Reigate

Common card · No. 271145

Reigate ( RY-gate) is a town in Surrey, England. It is sited around 19 miles (30 km) south of central London and 9 mi (14 km) north of Gatwick Airport. The settlement is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Cherchefelle and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for human activity is from the Paleolithic and Neolithic; during the Roman period, tile-making took place to the north-east of the modern centre. A motte-and-bailey castle was erected in Reigate in the late 11th or early 12th century. It was originally constructed of timber, but the curtain walls were rebuilt in stone about a century later. An Augustinian priory was founded to the south of the modern town centre in the first half of the 13th century. The priory was closed during the Reformation and was rebuilt as a private residence for William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham. The castle was abandoned at around the same time and fell into disrepair. During the medieval and...

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