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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Reigate Tunnel
Reigate Tunnel is a former road tunnel in Reigate, Surrey, England. It runs under the hill that was once the site of Reigate Castle and was built during 1823, although some sources report that it only opened in 1824. The narrow and short tunnel formerly carried the A217 road, and is now pedestrianised. It is grade II listed.

History

The tunnel was designed by William Constable, the surveyor for the Reigate Turnpike Trust. It is 51 m (56 yd) long and runs through the Folkestone Beds beneath Reigate Castle. It provides a direct link between the High Street (to the south) and London Road (to the north), reducing the distance between the two by 0.25 mi (0.4 km).

Construction began in 1823 and required the demolition of two shops on the north side of the High Street. The two portals were built with bricks made from the local Gault clay and the tunnel is lined with red brick in a stretcher bond. The work was funded by John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers, through whose land it ran, and was completed in the summer of 1824. A toll post was erected at the southern entrance and tolls were levied for horses and horse-drawn vehicles. Pedestrians were not charged for using the tunnel.

Tolls in 1824
Vehicle type Toll
Coach with four horses 6d
Coach with two horses 3d
Chaise with one horse 1+1⁄2d
One horse 1⁄2d
Pedestrian no charge

The tolls were removed in 1858. In 1954, the tunnel was closed to southbound motor traffic and was fully pedestrianised in April 1970. It was Grade II listed on 27 January 1989. A plaque above the southern entrance gives the year of construction as 1823.

References

  1. ^ O'Brien, Charles; Nairn, Ian; Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2022). Surrey. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 612. ISBN 978-0-300-23478-7.
  2. ^ "The Background Story of Reigate Tunnel". Reigate and Redhill Society. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  3. ^ Cole-Lomas, Lauren (8 July 2023). "The incredible tunnel that cuts through a Surrey town hall". SurreyLive. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Reigate Tunnel 200 Celebration". Reigate Business Guild. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  5. ^ Otter, R. A. (1994). Southern England. Thomas Telford. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-7277-1971-3. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  6. ^ Marshall, Chris (6 February 2010). "Reigate Tunnel". Roads.org.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  7. ^ Historic England. "The Tunnel (Grade II) (1241366)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  8. ^ Hooper, Wilfrid (1979) [1945]. Reigate: Its story through the ages. Guildford: Surrey Archaeological Society. pp. 88–89, 94. ISBN 978-0-90-396712-9.
  9. ^ "Reigate Corporation v Surrey County Council". Justice of the Peace and Local Government Review. Vol. XCII, no. 7. 18 February 1928. p. 119.
  10. ^ "Reigate Corporation v Surrey County Council". The Solicitor's Journal. Vol. LXXII, no. 9. 3 March 1928. pp. 154–155.
  11. ^ "David against the Philistines". Surrey Mirror and County Post. No. 4090. 17 December 1954. p. 9.
  12. ^ Douglas, Roy (2006). Redhill & Reigate through time. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-44-563323-7.
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