Betchworth
Betchworth photos (19 available)
Betchworth maps (2 available)
Map of Surrey
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Betchworth books (24 available)
- 6 photos on Betchworth appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Betchworth
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Betchworth and Surrey
Betchworth memories
Read and share memories of Betchworth and Surrey inspired by Frith photos
Betchworth Village Shop
A school friend at Reigate Grammar was Joe Cheffings; his parents ran the village shop and bakery about midway to the church, on the left of the picture. An elder brother, Tony, helped at home when on holiday from St. Paul's school, and had a penchant for very elderly motorcycles, picked up for nothing from a quarry dump towards Dorking somewhere. 2 dogs, and 2 donkeys completed the household! I used to cycle over from Salfords and have a wonderful time, birdnesting, fishing - and eating some of the wonderful cakes and buns that were produced, and which were so difficult to come by with the strict rationing in force!
There was a large German P.O.W. camp somewhere ...read more here
Contributed by Keith Fuller
Surrey memories
Betchworth Village Shop
A school friend at Reigate Grammar was Joe Cheffings; his parents ran the village shop and bakery about midway to the church, on the left of the picture. An elder brother, Tony, helped at home when on holiday from St. Paul's school, and had a penchant for very elderly motorcycles, picked up for nothing from a quarry dump towards Dorking somewhere. 2 dogs, and 2 donkeys completed the household! I used to cycle over from Salfords and have a wonderful time, birdnesting, fishing - and eating some of the wonderful cakes and buns that were produced, and which were so difficult to come by with the strict rationing in force!
There was a large German P.O.W. camp somewhere ...read more here
A memory of Betchworth contributed by Keith Fuller
Working for British Railway's southern region
My mother, Valerie Evans, worked for British Railways southern region from 1957 -1960 at Deepdene House. She was a shorthand typist and remembers Deepdene House to be a beautiful building with extensive grounds. She has happy memories of friends in the typing pool.
The building hadn't changed much since 1891 although I don't believe there was a conservatory in 1957. During her lunch breaks she would play tennis, table tennis and netball or just sit out on the grass and enjoy the scenery.
A memory of Dorking contributed by Sandra Finch
Pepsi-Cola and Merry Legs
These two ponies belonged to Dorking Riding School and they were popular characters with gentle dispositions. They retired in 1963 to good homes. Pepsi-Cola is in the foreground. I was a groom at the stables and regularly rode them around the area.
A memory of Dorking contributed by Ann Hobley
Extracts From Betchworth & Surrey books
Modern buildings have crowded in along the northern part of Betchworth’s long village street, but the line of the North Downs and the big chalk pit remain much the same, although the downs are far more wooded.
An extract from from"Surrey Photographic Memories".
Travellers on the A25
cannot fail to see the
scars on the south side
of the North Downs
that were once the
Betchworth quarries.
The village itself lies to
the south of the main
road and is therefore
often overlooked. To this
day it retains many quiet
corners. However, the
ruins of a 14th-century
castle in Betchworth
Park are seen even less;
unfortunately there is no
public access to them.
An extract from from"Villages of Surrey Photographic Memories".
This superb 15th-century house became the home of Essex stockbroker James Corbett and his wife Alice between 1854 and 1912, where they raised their two daughters. He was a churchwarden for more than fifty years and the founder of More Place Cricket Club, whose ground was across the way. The great W G Grace once joined the cricketers at practice. During World War II, the building housed an evacuated nursery school.
An extract from from"Surrey Revisited Photographic Memories".
Not only lime but also some building stone was formerly quarried in the huge Betchworth chalk pit. It had its own narrow gauge railway, which is visible here. The quarry once belonged to Sir Benjamin Brodie, Royal surgeon to Queen Victoria and president of the Royal College of Surgeons.
An extract from from"Surrey Photographic Memories".
This post office was built in 1900 on land belonging to the Betchworth Park Estate, and was designed to deal with the business of three villages, Betchworth, Brockham and Buckland, including sorting and stamping the mail with the village's own postmark. Until his retirement in 1926 the postmaster was John Skinner, but his principal interest lay in taking photographs for Francis Frith, and his daughter Lillian and eleven other staff carried out most of the postal business. It is still a post office and the only shop in the village.
An extract from from"Surrey Revisited Photographic Memories".