Redhill, Surrey

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.

A psychiatric hospital there, Royal Earlswood Hospital (now closed), was home, for more than 40 years, to two of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's nieces, Katherine Bowes-Lyon and Nerissa Bowes-Lyon, both of whom were mentally retarded and largely unable to speak.

[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.

Over the years the town centre has included many of the major high street names, these have included Tesco (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 market each Thursday that sells a variety of items. And recently, Redhill High Street has dit-ed "Bonjour" to an exotic French market, where sausage samples can be tasted.

The town also has a theatre, called the Harlequin and also has a shopping Arcade (that currently houses Road Runners taxi services and among other things, a small local record store called "Hits" that has been in Redhill since the 1980s) for many years this was simply called "The Arcade", although today its name has changed to "Redhill Indoor Market" although many locals still refer to it by its previous name.

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

[edit] Geography

Redhill is located at 51°14′00″N, 00°11′00″W (51.2333, -0.1833)¹.

[edit] Transport

[edit] Rail

Redhill railway station.

[edit] Road

Redhill lies at the junction of the A23 and A25 roads. The junction of the M25 and M23 motorways is about 2 miles to the north.

[edit] Air

Redhill Aerodrome (EGKR) off the A23 1.5Nm south east of Redhill Town.

6 miles from Gatwick on the A23.

[edit] Famous People Past and Present

David Hewlett, Actor, star of Sci-Fi Channel'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
Past Eastenders star, Michael Greco who played Beppe DeMarco went to school at St Bedes School in Carlton Rd, Redhill
Bevis Hillier biographer of Sir John Betjeman was born here.

Tom Griffin - recently added into "Guiness 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.

[edit] Emergency Services

Redhill is served by these emergency services.

Surrey Police. Through Reigate Police Station
South East Coast Ambulance Service as of 1st July 2006. The Surrey Ambulance Service, Sussex, and Kent Ambulance services have all merged, and have now ceased to exist.
Surrey Fire & Rescue Service.
East Surrey Hospital, major hospital with A&E.