pits, and originally lived at Margery Hall, in Kingswood. William died on 24th July 1947 aged 71; he was the youngest son of George Taylor of Margery Hall. The funeral service was held at Golders Green Crematorium.

By 1960 the listed voter was Marjorie HOMAN.

The house was demolished when the M23 was built.

Rockshaw House, Cottages and Lodge

While the present Rockshaw House is not, technically, on Rockshaw Road it is included here for obvious reasons.

On 25th April 1885 "The Times" carried an advertisement for a butler. It had been placed for William GARDINER, of Rockshaw. The following year the newspaper advertised the services of a Head Gardener seeking re-engagement; this was from a married 'J. W.', aged 39, at Rockshaw Lodge.

In March 1887 the owners sought to let the house for six months while they were travelling abroad. 'The house' included stabling for seven horses, 12 acres of garden and other grounds and 70 acres of other land, the use of three horses, carriages, stations carts, etc. and 'all indoor and outdoor servants'.

A map of 1893 shows Rockshaw House, the Lodge, and the surrounding land as part of the estate belonging to Paul KOHN-SPEYER. The first appearance of the House in the censuses is in that for 1891. This shows William GARDINER with his wife and five children in Rockshaw House, together with seven servants in addition to the following: Thomas HILL, a gardener, lived in Rockshaw Lodge with his wife and two young sons; Thomas HEDGECOCK, the coachman, lived with his wife Mary in Rockshaw Stables, which was probably a flat above the stables themselves; another gardener, John GOLDSON, lived in Rockshaw Cottage with his wife Jane and two sons; and finally a third gardener, William BIRD, lived in the bothy. He was a widower yet aged only 25.

Although Rockshaw House is outside the Reigate boundary, entries appear in the electoral registers for some years. The first such entry is in 1900 and it shows the owner of Rockshaw as George Lloyd WIGG. William Gardiner and Thomas John Hedgecock were shown as 'occupiers' at Rockshaw, the latter being at the 'stable yard'; William Gardiner had moved from Redcross Street, in London, and he died on 6th April 1901. The house was advertised for sale in 1901, by order of the late William Gardiner - which implies that he, and not George Wigg, was the owner, although he could have simply been the agent. A reasonably full description of the house and estate is given on page 19 in "The Times" of 11th May. The estate of 122 acres was sold for £27,000 the same month. In 1909 one of William's daughters, Hilda Mary, married George Spencer WATSON at East Grinstead; and the following year Ralph H. Gardiner, of the R. F. A., married Muriel May PHILLIPS at All Souls, Langham Place.William Harold, Ralph's elder brother, married Florence Isabel BONE in 1914. One of Williams' daughter, Silvia, later lived at ByTheWay.

Also living there in 1900, and entitled to a vote by virtue of occupation, were John Goldson at Rockshaw Cottage and Thomas William Hills at Rockshaw Lodge. It is possible that the Wigg family may have rented the estate from the Kohn-Speyer family, although it seems that they did not reside there permanently. A register at St Katharine's records the confirmation of Florence CLARKE in March 1909 at the age of 17; her address was given as Rockshaw Stables.

Just over a decade later, the register for 1912 shows that most of the occupants had changed, although George Wigg is still listed as 'owner'. With him at Rockshaw were Henry WOOD and Charles BRAZIER (occupying a 'room in the bothy'); Eli HOWELL and Robert WICKS were in Rockshaw Cottage (an unnamed Howell was at Standish in 1929 although there is nothing to suggest this was Eli) and Maurice Lennox SARGENT was living at Rockshaw Lodge. In March 1913 Millie Howell was confirmed at St Katharine's at the age of 13. A year later Henry Wood and Robert Wicks appear as owners (of 'room in the bothy' and Rockshaw Cottage respectively), .

On 26th November 1916 a daughter Mary Betty was born to Edward and Charlotte REID, whose address was given as Rockshaw Cottage. Edward was a Sapper in the Royal Engineers.

