historical house
, 1841
260 Stanstead Road, Forest Hill, SE23 1DD
Stanstead Lodge is a Grade ll listed early Victorian gentleman’s country residence. Built in 1841 by Joseph Skilbeck, it remained a family home until WW2 when it became Rathfern Infants School. After the war it was bought by Lewisham Rotary Club for a Darby & Joan Club. It continues as a centre for older people.
Catford, Catford Bridge
75, 171, 181, 185 and 202 buses stop nearby or in nearby streets.
Plenty of parking in side roads, one disabled parking space. Ground floor level. Side access to rear garden. Cafe available.
We will have an Autumn Fair with stalls and activities by members of the Club. We will give ad hoc tours and talks, show documents.
Stanstead Lodge is a Grade ll listed building built in the Gothic style. It was an early Victorian gentleman’s country residence. Built in 1841 by Joseph Skilbeck, it was a family home until WW2 when it was requisitioned to become Rathfern Infants School whose roof had been destroyed by an incendiary bomb. After the war it was bought by Lewisham Rotary Club for a Darby and Joan Club. It was opened by Queen Mary on 30 April 1949. It continues to serve the community as a centre primarily for older people. It has gone through many transformations. It still has traces of the original family. There are gardens front and back, a cafe and a patio and play spaces for young children.
We will run our Autumn Festival with stalls and activities by our members and local community groups. The cafe will be open serving drinks and a wide range of refreshments. If the weather is good we will have a band in the garden.
We will give ad hoc tours of the ground floor, show documents we have traced and histories and little stories of the people who lived in the house or were associated with it. There are even some photographs.