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Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey

, England

at the foot of the North Downs

, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead

. Reigate and the adjacent town of Redhill

form a single urban area.

Colley Hill, one mile (1.6 km) north of Reigate, is the sixth highest point in Surrey at . Reigate Hill, to the east of Colley Hill, is the seventh highest point in Surrey at .

History

Kiln fire channel

There are neolithic flint mines on the ridge of the North Downs above Reigate. The Bronze Age barrows on Reigate Heath indicate there was ancient settlement in the area. A Bronze Age spearhead was recovered on Park Hill in Reigate Priory Park.In 2004 a circa 92 AD Roman tile kiln (pictured left) was recovered from the grounds of Rosehill in Doods Way, Reigate. Being geologically suited, this was only one of a series of tile kilns in the area. The tiles would have been used for important buildings in London. The Rosehill find is the oldest recorded use of Reigate Stone (Upper Greensand) for "ashlar masonry work".

The town lay within the Reigate

hundred, an Anglo-Saxon administrative division.Reigate appears in Domesday Book in 1086 as Cherchefelle which appears to mean 'the open space by the hill'. (The name has nothing to do with the church and the element Cherche is a later corruption). It was held by William the Conqueror. Its Domesday assets were: 34 hide. It had 2 mill worth 11s 10s, 29 ploughs, of meadow, pannage and herbage worth 183 hog. It rendered £40.

Castle

The earlier site was located, at least in part, in what is now the Church Street area of Reigate. Part of the site was excavated in the 1970s. It was shown that the settlement moved during the earlier part of the 12th century when the present new town was formed. William I granted the land around Reigate to one of his supporters, William de Warenne, who was created Earl of Surrey in 1088. It is believed that his son, William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, ordered that Reigate Castle

be built, although the de Warennes had their southern base in Lewes

, Sussex, as well as castles in Yorkshire

and Normandy. Around 1150 the de Warennes ordered that a town be constructed below the castle. This town forms the basis of modern-day Reigate. Little is known of the Castle which has never been excavated on any great scale. Local legend says prior to the signing of the Magna Carta, the rebellious barons met to hammer out the details of the document in the extensive caves beneath the castle. The story however has no truth to it. The castle later fell into decay and demolished, though the grounds remain as a public garden, and the caves are occasionally opened for tours.

The origin of the name Reigate is uncertain, but appears to derive from Roe-deer Gate, as the town was situated near to the entrance to the de Warenne's deer park

The medieval town is centred on a north—south road of some antiquity as it incorporates the pre-Conquest road pattern. The story of the Pilgrim's Way

passing through Reigate is a myth, although the travellers did come down from their route to use the town as a halting place. In the 13th century a chapel to St Thomas was built in the town centre for their use.

Areas of the town have been the subject of extensive archaeological investigation. Bell Street was certainly in existence by the middle of the 12th century. Much of the High Street appears to be later although there appear to have been buildings along the south side of the Street near to the junction with Bell Street by the 13th century at the latest. The north side of the High Street may not have been built up until the castle fell out of use. The market place was originally around Slipshoe Street, at the junction of West Street, but became encroached upon by infilled houses and it was moved to the east end of the High Street by the end of the 16th century. The results of much of this work has been published; many of the finds are held in the museum of the Holmesdale Natural History Club in Croydon Road.

Probably early in the 13th century Reigate Priory was founded for regular Canons of the Order of St Augustine. After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1535 the estate was granted by Henry VIII to William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham, who may have converted the Priory buildings into a residence. The Effingham branch of the Howard family, including the Earl of Nottingham who as Lord High Admiral commanded the force which defeated the Spanish Armada, lived there until their heirs sold it to the wealthy London brewer, John Parsons in 1681. Remains of the former monastery buildings are known to lie beneath the lawns to the south of the present mainly 18th century house, which is now used as a school.

The town developed a large trade in oatmeal during the 16th century but this had ceased by about 1720. There was a noted tannery at Linkfield Street which was expanded in the 19th century. It burnt down about 1930.

The coming of the Brighton railway in 1841 led to a rapid expansion of the parish, concentrated around the railway station in an area that was previously uninhabited.

The old (non corporate) Borough of Reigate (roughly the town centre of Reigate) elected two MPs until the Reform Act of 1832 when it lost one. Further amendments to the electoral boundary occurred. In 1863, the whole parish was formally incorporated as the Borough of Reigate with Thomas Dann as its first Mayor.

Reigate has two windmills: the Post mill at Reigate Heath and the tower mill at Wray Common.

Travel

Reigate is served by Reigate railway station . During peak times direct trains run to London Victoria and also London Bridge in 40 minutes. Off peak trains run to Gatwick Airport , Reading , Redhill and (with a new service) London Charing Cross.
Reigate is a few minutes from Junction 8 of the London orbital motorway M25 . The town's one-way system includes part of the A217.

Famous residents

Ray Alan, ventriloquist (and Lord Charles).
Joey Benjamin, former England cricketer lives in Reigate
George Best, Manchester United and Ireland football player lived his last years near Reigate.
Roger Bisby, Journalist, television presenter and radio personality.
Hermann Bondi, the Austrian Physicist and mathematician lived in Reigate in the 1970s.
Charlie, a parrot whose owner claims was taught by Sir Winston Churchill to curse Adolf Hitler
Tom and Max Chilton, racing drivers, born and live in Reigate.
Fatboy Slim, DJ, also known as Norman Cook, real name Quentin Cook, born in Reigate and attended Reigate Grammar School.
Newton Faulkner, songwriter and musician, was born here.
Dame Margot Fonteyn, ballet dancer, was born here.
Francis Frith, the prolific photographer, lived here.
Susan Gritton, opera singer, was born here in 1965.
Melvyn Hayes aka Gloria in It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a resident of Glovers Road.
Kate Maberly, actress and star of the 1993 feature film The Secret Garden, was born here.
Ian McKay (formerly Laidlaw), art critic, writer and publisher, lived here and attended Reigate School of Art & Design.
Ray Mears, survival expert, studied at Reigate Grammar School.
Jean Metcalfe, broadcaster
Cliff Michelmore, broadcaster
Spike Milligan, writer and comedian, used to live in Woodhatch in Meadow Way.
Alan Minter, the former Undisputed World Middleweight boxing champion, currently lives in Reigate.
Nicholas Owen, BBC News presenter, currently lives in Reigate.
Samuel Palmer, visionary British artist, is buried in Reigate St Mary's churchyard, having lived in Reigate from about 1860-1862.
Pat Pocock, former England and Surrey cricketer, currently lives in Reigate.
André Previn and his then wife Mia Farrow, used to live in Leigh in the early nineteen eighties.
Caroline Quentin, actress, was born in Reigate.
Mike Sammes, of the Mike Sammes Singers was born in the town and educated at Reigate Grammar School
Richard Thomas, the former Information Commissioner currently lives in Reigate
David Walliams, writer and star of the Little Britain comedy series attended Reigate Grammar School