Dorking, Pixham Mill 1931

Photo ref: 84182

More about this scene

Just past the Stepping Stones public house is one of the roads leading to Polesden Lacy. This was once the home of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, who purchased the property, then known as High Polesden, in 1796. The estate dates to the early 13th century, and was owned by William de Polesdene. It was later occupied by Thomas Slyfield, and was granted to John Norbury in 1470. Sir Thomas Cubitt built the present house in the early 1820s. Edward VII frequented Polesden Lacy so that he could enjoy peace and solitude with his friends and retreat from the hustle and bustle of London, thanks to the hospitality of the Hon Captain and Mrs Grevill. George VI, then Duke of York, honeymooned here with Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, later the Queen Mother. On Mrs Grevill's death in 1942, the estate was willed to the National Trust and became their Southern Area Office. General Sir E Hamley was another who was afraid of an imminent invasion. His was the thought behind the fortresses that were built in the late 1880s on and around Box Hill; there is still a fort on the summit of the hill, a testimony of a war that was never fought. Hamley started a campaign to build the fortresses in case of an invasion from France, and lobbied parliament until they agreed to his venture. Volunteers were to be enlisted to build and man the forts that would be positioned around London. The Government approved Hamley's idea in 1888, and gave permission for the forts to be built. Just a short distance from the Burford Bridge Hotel is Burford Lodge. At one time it was a private house; then it became offices and workshops for the South Eastern Electricity Board, and is now flats.