Reigate Tunnel

Pedestrian tunnel in Surrey, England

Reigate Tunnel

Reigate Tunnel from the north

Overview
Location| Reigate, Surrey, England
Coordinates| 51°14′17″N 0°12′22″W﻿ / ﻿51.238°N 0.206°W﻿ / 51.238; -0.206
Status| open
Operation
Constructed| 1823
Opened| 1824
Traffic| Pedestrian
Technical
Design engineer| William Constable
Length| 51 m (56 yd)

Reigate Tunnel is a former road tunnel in Reigate, Surrey, England.[1][2][3] 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.[4] The narrow and short tunnel formerly carried the A217 road,[5][6] and is now pedestrianised.[2] It is grade II listed.[7]

## History[edit]

The tunnel was designed by William Constable, the surveyor for the Reigate Turnpike Trust.[7][8] It is 51 m (56 yd) long[9][10] 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).[8]

Construction began in 1823 and required the demolition of two shops on the north side of the High Street.[8] 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.[7] 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.[8]

Tolls in 1824[8] 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.[8] In 1954, the tunnel was closed to southbound motor traffic[11] and was fully pedestrianised in April 1970.[2] It was Grade II listed on 27 January 1989.[7] A plaque above the southern entrance gives the year of construction as 1823.[12]

## References[edit]

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. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b c d Historic England. "The Tunnel (Grade II) (1241366)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
8. ^ a b c d e f 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.