REYGATE. 



Guilford, and 21 Couth by weft from London. It is of 

 great antiquity, and is mentioned in the General Survey by 

 the appellation Cherchefelle, or Cherchfield ; but it foon 

 afterwards became generally known by that of Ridge-gate, 

 fince corrupted into Reygate. The manor was formerly 

 vefted in the crown ; and, previous to the Conqueft, 

 conftituted part of the property fettled by king Edward 

 the Confeffor on his queen, Edith. King William Rufus 

 granted it to the illuitrious family of the Warrens, earls 

 of Warren and Surrey, feveral of whom obtained con- 

 fiderable privileges for the town. John, earl of Warren, in 

 the reign of Edward II. procured for the inhabitants the 

 charter, under which they now enjoy the right of holding a 

 weekly market on Tuefday. Another, held on the firft 

 Wednefday of every month, was eftablifhed by charter from 

 Charles II. ; it was for many years difufed, but has lately 

 been revived. 



Reygate is a borough by prefcription only. The govern- 

 ment is veiled in a bailiff, conttable, tythingman, ale-tafler, 

 fledi-tafter, fifh-tafter, and leather-feller, with aconftable for 

 the foreign divifion, and a tythingman for each of the fo- 

 renfic fubdivifions, or tythings. This town originally fent 

 members to parliament in the twenty-third year of Edward I. 

 The electors are the freeholders of mefluages or burgage 

 tenements within the precincts of the borough, and the bailiff 

 is the returning officer. 



The parifh of Reygate is divided into two capital pre- 

 cincts, which provide feparately for the maintenance of their 

 refpective poor, viz. the borough and the forenfec, or foreign, 

 the latter including all that portion of the parifh not compre- 

 hended in the former. Within the precinct of the borough 

 ftands the town itfelf, which is feated at the bafe of a fteep 

 hill of chalk. The buildings are principally difpofed in two 

 long and fpacious ftreets, of which one, called the High-ftreet, 

 runs in a direction from weft to eaft ; and the other, called 

 Bell-ilreet, in a direction from north to fouth. The parifh 

 church, placed at a fmall diftance from the town, although 

 not diftinguilhed for its antiquity or elegance of its architec- 

 ture, is neverthelefs one of the bed ecclefiaftical ftrudtures 

 in the county. It is divided into a nave, two fide aiftts, and 

 a chance!, with an embattled tower at the weft end. The 

 nave and chancel are feparated from the aides by feven 

 pointed arches ; five of which, on each fide, are in the nave 

 and two in the chancel ; tbofe of the former being fupported 

 by pillars, alternately round and octagonal ; and thofe of 

 the latter by cluttered pillars of a more elegant form. 

 Every portion of the interior is crowded with monuments 

 and inscriptions to the memory of the Thurlands, of 

 Thurland Caftle in Nottingham (hire, the Jamefes of Rey- 

 gate, the Skinners of the fame place, and others of lefs note. 

 In a vault under the chancel, conftrudted by William, firft 

 baron Howard of Effingham, are depofited many leaden 

 coffins, containing the remains of the founder, and of feveral 

 of his defcendants, earls of Nottingham, and their families. 

 The mott remarkable of thefe is that inferibed to the me- 

 mory of Charles Howard, earl of Nottingham, who com- 

 manded the Britilh fleet in the memorable conteft with the 

 Spanilh armada, A. D. 1588. 



The old market-houfe flood at the well end of the town, 

 but it having gone to decay, the prefent houfe was erected, 

 by fir Jofeph Jekyll, near the fcite of the ancient priory, 

 which formed one of the terminations of Bell-ftreet. This 

 religious eftablifliment was founded by William de Warren, 

 earl of Surrey, and Ifabel his wife, about the year 1230. 

 The inmates confifted of a prior, and a few canons regular, 

 of the order of St. Auguftine, whofe clear annual revenue, 

 at the time of the diiiolution, amounted to 68/. 16s. 8<J. 