George Wigg died on 2nd November 1926 at the age of 74, leaving an estate of some £140,000 and £100 to his chauffeur, Joseph CLARKE. His executors were Adeline Constance (who may possibly have been his wife, although she was his junior by over 30 years, or a daughter-in-law) and Muriel Irene Wigg, who was one of three daughters. "The Times" of 15th March 1927 advertised the sale by auction of the contents of the house - including a Humber two-seater motorcar and a 1923 Wolseley. Almost as a footnote, the announcement mentions that the estate of 123 acres is also for sale; although perhaps nobody noticed, for three weeks later the newspaper carries another advertisement, placed this time by Hampton & Sons, for this 'medium-sized family residence'. The estate, with four reception rooms and seventeen (!) bed and dressing rooms, was also advertised for sale by auction in Country Life in the same month, March 1927. The 123 acres also included the Lodge, three cottages, stabling, garages for five and stabling. The advertisement appeared yet again, in "The Times", on 19th April - and yet again on 11th May.

Adeline appeared again in 1938 at Mill House and her life ended in December 1967 when she died at the age of 83 in Kingsbridge, Devon. She left an estate of a little over £10,000. The three daughters — Muriel Irene, Violet Mabyn and Lilian Nellie — all died as spinsters in Hawkhurst, Kent. Lilian's death at the age of 89, on 2nd June 1972, was reported in "The Times".

It appears that in the 1930s Ernest Edward HICKS was employed as a chauffeur at the House, for the St Katharine's register records the birth of a son John to Ernest and his wife Ivy Blanche on 27th September 1935. The same register shows the birth of a daughter, Blanche Elizabeth, on 15th July 1933 to the same parents although the address shown on that occasion was The Cottage, Rockshaw Road.

From the mid-1930s to 1964 the Cottage was occupied by Percy James and Florence Helen (Jim and Nell) MANNING; Percy was employed as the Head Gardener at the House. Percy and Florence had five children: Peggy Lilian, who married a Royal Signals soldier stationed at the House during the war, in which Percy was in the Merstham Home Guard; John William; Mary; Kathleen Helen, born in the Cottage in 1939; and James. Peggy now lives in Hartlepool, and James in Meadvale, rather closer to home! The family left the Cottage in 1962, following a spell of ill-health for Jim.

During the early years of the War Rockshaw House was used s a home for 'bad girls', looked after by nuns, after which the Army appeared in the shape of the Royal Corps of Signals - presumably the House had been requisitioned by the War Office.

After the War the House became a furniture depository for the company of Batchelar & Son Ltd which was based in Croydon.

At much the same time Rockshaw Lodge was occupied by Dr Hugh Jolly, who later became a well-known paediatrician, and his wife Geraldine. On 18th June 1947 she gave birth to a daughter.

By the early 1950s the House had been empty for many years and it had fallen into such a bad state of disrepair that it had to be demolished. "The Times" of 11th February 1955 carried an advertisement for the auction of various items of contractors' plant and building materials including, somewhat incongruously, a 1936 Austin saloon car.

In 1956 the site of the old House together with a large parcel of land was bought by Francis Herbert and Yvonne Louise BOURNER, who had the present house built. Mr Bourner was the inventor and manufacturer of the 'SupaTap'.

Mrs Kohn-Speyer died at the end of the 1950s and her family started to dispose of the remaining properties on the estate. The obvious purchaser was Mr Bourner, and a Land Registry document dated April 1961 records the transfer of property from Edmund Paul Kaye Speyer and Thomas Paul Kohn-Speyer to Mr and Mrs Bourner, the property in question being the quarry to the north of the House, the Lodge and the three cottages. The address of the Bourners was given as Rockshaw House and so this document confirms that they were purchasing additional land to that which they already owned. The price of this additional land was £9,500.

The rebuilt House is considerably smaller than the original, and it appears that the Bourners or their successors sold off much of the land, as particulars from an estate agent some time later advertise the house as having 4/6 bedrooms, three reception rooms, and a self-contained annexe with kitchen, reception room and bedroom (which had been used as servants' quarters). There was also a triple garage and workshop in a total of 5½ acres. Offers ‘in the region of’£495,000 were invited. An article in "The Times" of 29th June 1973 indicates that the cottage and stable blocks were being advertised for sale. The expected asking price was in the region of £55,000.

The house was indeed sold, but in the early 1990s the owners, who had by this time taken out two charges on the property, were declared bankrupt and forced to leave. After two years of trying unsuccessfully to resell the property the holders of the first charge, Kleinwort Benson Private Bank, sold the house to Graham and Gill MARSHALL, the current owners, for £270,000.