Background

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Twyford, in Tupwood Lane, Caterham, is an elegant red-brick Victorian house

with a long and colourful history. Located 624 feet above sea level on what

was originally known as Woolhams Bank, it was built by James Longley and

Co., one of England’s largest and most reputable builders in the south-east at

the time. They were responsible for many Victorian and Edwardian buildings

that we still see today — Christ’s Hospital School (Horsham) and Edward VII

Sanatorium (Midhurst) being two of their grander buildings. Longley’s

company survived until recently but eventually went bankrupt in 2000

following a £35-million redevelopment of Chelsea football stadium.