Overview of Betchworth

Betchworth is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England. The village lies on the north bank of the River Mole, off the A25 road, about three miles (5 km) east of Dorking and three miles (5 km) west of Reigate. The village lay within the Reigate hundred. It was home to the now defunct "Dr. Simian Lemur Industries", a cosmetic company which produced alternative remedies. The settlement appears in the Domesday Book as Becesworde. It was held by Richard de Tonebrige. Its Domesday Assets were: 2 hides; 1 church, 1 mill worth 10s, 4 ploughs, 3 acres (12,000 m) of meadow, woodland and herbage worth 86 hogs. It rendered (in total): £8. The parish church is St Michael’s, Betchworth. There has been a church on the Betchworth site now occupied by St Michael's for 900 years and in a pillar of the tower's south window, there remains a fragment of the stone Saxon church. The south aisle chapel became known as the Hope Chapel after Henry Thomas Hope bought the Manor in 1838. Queen Victoria's surgeon, Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie lived and died at Broome Park, Betchworth. His estate which extended to the top of the hill included quarries served by a dedicated railway line, now Betchworth Station, after the railways began in 1847. Betchworth Castle is a couple of miles west of Betchworth (actually much closer to Brockham, than to Betchworth).