SECTION ONE shows a list of BHRG publications in date order.
SECTION TWO is intended to include other generally available publications which contain information on village life in Banstead, in the last century or earlier.
published
available locally from the IBIS bookshop or the Banstead Library.
project
project
In 1805, George Perceval, a Banstead boy, served as a midshipman aboard HMS Orion at the Battle of Trafalgar at just eleven years of age. This book reproduces the 40 or so letters that he wrote home to his parents, Lord and Lady Arden (of Nork House) between 1805 an 1815. The letters document both the drama of battle and the tedium of naval routine as seen through the eyes of a young boy. They also offer an intriguing insight into the character of George Perceval himself as he matures over the ten year time span.
project
Banstead - Then and Now, updated with lots more old and new photographs.
project
2005
AMAZING VALUE! just £15 for both paperback volumes.
Only 100 sets of hardbacks printed.
£29.50 for both HARDBACK volumes.
published
The first 100 years.
Published November 2008
Soft Back 80pp. Illustrated in colour
ISBN: 978-0-9550768-5-5
Price: £7.99
Towards the end of the 19th century the parish church of All Saints, Banstead was frequently overcrowded due to the gradual increase in the local population. A number of plans to enlarge the old church were proposed but none of them was regarded as anything but unsatisfactory as they would have destroyed its unique and picturesque character. The only viable alternative was to build a second church elsewhere in the parish.
St. Mary's Church was finally built at Burgh Heath in 1909.
Over the years the church witnessed many changes. It was also threatened with closure on a number of occasions. In particular, in late 1962, the newly incumbent Vicar felt that it would be in the best pastoral interests of the neighborhood to demolish the church and build a garage and filling station in its place. Thankfully, such an act of vandalism by a clergyman was rejected by the local urban district borough council.
This book, which has numerous illustrations in colour, celebrates the centenary of a church which against all the odds has survived and which is more vibrant than ever.
The Story Of A Victorian Gentleman's Residence.
Published November 2008
ISBN NO: 978-0-9550768-6-2
Soft back
Price: £7.99
By John Sweetman of the Banstead History Research Group.
(64 pages including illustrations)
At the end of the 19th century Banstead was a moderately-sized village, notable chiefly for a few large houses with a comfortable or large amount of land attached to them. One of those houses was Garratts Hall, which was in Garratts Lane. The house was home for a large part of the preceding two centuries of a branch of the prosperous and prolific Lambert family.
This lavishly illustrated book contains photographs from the archives of the Lambert family which have never been seen before. It traces the fascinating history of the mansion and its occupants from the earliest days to its use as a school for ladies during its latter years to its final demolition to make way for a housing development in the 1930s.
Published May 2007 ISBN No: 978-0-9550768-3-1
Price: £7.99
Author - Geoffrey Robinson
a member of the Banstead History Research Group.
62 pages including 40 colour plates, 14 Black and White and 7 Line drawings.
It also covers the history of the Manor House which stood nearby in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Three Lectures on its History
Published 2006 ISBN NO: 0-9550768-2-X
Price: £9.99
By the Banstead History Research Group.
(117 pages including illustrations)
The lectures are supplemented in this edition by articles written by Sir Henry Lambert and published in the Banstead Quarterly between 1933 and 1935. The new version also includes many photographs of places mentioned in the text.
BHRG are grateful to Sir Henry Lambert's great grandson, Michael Lambert, for contributing the foreward to this book.
The first lecture starts..." When I was building my present house (Originally known as LARKLANDS, now New Place in Park Road) and making a garden, the ground being on a slope, it was necessary to cut into the hill. On returning from town one evening, I was told that the men had found some old bones............".
The picture on the left shows a rare copy of the original book.
The Banstead Ammunition Depot
Published 2006
Price: £2.99
BHRG (20 pages)
Banstead seemed to be of little interest from a military point of view. It was an open residential area with no industrial plant or military establishment; It was not on or near a mainline railroad or trunk road.Perhaps it was for those very reasons, along with its position, beyond but not too far from the outskirts of London, that an important and potentially very dangerous military depot came to be sited in the area. This was what came to be described as "No. 116 Equipment Ammunition Depot". This little book tells a brief story of EAD 116, describes the location and includes many current pictures..
