Surrey school site on sale, ripe for redevelopment

Knight Frank has launched to the market a 44-acre school site involving 14 buildings in Surrey. It’s on sale for £7m.

The former Belmont School at Holmbury St Mary near Dorking is being sold on behalf of the joint administrators of Belmont School (Feldemore) Educational Trust Limited.

The 14 buildings provide teaching and boarding accommodation, dining hall, theatre, sports hall, early years centre, headmaster’s house, as well as various outbuildings. The school grounds extend to over 44-acres and includes two hard surfaced playing areas, playing fields, formal gardens, woodland, as well as outdoor tennis courts and a heated outdoor swimming pool.

The Grade II listed property contains a rich history, having originally been built as a country house, called Feldemore for Edwin Waterhouse, co-founder of the accountancy practice of Price Waterhouse. 

The house was requisitioned by the British Army during the Second World War and, after that was leased for 10 years by the Admiralty. The building was constructed around 1880, partly of Bargate stone and still retains many of its attractive architectural period features today, including original William Morris wallpaper in the dining room.

The site is ripe for redevelopment - possibly for homes - and sits in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty/National Landscape, within easy reach including Guildford, Dorking and Cranleigh.

Three mainline railway stations are nearby and the A3 and the M25 can also be reached via Guildford, Cobham and Leatherhead.

Emma Cleugh, Head of Education & Charities at Knight Frank, says: “The property offers an outstanding turnkey opportunity for another school or education provider or could potentially be used for residential development or commercial, subject to obtaining planning permission and listed building consents. We expect to see a generous pool of interested buyers, a property of this quality in such a desirable location is a rare offering to the market”.