A HISTORY OF SURREY 



the castle. Manning and Bray, apparently quoting 

 MSS. in the hands of Mr. Glover, the antiquarian 

 solicitor of Reigate, and Aubrey say that there were 

 three chapels in Reigate town. 1 The chapel of St. 

 Thomas of Canterbury stood where the Town Hall 

 stands in the middle of High Street, at the east end.' 



At the western end of the High Street stands the 

 Red Cross Inn, an ancient building much modernized, 

 which was probably the hospice of the Canterbury 

 pilgrims. In Slipshoe Street, West Street, and Bell Street 

 are other old houses, half timber, tile-hung or brick 

 fronted, the tile-hanging taking the form of diamond 

 scales. There are several picturesque old inns with 

 Georgian fronts, such as ' The Crown,' ' The Swan,' 

 and 'The Grapes.' 



A deed of 1 588 referred to the old Market Place at 

 the west end of High Street'. The new one was there- 

 fore in existence then, but the present ugly brick 

 building was put up in 1708." At the place where 

 the old Market House stood, between West Street and 

 Slipshoe Lane, are parts of a very old clunch wall, 

 and within their line is a pit, once a saw-pit, now a 

 motor pit, in the side of which appears early stone 

 vaulting, the remains of an old crypt or cellar. The 

 chapel of the Holy Cross was said to be represented 

 by two old houses at the end of High Street, looking 

 down it eastward, which were recently demolished 

 to improve the entrance into West Street. St. Law- 

 rence's Chapel is said to have been in Bell Lane. 

 Here, next the ' White Hart,' in a chemist's shop 

 occupied by Mr. Fisher, are the remains of the stone 

 corbels and tie-beams of a wide spanned roof, and 

 the party walls of the house are very thick and ancient. 4 

 Opposite the present entrance to the castle is Cage 

 Yard, where till recently a two-storied house of deten- 

 tion for accused persons was standing. Access to 

 the town from the north, and now from the railway 

 station, was materially improved in 1823 by driving 

 a tunnel under the eastern part of the castle hill, 

 whereby traffic came directly info High Street oppo- 

 site Bell Lane, or Bell Street as it is now called, instead 

 of circling round the castle. The northern approach 

 to the tunnel, however, destroyed part of the eastern 

 outworks of the castle. As in the case of other Surrey 

 towns a large number of gentlemen's houses have 

 sprung up of late in the outskirts of Reigate, and the 

 streets have been in several places widened by the 

 pulling down of old-fashioned houses. Slipshoe Lane, 

 however, still retains some ancient cottages. 



The town is spreading along the valley and north- 

 wards, and there are many good modern houses, as 

 well as several new churches and chapels. 



Among the larger houses, Minster Lea is the seat of 

 Lady Jennings ; The Wilderness of Mr. J. W. Fresh- 

 field; Northcote of Mr. F. C. Pawle.J.P.; Shermanbury 

 of Sir John Watney ; Normanton of Mr. F. E. Barnes, 

 J.P. ; Woodhatch House of Mr. R. P. Evans, J.P. ; 

 Colley of Mr. W. H. Nash, J.P. Near Redhill, 

 High Trees is the residence of Mr. M. Marcus ; 

 Redstone Manor of Miss Webb ; Shenley of Major 

 Foster, J.P. ; The Mount of Mr. E. C. P. Hall, J.P. ; 

 Lome House of Captain Brodie. 



Reigate might have been served by the Brigh- 

 ton line, when it was first projected, but opposed 

 its too near approach to the town. It remained 

 2 miles from the railway at Redhill, till in 1849 the 

 South Eastern Railway Company made the branch 

 line from Redhill to Reading, with a station at 

 Reigate. The road from Crawley to Reigate was the 

 first turnpike road in Surrey, made in 1696,* but was 

 then only passable for horses in the southern part. 

 It is the road which enters Reigate by Bell Street. 

 The communication to London went on up Nutley 

 Lane, and so up Reigate Hill. But the present road 

 up the hill was made in 1755.* The road from Rei- 

 gate to Merstham, into the new road to Croydon, by 

 way of Wray's Common, was made in 1 807.' The 

 communication of the London road with the town 

 was improved by the tunnel made in 1823. 



The borough was constituted a municipal borough 

 in 1863, four years before it was destroyed finally as 

 a parliamentary borough by the second Reform Act. 

 The municipal buildings were erected in 1902 at a 

 cost of over 2 5,000. In 1861 the Public Hall had 

 been built at a cost of 5,000. It contains a library, 

 and accommodates a literary institution and friendly 

 societies. The cemetery adjoining the churchyard 

 was opened in 1855. 



The Isolation Hospital is in Horley parish ; it 

 was opened in 1 900 ; Mrs. Kitto's Free Convalescent 

 Home was moved to South Park in Reigate in 1880. 



The Brabazon Home for invalid members of the 

 Girls' Friendly Society was founded in 1885. It is 

 in Lesbourne Road, and was founded by The Countess 

 of Meath. The Victoria Almshouses were built by 

 public subscription to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee 

 of her late Majesty. They stand in Deerings Road. 



Reigate and Redhill neighbourhoods have yielded a 

 great number of prehistoric remains, and there was 

 clearly a large settlement of primitive people on the 

 dry soil. Between 1848 and 1860 Mr. John Shelley 

 made large discoveries of Neolithic flakes near Redhill 

 Junction, on ground now covered by houses, and two 

 sites of barrows were opened, revealing at 1 8 in. 

 below the soil calcined bones, burnt flints, and a 

 corn crusher. Sir John Evans described them to the 

 Society of Antiquaries. 8 But various implements, 

 including leaf-shaped arrow-heads, a hammer, and 

 traces of hut floors were also found. 9 Two bronze 

 armlets and British coins have also been found on 

 Reigate Heath, 10 and on the heath are seven barrows, 

 four easily visible, and three less clearly marked but 

 discernible. There are pine trees on them, and guide 

 books say that when the trees were planted glass beads 

 and ashes were found. Flint flakes occur on the 

 spot, which is a sand-hill to which the flints have 

 been brought. 



The subsequent history of Reigate is to be found 

 in the possession of the manor and castle by the 

 Earls of Warenne and Surrey. 



From the utter destruction of the 



C4STLE stonework it is impossible to date the 



castle, which has always belonged to the 



lords of the manor. It occupies a natural sand-hill, 



1 Manning and Brny, op. cit. i, 288-9 i 

 cf. Symmes, Add. MS. (B.M.), 6167. 



2 In 1873 old foundations were found 

 under and in front of the Town Hall. 



8 Local information. 



1 Personal observation. Mr. Fisher's 



shop is undoubtedly an ancient building 

 formerly comprising only one large cham- 

 ber running east and west. It probably 

 was the chapel. Some niches and other 

 feature suggest an early 14th-century 

 date. 



230 



'Stat. 8 Will. Ill, cap. ij. 

 'Stat. 28 Ceo. II, cap. 28. 

 " Stat. 47 Ceo. Ill, cap. 25. 



8 Proc. (Ser. 2), i, 69-72. 



9 Ibid. ; Evans, Stone Imp, 244, 277, 

 378. i" Ibid. 



