Banstead Village

B.U.D.C. OFFICES, A217 BRIGHTON ROAD, BANSTEAD

B.U.D.C. COUNCIL OFFICES, A217 BRIGHTON ROAD, BANSTEAD, c1960

This site between Lyme Regis Road and Chipstead Road has seen many changes in the last 150 years.

In 1860 a farmhouse was built here on fields known as Collins Lands, which faced the Brighton Road.
It was later enlarged and stables, outbuildings and a cottage added and, by 1881, was the private house of Mr Harrington Hudson JP.

In 1898 Miss Mary Ellen Mason bought the property and started further alterations, which included adding another floor in 1904, and used the building as a high class "finishing college" for young ladies.

The finishing school closed in 1930 and was briefly 'let' for use as a Boys' Preparatory School.

From 1933 it became the offices of the newly formed Banstead Urban District Council.

The building was further enlarged in 1986 when it became Reigate and Banstead Borough Council offices.

In 2002, after the council relocated to Reigate, the building was demolished and "Holmewood House" flats now stand here.

Background history courtesy of http://www.bansteadhistory.com/

Postcard courtesy Francis Frith Collection