Stoneleigh, Surrey
Later history
### Later history

[thumb\|right\|St John the Baptist Church, Stoneleigh](/wiki/File:St_John_the_Baptist_Church%2C_Stoneleigh%2C_Epsom_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1597931.jpg "St John the Baptist Church, Stoneleigh, Epsom - geograph.org.uk - 1597931.jpg")
[thumb\|right\|Stoneleigh Inn, beginning of the 1980s](/wiki/File:Stoneleigh_Inn_1980%27s.jpg "Stoneleigh Inn 1980's.jpg")

Between the world wars, demand for housing on [commuter](/wiki/Commuter "Commuter") routes into London meant the area grew rapidly. Maps from 1931 show the land was mainly "Meadowland and permanent grass" with patches of "Forest and woodland" and "Heathland, moorland, commons and rough pasture".["1931 map"](http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/survey/historical_london_map/land_use/1259/) *Sound Survey*

[Stoneleigh railway station](/wiki/Stoneleigh_railway_station "Stoneleigh railway station") was opened in July 1932, on land acquired from the Stoneleigh Park Estate in July 1931\. Stoneleigh railway station was originally to be named 'Stoneleigh Park' to denote that it was an area of market gardening, but this did not happen, probably due to the next three stations on the line north all being called 'Park' ([Worcester Park](/wiki/Worcester_Park_railway_station "Worcester Park railway station"), [Motspur Park](/wiki/Motspur_Park_railway_station "Motspur Park railway station") and [Raynes Park](/wiki/Raynes_Park_railway_station "Raynes Park railway station")).Alan A Jackson; 'Semi\-Detached London', Second Edition, Wild Swan Publications 1991

The first houses were built in 1933 and the first shops on Stoneleigh Broadway opened in November of the same year. The [Stoneleigh Hotel](/wiki/The_Station%2C_Stoneleigh "The Station, Stoneleigh"), now a [Grade II listed](/wiki/Grade_II_listed "Grade II listed") building, opened in November 1935["Stoneleigh history"](http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/Stoneleigh.html) *Epsom and Ewell History Explorer* and additional shops were built on the Broadway in the late 1930s.

In 1938, Stoneleigh Methodist church was completed, the same year that the *Rembrandt* cinema opened next to the railway line on the Kingston Road. The cinema operated for 60 years until its closure in April 1998\. The building was subsequently demolished and replaced by flats.["The Rembrandt Cinema Ewell"](http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/Rembrandt.html) *Epsom and Ewell History Explorer* The red\-brick Anglican church of St John the Baptist, next to the station, was built in 1939\.["About St John’s"](http://www.stjohnsstoneleigh.org.uk/aboutstjohns.html) *stjohnsstoneleigh.org.uk* Two large schools (Stoneleigh East and West) were built in Stoneleigh in the 1930s to accommodate the large suburban growth in the area. These schools still exist under different names.

The vast majority of the Stoneleigh area had been built on before construction was halted by the onset of World War II in late 1939, with almost all the new homes being semi\-detached. A small section in the northwest of Stoneleigh Broadway was built in the 1960s. Additionally, an area in the far north of Stoneleigh was developed into housing around this time following the closure of the Worcester Park Brick Works.


When were two large schools built in Stoneleigh?