Life changed very little in Sandhurst until the 19th century when large sections of land were sold for the building of the Royal Military College, which moved from Marlow in 1812. The railway also arrived in 1849 and a number of large country residences were subsequently erected in the area: amongst them, Harts Leap, Forest End, St Helens Upland, The Warren, Longdown Lodge, Ryefield, Snaprails, Ambarrow Court and Sandhurst Lodge, erected in about 1858 by Robert Gibson and leased to John Walter, of the Times Newspaper, and then Sir William Farrer, solicitor to Queen Victoria and the Duke of Wellington. Perry Hill and The Ceders came later. Only a few remain today. The others have been demolished and land developed.
Such large houses and institutions, including the Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane and Wellington College in nearby Crowthorne, led to a great expansion of the local population as people moved into the area looking for work. Further residential housing was erected for these workers, as well as more schools for their children, more places of worship and watering holes. St. Michael's Parish Church dates from the 13th century, but was largely rebuilt in 1853. The Baptist Church was built in 1884 and the Wesleyan Methodist chapel followed in 1906. The Roman Catholic Church was, however, only completed in 1960. St George's[1], Owlsmoor was rebuilt in 1993 (previously a wooden structure first built in the 70's).
St. Michael's Church of England School was opened in 1862 and other schools followed in quick succession: Old Scotland Hill in 1871, The Methodist in 1906 and College Town in 1907. Uplands and Owlsmoor primaries were added in 1962 and 1974. Secondary pupils were sent to Edgbarrow school in Crowthorne, Forest Grammar School for boys in Winnersh or Holt School for girls in Wokingham. Sandhurst Comprehensive - now Sandhurst School - was built in 1969.
Sandhurst now has nine pubs, the oldest being the 'Rose and Crown' in the High Street which, at one time, belonged to the Simonds' Brewery of Reading. The Simonds family also owned land in the village and supplied beer and ale to the RMA and much of the British Army all over the World.From the late 1950s to the 80s, large housing estates have been built quickly creating the conglomerate town of today from the original four villages of College Town, Sandhurst, Little Sandhurst and Owlsmoor.
