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Reigate: Definition and Much More from Answers.com

  • ️Wed Jul 01 2015
Reigate

Reigate (Surrey)

Reigate


Reigate shown within Surrey
Population 21,820
OS grid reference TQ2649
District Reigate and Banstead
Shire county Surrey
Region South East
Constituent country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town REIGATE
Postcode district RH2
Dialling code 01737
Police Surrey
Fire Surrey
Ambulance South East Coast
UK Parliament Reigate
European Parliament South East England
List of places: UKEnglandSurrey

Coordinates: 51°′″N 0°′″W / 51.2301, -0.188

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 north of Reigate, is the sixth highest point in Surrey at 756 feet (230 metres). Reigate Hill, one mile to the east of Colley Hill, is the seventh highest point in Surrey at 723 feet (220 metres).

History

Castle

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Castle

There have been settlements in the area of Reigate at least since Roman times. The Romans are known to have made tiles for London villas in Reigate around 97 AD.

The town lay within the Reigate hundred, an Anglo-Saxon administrative division.

Reigate appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Cherchefelle which means ‘church field’ (or `church hill’). It was held by William the Conqueror. Its domesday assets were: 34 hides. It had 2 mills worth 11s 10s, 29 ploughs, 12 acres of meadow, pannage and herbage worth 183 hogs. It rendered £40.[1]

It was located in what is now the Chart Lane area of Reigate. 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.

The origin of the name Reigate is uncertain, but may derive from Roe-deer Gate, as the town was situated near to the entrance to the de Warenne's deer park, which is now Priory Park and Reigate Park.

It is reputed that prior to the signing of the Magna Carta, the rebellious barons met to hammer out the details of the document in the caves beneath the castle. The castle later fell into decay and was demolished in 1648, though the grounds remain as a public garden, and the caves are occasionally opened for tours.

During the 13th century the 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 converted the Priory 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 for about 140 years. The building is now used as a school.

Travel

Famous residents

Education

See also

References

External links

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