The building known today as the Toby Carvery on Redstone Hill has stood as a cornerstone of Redhill's social history for over 180 years. Originally called the Reigate Junction Hotel, later Laker’s Hotel, it evolved from a Victorian coaching inn into a bustling mid-century entertainment centre. It was situated conveniently close to the main entrance, now the back entrance, to the station to accommodate returning commuters.
The hotel was built around 1844–1845 by Edward Drake Brockman, a Whig MP for Hythe in Kent. In March 1846, a 27-year-old man from Kent named Richard Laker was granted the hotel's very first spirit licence.
As the railway boomed, Laker quickly found himself defending his territory against commercial rivals. Shortly after he opened, a local beer shop keeper named Matthew Cassell of the ‘Lurcher’ beer shop attempted to secure a rival licence near the station by denigrating the hotel. Cassell claimed that Laker’s new establishment, ‘did not meet the necessary accommodation required by the middle classes.’
Laker successfully blocked Cassell’s application at the Reigate Petty Sessions. He argued that his hotel catered perfectly to both the higher and middle classes, noting pointedly that a "spacious tap" was already attached to his house specifically "for the convenience of the lower orders."
Following Richard Laker’s early death in 1872 at age 51, the business passed to his second son, William, who had been born in the hotel in 1850. Under William's management, the hotel became a focal point for regional high society:
The Hunting Elite: Three separate packs of hounds regularly hunted the Surrey countryside from the hotel. Some participants sent their horses down by train from London and for those staying over, William advertised ‘superior accommodation for hunting gentlemen.’
A business and transport hub: details of locally held auctions were regularly distributed at the hotel and post horses and carriages were available for hire.
‘Mr Laker was well known and highly esteemed by a very wide circle of friends for the geniality and kindly courtesy of his disposition.’Surrey Mirror
Beyond the hotel, William was a prominent local figure, serving as the earliest director of the Redhill Market Hall Company and a director of the Redhill Gas Company. He ran the hotel with his sister, Blanche, until his sudden death at age 50 in 1901.
Following William’s death, the hotel ceased to be a Laker family business but kept the ‘Lakers’ name. It was sold to WR Allard who adapted the business to face a changing century. By 1908, Allard was advertising a modern mix of amenities in the Brighton Gazette:
Extensive livery stables and loose boxes.
Modern ‘motor car accommodation’ for early motorists.
Large pleasure and kitchen gardens.
A thriving billiard room and an on-site taproom.
The “Laker’s Tap” was an outbuilding which survived into the 1960s as an entertainment venue.
By September 1930, new proprietors Mr. and Mrs. Charles Felix launched a major reconstruction project to capitalize on the interwar dance craze. They unveiled a glamorous new ballroom featuring a splendidly sprung maple wood floor, a ‘radio gramophone installation’, and central columns entirely encased in mirrors—a dazzling novelty designed to brighten the evening gaiety.
The hotel played a surprising role in World War II. On 31 May 1946, The Surrey Mirror reported the safe return of eight local artillerymen who had trained in nearby Nutfield. The men completed a gruelling 70,000-mile journey across 19 different countries during four years of active service.
Remarkably, they were accompanied every mile of the way by their lucky mascot: a ply-board cutout of Felix the Cat. The cutout was a pre-war souvenir belonging to the Lakers Hotel Band. Before the soldiers deployed, hotel owner Charles Felix loaned it to them on one condition: they had to bring Felix home safely.
Felix survived travels through India, Basra, Baghdad, Teheran, Lebanon, and Jerusalem. He went on to experience intensive combat in Italy, the Battle of Arnhem, and the final push into Germany. Though he returned missing his forelegs, his body was completely covered in the signatures of the servicemen who carried him, with his ‘wounds’ neatly wrapped in medical adhesive tape.
In the post-war decades, the hotel transitioned into a local music hotspot. In March 1981, it established a popular club for traditional jazz enthusiasts, hosting the best of British jazz bands once a week.
To attract new audiences, the venue also launched a "Divorced, Separated Singles Club"—advertised as an exclusive "Dance 'N' Date Club" strictly for the over-25s. In keeping with the standards of the era, gentlemen were strictly required to wear jackets and ties.
The music finally stopped in June 1987. The historic dance hall was permanently closed and converted into a bistro. The "last gig" at Lakers was marked by an iconic line-up of local cult bands: Hot Knives, Heaven Sent, and The Accused.
Today, the building functions as a thriving Toby Carvery, continuing its long legacy of hospitality on Redstone Hill.
The South Eastern Gazette (March 1847)
The Surrey Mirror
Image of the Hotel in WR Allard’s time, Alan Moore collection
To explore more archival photographs, census records, and personal letters from the Laker family line, visit the Redhill and Reigate History Society website: