History of the Red Lion
The Red Lion is right on the Buckland side of Betchworth parish boundary, though it is often considered a ‘Betchworth’ pub. In earlier times the property was called Whitehall.
In the Estate Rental Roll of 1728 and 1729, Whitehall was let to Richard Woodham for 10 shillings per year (BEA/5). On the 1772 map of the Broome Park Estate, the property of the Red Lion is labelled a “messuage (house) called Whitehall with barn, garden, orchards, arable, meadow pasture, alder plots and moor ground”, totalling 10 acres of Buckland. Adjacent to Whitehall was a sawmill and yard, in the current area of the Red Lion car park.
In 1846 tithe survey it was owned by Payley Thomas and occupied by Joseph Chandler. By 1867, it had been sold to a Mr Goulburn of Betchworth and was occupied by Elizabeth Chandler.
A postcard of c.1900 has the text ‘situated in a charming district 10 minutes walk from Betchworth Station S.E.R. and midway between Dorking and Reigate. Field for sport. John Curle Proprietor, (crossed out with the name W Blackford inserted)’.
A later postcard of c.1910 identified the proprietor as Tom Beadle and advertises Cricket and Quoit (pronounced ‘Koit’) grounds. Quoit was a game of ‘hoopla’ played with flat iron rings. A smaller board reads ‘Dinners and Teas available, Good Beds and Stabling, Accommodation for Parties, New Milk and Eggs’. The advertising hoardings are for ‘The Daily Sportsman, One Pence’ and Dewar's Perth Whisky.
In 1935 the owner was a Major R.G. Thompson, an old Cambridge soccer blue who collected a clientele of men and women interested in sport. The squash court was advertised in 1935 and the cricket pitch was the headquarters of the Surrey Sevens Cricket Club. The club was apparently the haunt of famous cricketing names such as W.G. Grace and W.W. Reed (Signpost 1935).
