 St John's is in its wider definition one of the three ecclesiastical parishes that make up Redhill.The area around St John's School and Church had very small beginnings but at one time grew so rapidly it was thought that it was the nucleus of a new town.The history of St John's School began on 21 August 1840 when a decision was taken at a parish vestry meeting to claim compensation from the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company for the loss of grazing and other rights when it built the railway across common land in the Manor.