(Published 2005)
Price: £8.50
By J Sweetman.
(164 pages including illustrations)
THE HISTORY OF BANSTEAD Vol II
(Published 2005)
Price: £9.50
By J Sweetman. (246 pages including illustrations)
This is a revised and updated version of 'Banstead - a History' published by the Banstead History Research Group in 1993.After a brief summary of the village's early history, this book deals in detail with the story of Banstead from 1841 to the present day.
AMAZING VALUE!
BHRG is a non profit making Group and the prices of these two books have been set to simply recover our publication costs.
save a further £3
by buying both books together for just £15.
Poor Law and Charity Relief in Banstead
Published 2004
Price: £5.00
By John Sweetman (36 pages)
This book looks at the efforts made through the Poor Law or by charity to relieve at least the extremes of poverty in the Banstead area.It includes the significant contribution made by organisations such as the Epsom Union Workhouse and individuals such as Henry Smith also known as 'Dog Smith'.
Wartime Banstead District
Published 2002
Price: £7.50
By E J Bond. (88 pages including illustrations)
Amply illustrated, this book contains the recollections of people who lived in the Banstead Urban District area during the 1939/1945 war, told in their own way. The result is a convincing account of what it was like to live under a constant threat of bombing and with all the difficulties of rationing and other aspects of wartime. The book includes stories of Home Guard and other Emergency Service activities.(Published 2001)
Price:£4.00
(27 pages including 12 pages of photographs)
This booklet is an edited edition of talks given by Mark Cory and Richard Mantle. It provides readers with an easy introduction to the story of the Banstead area from the earliest days until the time of the rapid developments between the two World Wars.Illustrations show various aspects of village life.
(Published 1998)
OUT OF PRINT #
New fully updated edition due out in 2009. Click here for latest news on publication.
By Geoff Marshall. (32 pages including plan and photographs)
This was a pioneering Residential School for children from London who were orphans, deserted or otherwise in need. It was planned on the lines of a conventional Boarding School, with strict discipline but good facilities. Changing with the times, the School was ultimately closed in 1974.This is the story of the school, including the recollections of some of the pupils who went there.
(Published 1995)
Original Price: £2.50 - Now £2.00
By John Sweetman (25 pages)
For the whole of the war Banstead Wood was requisitioned by the War Department. Huts were built, and the Camp was used first for the Canadian Army and afterwards as a prisoner-of-war camp for Italians and then for Germans. This is the story of those occupations, based on information from people who were inside or outside the camp.
(Published 1993)
OUT OF PRINT
(148 pages with index, maps and illustrations)
The book shows how the village and community of Banstead, including Nork and areas from Tattenham Corner to Preston Lane, have grown into their present form. Part 1 starts with a brief account of early history, followed by a description of the village in the 1840s and then, step by step, its growth until recent times. Part II deals with various subjects without limitations of time - e.g. prominent families and persons, transport and the mail.(Published 1987, with 1998 Supplement)
Original Price: £8.50
Only 15 copies of the print run left!
Currently working on new fully updated edition.
This book includes many old photos and postcards not shown on this website.
By Irene O'Shea (12 pages)
Price:£2.00
He remained Headmaster until 1904.
by Wendy Henningsson a member of BHRG.
The book starts with my schooldays in Banstead village school. It includes a chapter describing neighbours in Croydon Lane where I lived until I was about 18. Also included is a group photograph of the VE-day celebration party for children with fancy dress competition which I believe is unique to this book.
One chapter describes my seven years at Wallington Grammar school, and although not Banstead history one could say it is social history of Surrey.
The rest of the book describes student days in the UK and abroad, and then how I adapted to a new life in Sweden where I still live.
Wendy Henningsson.
For further details please visit www.Norkbooks.com
