Redhill, Surrey

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Redhill

Coordinates: 51.2393° N 0.1726° W
Population	25,751^[1]
OS grid reference	TQ275505
District	Reigate and Banstead
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	REDHILL
Postcode district	RH1
Dial code	01737
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Reigate
European Parliament	South East England
List of places: UK • England • Surrey

Redhill is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead, Surrey, England and is part of the London commuter belt. Redhill and the adjacent town of Reigate form a single urban area.

1 History
2 Today
3 Transport
4 Schools
5 Famous people associated with Redhill
6 Emergency services
7 Sport and recreation
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

It came into being when a road was built in 1818. The settlement was originally known as Warwick Town and became known as Redhill when the post office moved from Red Hill Common in 1856. A major factor in the development of the town was the coming of the railway. Redhill railway station continues to be an important junction. Redhill is well known to be one of the few places in the UK where Fuller's Earth can be extracted. Alfred Nobel, demonstrated Dynamite to the world for the first time at a Redhill quarry in 1867.

A Victorian psychiatric hospital to the south of Redhill, the Royal Earlswood Hospital, was home to two of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's cousins, Katherine Bowes-Lyon and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon for forty years, both of whom had learning difficulties. The inmate James Henry Pullen (1835-1916) was an autistic savant. He was a brilliant craftsman and artist. His work was accepted by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Some of Pullens ship models, designs and art work can be seen on permanent display at the Belfry Shopping Center, High Street, Redhill. The hospital site has now been converted to luxury apartments.

On the edge of Redhill is Gatton Park, an estate once owned by the Colman's. The estate had a private chapel (now open to the public) and Japanese gardens that were featured on TV recently.

[edit] Today

It is part of the Reigate and Banstead local government district. Since May, 1997 Redhill's MP has been Crispin Blunt, the Conservative MP for Reigate.

Redhill is a major route centre for the region as it is on the fast, direct road & rail links for London & Brighton (the veteran car rally runs through it each year); in the last 20 years the town has also benefitted from the M25 (2 miles north) and its closeness to London's Gatwick Airport (20 minutes on A23) and Heathrow Airport (30 minutes on M25).

Over the years the town centre has included many major high street names, these have included Safeway's (now closed), Woolworths, Boots, W H Smith, Bejam (now Iceland), Our Price (now closed), Sainsbury's, Lidl (closed 2005), Currys, Barclays Bank, McDonalds, Lloyds TSB and so on. It has a popular market each Thursday and Saturday that sells a variety of items. Recently, Redhill high street has dit-ed "Bonjour" to an exotic French market, where sausage, wine & cheese samples can be tasted.

The town has a distinctive red-brick theatre-cinema-library complex, called the Harlequin, and an old shopping arcade (that currently houses Road Runners taxi services and among other shops, a small local record store called "Hits" that has been in Redhill since the 1980s). For many years this was simply called "The Arcade"; today its name has changed to "Redhill Indoor Market" although many locals still refer to it by its previous name. A Sainsburys store (with underground car park) is situated adjacent to the Harlequin and a parade of modern shops, including MotherCare, Martins Newsagents, Carphone Warehouse & Choice clothing store. Further along the pedestrianised High Street is the Belfry Shopping Mall which has its own multi-storey car park and over its 2 floors there are about 30 shops (inc. a large M&S, Robert Dyas, Boots, Samuels Jewellers, the Redhill Post Office etc.).

In the latter half of 2005, an area full of empty shops and offices has been revamped and now includes many eateries such as Frankie&Benny. This is rumoured to be the start of a revamp of the town over the course of the next 10 years.

On the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of June 2007 there is to be a big Carnival in Redhill, held in the town and in the Memorial Gardens. For more information on the Carnival go to their website Redhill Carnival

[edit] Transport

Redhill railway station has Thames & Gatwick Airport high-speed links. On the road transport network, Redhill lies at the junction of the A23 and A25 roads. The junction of the M25 and M23 motorways. Air access is available at Redhill Aerodrome (EGKR) off the A23 1.5Nm south east of Redhill town and at London Gatwick Airport - approx. 3 miles to the south on the A23.

[edit] Schools

St. Bede's School, secondary school including sixth form (ages 11-18)
The Warwick School, secondary school in Noke Drive

[edit] Famous people associated with Redhill

David Hewlett, actor, star of Sky One's Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate SG-1.
Katie Melua, singer and songwriter.
Liz May Brice, actress, best-known for her role on ITV1's Bad Girls
Michael Greco, past Eastenders actor who played Beppe DiMarco, went to school at St Bede's in Carlton Rd, Redhill
Bevis Hillier, biographer of Sir John Betjeman, was born here.
Tom Griffin - recently added into Guinness Book of World Records for having a broken leg for the longest period of time to date.
Aleister Crowley, magician, poet, prophet and famed occultist. He & his family lived at The Grange, Redhill between 1881 & 1884.
Ronnie Biggs, was living at Alpine Road, Redhill, when he was arrested for his part in "The Great Train Robbery" in 1963.