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Selsdon developed in the 1920s. It features many Art Deco houses. John Ruskin College opened in 1920. It borrows the name of the famous Victorian art critic. Journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, football manager Bob Houghton, singer Ralph McTell, artist Jamie Reid who worked on Sex Pistols’ album covers, footballer Steve Kember, and actor Mick Ford are among the most notable alumni. Selsdon Clock is one of the landmarks of this CR2 area. The clock replaced the public lavatory on the Selsdon Triangle. The local community hall is nearby the library. It features an event hall and a public coffee shop.
De Vere Selsdon Estate is a luxury South London hotel. The building is a Victorian country house. In 1924, Allan Doble Sanderson bought the estate and transformed it into a 24-bedroom hotel which opened one year later. The East and West wings came a few years later. The brick cover gives the building a Neo-Jacobean look. Professional golfer J.H. Taylor designed the golf course that opened in 1929. Taylor won The Open Championship five times. Other sports facilities include tennis courts, croquet lawn, and boules pitch. Under John Aust’s management, the hotel became one of the UK’s best hotels. The Cambridge Wing expansion added 25 more bedrooms.
In 1970, the Conservative Shadow Cabinet held a meeting at the De Vere Selsdon Estate which was known back then as the Selsdon Park Hotel. That’s when Labour Party leader Harold Wilson came up with the expression “Selsdon Man”. The Selsdon Group was established in 1973. The hotel also hosted the Group’s first meeting. Selsdon Wood is a nature reserve and a bird sanctuary. It features five meadows. The bomb craters within the wood are closed to the public. Deer and parakeets are some of the animals that live in this CR2 historical woodland.