Benhill Estate Explained

Benhill is a council housing estate in Sutton, London, originally built in the 1960s upon woodland.[1] It is east of Sutton High Street around Brunswick Road. The estate was later renovated and regenerated.

The name "Ben Hill" appears on 18th century maps. The wider surrounding area whose initial development of large villas dates from Victorian times was intended for the upper middle class, whereas nearby Newtown - built around the same time as Benhill - was intended for the lower class.[2] Construction began in 1852.[2] However, development of it was slow and by 1913 there were still many empty building plots.[2]

The estate was built from 1965 to 1974[3] and has 441 homes.[4]

One of its residents, Gerard 'Jed' Edge, had a picture of him selected as part of the 2009 BP Portrait Award exhibition[5] and supplied snakes for the Steven Spielberg film Raiders of the Lost Ark.[6] He died on 11 April 2013 after his flat in Benhill Wood Road caught fire.[7]

References

51.368°N -0.19°W

Notes and References

  1. Book: Burgess, Frank. Sutton: A Pictorial History. 16. Phillimore & Co. Ltd.
  2. Web site: Sutton: A brief history. London Borough of Sutton. 6 June 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130927214950/https://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1285. 27 September 2013.
  3. Benhill Estate Regeneration - Options Appraisal https://benhill-regen.htadesign.co.uk/storage/app/media/downloads/sut-ben-workshop-1-a1-boards-lo.pdf
  4. Benhill Estate Regeneration - Options Appraisal https://benhill-regen.htadesign.co.uk/storage/app/media/downloads/sut-ben-workshop-3-a1-boards-lo.pdf
  5. Web site: Indiana Jones' snake man immortalised in national gallery . Suttonguardian.co.uk . Julia Kennard . 18 June 2009 . 3 February 2014.
  6. Web site: Pensioner dead in flat fire was 'wonderful' snake man Jed Edge . Mike Murphy-Pyle . Suttonguardian.co.uk . 12 April 2013 . 3 February 2014.
  7. Web site: Tragedy as neighbours unable to save pensioner in flat fire . Mike Murphy-Pyle . Suttonguardian.co.uk . 12 April 2013 . 3 February 2014.

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