Benhill is a
council housing estate in
Sutton, London
Sutton is a town in the London Borough of Sutton in South London, England. It is the administrative headquarters of the Outer London borough, on the lower slopes of the North Downs. It is south-southwest of Charing Cross, one of the fourteen ...
, originally built in the 1960s upon woodland.
It is east of
Sutton High Street
Sutton High Street is a high street running north–south through the town of Sutton, London, Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton.
The High Street area constitutes the sixth most important retail centre in London, and is home to many restaur ...
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
In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term '' lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class stra ...
, whereas nearby
Newtown - built around the same time as Benhill - was intended for the
lower class.
Construction began in 1852.
However, development of it was slow and by 1913 there were still many empty building plots.
The estate was built from 1965 to 1974 and has 441 homes.
[Benhill Estate Regeneration - Options Appraisal https://benhill-regen.htadesign.co.uk/storage/app/media/downloads/sut-ben-workshop-3-a1-boards-lo.pdf]
One of its residents, Gerard 'Jed' Edge, had a picture of him selected as part of the 2009 BP Portrait Award exhibition
and supplied snakes for the
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
film
Raiders of the Lost Ark
''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Set in 1936, the film stars Harrison Ford as Indiana ...
.
He died on 11 April 2013 after his flat in Benhill Wood Road caught fire.
References
{{Authority control
Districts of the London Borough of Sutton
Housing estates in the London Borough of Sutton