Reigate

Chapter 7.

Reigate to Chevening.

Although the town of Reigate lies in the valley, it certainly takes its name from the Pilgrim's Road to Canterbury.

In Domesday it is called Schersfell, and it is not till the latter part of the 12th century that the comparatively modern name of Ridgegate, the Ridge Road, was applied, first of all to the upper part of the parish, and eventually to the whole town.

in those days a chapel dedicated to the memory of the blessed martyr st thomas stood at the east end of the long street on a site now occupied by a market-house built early in the last century and part of the ancient foundations of this pilgrimage shrine were brought to light when the adjoining prison was enlarged some eighty or ninety years back another chapel dedicated to st lawrence the martyr stood farther down the street and a third the chapel of holy cross belonged to the augustine canons of the priory founded by william of warren earl of surrey in the thirteenth century in saxon days reigate or holme castle as it was then termed from its situation at the head of the valley of holmesdale was an important stronghold and the vigour and persistence with which the incursions of the danes were repelled by the inhabitants of this district gave rise to the rhyme quoted by camden the vale of holmesdale never won ne never shall at the conquest the manor was granted to william of warren and from that time the castle became the most powerful fortress of the mighty earls of surrey in the days of john it shared the fate of guilford castle and was one of the strongholds which opened its gates to louis the eighth king of france on his march from the kentish coast to winchester the fitzallans succeeded the warrens in the possession of reigate and in the reign of edward the sixth both the castle and the priory were granted to the howards of effingham queen elizabeth's lord high admiral the victor of the invincible armada lies buried in the vault under the chancel of reigate church in stuart times the castle gradually fell into decay until it was finally destroyed by order of parliament during the civil war lest it should fall into the king's hands now only the mound of the ancient keep remains and some spacious subterranean chambers which may have served as cellars or dungeons in norman times the priory has also been replaced by a modern house and is the property of lady henry somerset the representative of the earl somers to whom william the third granted reigate in sixteen ninety seven reigate is frequently mentioned in cobbett's rural rides and it was the sight of the priory that set him moralising over monasteries and asking himself if instead of being as we take it for granted bad things they were not after all better than poor rates and if the monks and nuns who fed the poor were not more to be commended than the rich pensioners of the state who feed upon the poor Close to this ancient foundation is the hilly common known as Reigate Park, a favourite haunt with artists, who find endless subjects in the fern-grown dells and romantic hollows, the clumps of thorn trees with their gnarled stems and spreading boughs, their wealth of wildflowers and berries.

views over reigate itself and the priory grounds on one side and over the sussex weald on the other are very charming but a still finer prospect awaits us on the north downs on the opposite side of the valley where the pilgrim's road goes on its course the best way is to climb reigate hill as far as the suspension bridge and follow a path cut in the chalk to the summit of the ridge it leads through a beech-wood on to the open downs where if the day is clear one of the finest views in the whole of england in the whole world says cobbett breaks upon us the weald of surrey and of sussex from the borders of hampshire to the ridge of east grinstead and crowborough beacon near tunbridge wells lies spread out at our feet eastward the eye ranges over the weald of kent and the heights above sevenoaks westward the purple ridge of leith hill and the familiar crest of hindhead meet us and far away to the south are the brighton downs and chanctonbury ring the line of yew trees appears again here and after keeping along the top of the ridge for about a mile the pilgrim's way enters gatton park and passing through the woods near lord oxenbridge's house joins the avenue that leads to merstham gatton itself which like reigate takes its name from the pilgrim's road saxon gaiton the town of the road was chiefly famous for the electoral privileges which it so long enjoyed from the time of henry the sixth until the reform bill of eighteen thirty two this very small borough returned two members to parliament in the reign of henry the eighth sir roger copley is described as the burgess and sole inhabitant of the borough and town of gatton and for many years the constituency consisted of one person the lord of the manor at the beginning of the present century there were only eight houses in the whole parish a fact which naturally roused the ire of william before you descend the hill to go into reigate he writes in one of his rural rides you pass gatton which is a very rascally spot of earth and when rainy weather detained him our whole day at reigate he moralises in this vein in one rotten borough one the most rotten too and with another still more rotten up upon the hill in reigate and close by gatton how can i help reflecting how can my mind be otherwise than filled with reflections on the marvellous deeds of the collective wisdom of the nation these privileges double the value of the property and when lord monson bought gatton park in eighteen thirty he paid a hundred thousand pounds for the place but the days of close boroughs were already numbered and less than two years afterwards the reform bill deprived gatton of both its members the little town hall of gatton where the important ceremony of electing two representatives to serve in parliament was performed is still standing an interesting relic of bygone days on a mound in the park almost hidden by large chestnut trees gatton house is chiefly remarkable for the marble hall built by the same lord monson in imitation of the orsini chapel at rome and adorned with rich marbles which he had brought from italy the collection of pictures formed by the same nobleman contains several good dutch and italian pictures including the vierge au bas-relief a graceful holy family which takes its name from a small carved tablet in the background it was long held to be an early work by the great leonardo da vinci and was purchased by lord monson of mr woodburn for four thousand pounds but is now generally attributed to his pupil cesare like so many of the churches we have already mentioned like seal and wanborough and the chapels of st catherine and st martha like the old church at titsey and the present one at chevening gatton was originally a pilgrim's church

Looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here.

There's some fab events and some good people coming to Guildford.

Okay, next we're off to Gatton Park in Reigate for their Apple Open Day and Tractor Rides.

Discover Gatton Park's orchard in the walled garden.

Apple juicing demonstrations will take place.

Hunter Biden said that Trump couldn't even spell AI if you gave him the first letter.

Alan in Reigate says...

Yeah, I bet none of the above happens.

I bet the people who run the AI companies will come in over here and they'll say...