After that event the fcite of the priory, with its appurte- 

 nances, was granted by king Henry VIII. to William, lord 

 Howard, in exchange for the rectory of Tottenham in Mid- 

 dlefex. The other religious buildings here were, two chapels, 

 dedicated to St. Lawrence, and to Thomas a Becket, and 

 the hofpital of the Holy Crofs, which feems to have been 

 connected with the priory. 



On a confiderable eminence to the north of the town, 

 flood the ancient caftle of Reygate, the foundation and hif- 

 tory of which are little known. Moft of the very (lender 

 accounts of it which have reached our times, afcribe its 

 origin to fome of the more ancient earls of Warren and Sur- 

 rey, but others affert, that the original ftructure was of much 

 earlier date, and the work of our Saxon anceftors. Indeed, 

 if the inhabitants of this part of the country were fo active and 

 fuccefsful in repelling the Danifh invaders, as to give rife to 

 the proverb attributed to them by Camdei', " The Vale of 

 Holmefdale, — never wonne, ne never (hall," it feems not im- 

 probable, confidering alfo the importance and advantage of 

 the fituation, that their leaders had a fortrefs here fufficient 

 for thepurpofes of rendezvous andfecurity. It is certain that 

 there was a fortrefs at Reygate, of confiderable note, under 

 the earls of Warren, and which feems to have been for many 

 years one, at lead, of the capital feats of their barony. 

 William, earl of Warren, who poffeffed it in king John's 

 time, is the firft of the family fpoken of by Dugdaie as the 

 proprietor of it ; and he acknowledges his title to be derived 

 from his earlieft anceftors. This earl, in the conteft between 

 that king and his barons, was one of the neutral lords who 

 joined in the confederacy againft the king with reluctance, 

 and who, at the great council at Runnymead, were inclined 

 to favour him ; and by whofe advice the great charter was 

 eventually figned by him. This dubious policy of the earl 

 occafioned the lofs of his caftle at Reygate, which, foon after 

 the landing of Louis the dauphin, was furrendered to him. 

 When it was firft difmantled is uncertain, but it is mentioned 

 as having been decayed and ruinous in the reign of James I. 

 Even then, and for fome time after, it mull have been capable 

 of defence, as in the time of the civil wars, A. D. 1648, the 

 committee of the houfe of commons were ordered " to take 

 care of it, and to put it into fuch a condition, that no ufe 

 might be made to the endangering the peace of the king- 

 dom." What the immediate refult of thefe orders was 

 we are not informed, but it was probably demoliflied foon af- 

 terwards, though a fmall part of the walls was (landing 

 within the laft forty years. Now, however, every veftige 

 of thefe is gone ; but the vallum and ditch are itill nearly 

 entire on the fouth and weft fides ; and in the centre of the 

 area is a deictnt, by a flight of (leps, to a paffage 235 feet 

 long, which leads into a cave 123 long, 13 wide, and 1 1 high. 

 This cave is conjectured to have ferved the double purpofe 

 of a repofitory for military (lores, and a place of cuftody for 

 prifoners : it might alfo be a place of fafety in times of 

 public commotion. 



The park at Reygate is fituatcd to the fouth of the 

 town. It contains about 150 acres, and appears, by a 

 furvey made :n 1622, to have been then well ilored with 

 timber trees, and with venifon. It was difparked within 

 twenty years from that period, and now retains few of its 

 former characterises, except the name. At Eaft-Beech- 

 worth, to the weftward of Reygate, is a feat of the late 

 Hon. William Henry Bouverie, which was built by fir Ralph 

 Freeman in the reign of James I. ; and near it is Wonham, 

 a manfion belonging to vifcount Templetown : Gatton, to 

 the northward, about two miles, affords an example of no- 

 minal borough reprefentation, (carcely a houfe being left 

 Handing within its limits. In this pariih, at a place called 



Battle, 



