Beechholme

[1] A report published in December 1881 noted that, after its first year of opening, around 500 children were attending the school, split roughly equally between girls and boys.

A two-manual organ was installed in the chapel in 1903 and, in January 1921, a memorial window was dedicated to former pupils who had died in the First World War.

[5] The building was destroyed by fire in the early hours of 24 February 1968 and thereafter, children attended services at St Paul's Church, Warren Road, Nork.

There are local newspaper reports of pantomimes, concerts and other performances put on by pupils at the school, which residents from the Banstead area were invited to attend,[7][8] as well as an annual fête and sports day.

[18] Following the implementation of the Education Act 1944, the emphasis of school began to change and was refocused away from teaching and towards providing child care.

[15] By the mid-1960s, increasing running costs, coupled with a desire for children in care to live in the communities from which they came, meant that closure was being considered.

[19] A thanksgiving service for the work of the school took place at St Paul's Church, Nork, on 20 October 1974 and Beechholme closed on 13 June the following year.

Since Beechholme closed, allegations of historic child abuse at the school have been made, some of which have been reported to Surrey Police.

[22] One former pupil, who arrived at the school in 1960, described it as a "rape factory" and a "sweet shop" for paedophiles, alleging that he was "abused dozens of times in the two years that I was there".

[24] A claim has been made of a link between an abuser at the Shirley Oaks Children's Home near Croydon and staff at Beechholme.