Old Quarry Hall

Old Quarry Hall, Springbottom Lane, Bletchingley, Surrey

From information and photographs kindly provided to Reelstreets by Patrick Steel, Great Grandson of Paul Kohn-Speyer

 

Old Quarry Hall a 15-bedroom country house once stood on the corner of Springbottom Lane and White Hill Lane and appeared in the 1950 film Blackout as “The Grange”, as well as the 1953 film The Steel Key as  “Crabtrees Sanatorium”.

The property dated from the 1880’s but was acquired by Patrick’s Great Grandfather in 1908. Born in Liverpool in 1868, he was of German Jewish descent and was educated in Germany from the age of 12. He went on to become Chairman of the London based metals trading firm Brandeis Goldschmidt & Co Ltd. He and the Company led the development of the London Metal Exchange to becoming the most important of the world’s metals markets, indeed, following the first World War he helped the Government in the disposal of scrap metal.

Paul Kohn-Speyer, a serious collector of antiques and artefacts from around the world, expanded the Old Quarry Hall Estate during his ownership. Indeed, his own visiting card shows that he owned a considerable amount of land on either side of Springbottom Lane, almost 200 acres, as well acquiring another substantial property in Chaldon to the north.

His death in October 1942 necessitated the break-up of his Estate. His widow Anna, moved to another property that they had owned, with much of the furniture, a good example of which can be seen in the following photograph, was auctioned a year later.

Old Quarry Hall was used as offices by the Guarantee Trust Company of New York towards the end of WWll but in 1948 it was leased, firstly to Tempean Films and later to Stirling Film Distributors. Thereafter, without regular maintenance the property quickly fell into disrepair, indeed even the lead had been taken from the roof. Paul Kohn-Speyer’s Trustees knew that the sensible way forward was to dispose of the Estate and needless to say, three “prestige” properties stand there now.

With sincere thanks to Patrick and his Mother, maybe these pictures will help us to identify the inclusion of the Hall in other Tempean Films.