3 55 
Mr. Webster on the Reygate Stone. 
inferior to that which forms the subject of this communication y and 
the celebrated excavation under the ancient castle of Reygate is dug 
in it. The quarries of Reygate stone were formerly considered 
of such consequence that they were kept in the possession of the 
crown, and a patent of Ed. III. exists, authorizing them to be worked 
for Windsor Castle. Henry the Seventh’s chapel at Westminster 
was also built of the stone procured from them, as is also the church 
at Reygate. These ancient quarries were situated between the town 
of Reygate and the chalk hills to the north, and traces of them may 
still be seen in several places, as at Gatton park, Colley farm, and 
Buckland -green, w T hich latter place is the most westernly spot where 
the stone has been found. All these works, however, are wholly 
abandoned, as the stone is procured in a point more convenient for 
the London market, at the village of Merstham, three miles north- 
east of Reygate. From this place it is carried by a rail road to the 
Croydon canal. At Merstham it is close to the chalk, on which 
account the relative situations of each are more easily observed, as 
will appear from the accompanying section taken across the country 
from north to south. 
A A. fig. 5, plate 38, represents an extensive pit at Merstham, 
worked in the indurated chalk marl, or grey chalk as it is called 
by some, which is situated immediately under the lower chalk, 
or that without flints. A series of these pits extends along 
the escarpment of the north downs, and shews the dip of the 
chalk to be to the north, generally about an inch in the foot. 
Turning to the south, a steep descent, B C, conducts to the opening 
of the stone quarries D, which consists of a drift, BE, in a lower 
hill, the beds of which dip also to the north, and extend under the 
chalk marl. This drift is carried about two hundred and fifty yards, 
and the stone is drawn up by a steam engine. In this quarry I 
