. Some time in the 15th century they moved to Sanderstead and began improving the property. . The Atwood family were benefactors to the Sanderstead Parish Church which was adjacent to their home, and John Atwood (Atwodde) and his wife, Denys, have a brass plaque in the church dated 1525. John’s grand son, Nicholas Wood-Atwood, who died in 1586, is identified as “of Sandersted Corte who served quene Elizabeth sens the second yearr of her rayne” on his brass in the church . Several secondary sources cite the story that Queen Elizabeth I spent the night at Sanderstead Court while Nicholas Wood was the owner. Nicholas Wood lost a portion of Sanderstead Court to Sir John Gresham, Lord Mayor of London. The Atwoods regained control of Sanderstead Court, and Nicholas Wood's son, Harman Atwood, Jr., transformed Sanderstead into a more significant country house when he made renovations in 1675. Harman Atwood left Sanderstead Court to his sister Dame Olivia Atwood. Olivia also died and the house passed through a succession of distant Atwood relations until it passed out of the family line entirely in 1759. Later owners included members of the Wigsell family. Edward Morton of C&E Morton (Isle of Dogs - canned food & preserves company) owner (unsure of timeline) References Further reading History of All Saint’s Parish Church, (view online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20060720114938/http://www.sanderstead-parish.org.uk/html/all_saints_history.html) ”Parishes: Sanderstead', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 237–43. (view online at: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43057). History of Surrey Country houses in Surrey History of the London Borough of Croydon