{{short description|Pedestrian tunnel in Surrey, England}} {{Infobox tunnel | image = Reigate Tunnel.JPG | image_size = | alt = | caption = Reigate Tunnel from the north | location = Reigate, Surrey, England | coordinates = {{coord|51.238|-0.206|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title,inline}} | status = open | opened = 1824 | traffic = Pedestrian | engineer = William Constable | construction = 1823 | length = {{cvt|56|yd|m|order=flip}} }} '''Reigate Tunnel''' is a former road tunnel in Reigate, Surrey, England.<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Brien |first1=Charles |last2=Nairn |first2=Ian |last3=Cherry |first3=Bridget |last4=Pevsner |first4=Nikolaus |title=Surrey |date=2022 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-23478-7 |pages=612}}</ref><ref name=ReigateSoc>{{cite web |title=The Background Story of Reigate Tunnel |url=https://www.reigatesociety.org.uk/history/Reigate_Tunnel.php |publisher=Reigate and Redhill Society |access-date=11 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Cole-Lomas |first1=Lauren |title=The incredible tunnel that cuts through a Surrey town hall |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/incredible-tunnel-cuts-through-surrey-27277175 |access-date=11 September 2023 |work=SurreyLive |date=8 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reigate Tunnel 200 Celebration |url=https://www.reigatebusinessguild.co.uk/reigate-tunnel-200-celebration/ |website=Reigate Business Guild |access-date=10 September 2023}}</ref> The narrow and short tunnel formerly carried the A217 road,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Otter |first1=R. A. |title=Southern England |date=1994 |publisher=Thomas Telford |isbn=978-0-7277-1971-3 |page=180 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HG-l2kpKPFUC&pg=PA180 |access-date=11 September 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Marshall |first1=Chris |title=Reigate Tunnel |url=https://www.roads.org.uk/photo/reigate-tunnel |website=Roads.org.uk |access-date=11 September 2023 |language=en |date=6 February 2010}}</ref> and is now pedestrianised.<ref name=ReigateSoc/> It is grade II listed.<ref name=NHLE>{{NHLE|num=1241366|desc=The Tunnel|grade=II|access-date=11 September 2023}}</ref>
==History== The tunnel was designed by William Constable, the surveyor for the Reigate Turnpike Trust.<ref name=NHLE/><ref name=Hooper>{{cite book |last= Hooper |first= Wilfrid |year= 1979 |orig-year= 1945 |title= Reigate: Its story through the ages |location= Guildford |publisher= Surrey Archaeological Society |isbn= 978-0-90-396712-9 |pages= 88–89, 94 }}</ref> It is {{cvt|56|yd|m|order=flip}} long<ref>{{cite news |title= Reigate Corporation v Surrey County Council |date= 18 February 1928 |work= Justice of the Peace and Local Government Review |volume= XCII |issue= 7 |page= 119 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Reigate Corporation v Surrey County Council |date= 3 March 1928 |work= The Solicitor's Journal |volume= LXXII |issue= 9 |pages= 154–155 }}</ref> 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 {{cvt|0.25|mi|km|1}}.<ref name=Hooper/>
Construction began in 1823 and required the demolition of two shops on the north side of the High Street.<ref name=Hooper/> 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.<ref name=NHLE/> 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.<ref name=Hooper/>
{| class="wikitable" |+ Tolls in 1824<ref name=Hooper/> |- ! Vehicle type !! Toll |- | Coach with four horses || 6''d'' |- | Coach with two horses || 3''d'' |- | Chaise with one horse || {{fraction|1|1|2}}''d'' |- | One horse || {{fraction|1|2}}''d'' |- | Pedestrian || no charge |}
The tolls were removed in 1858.<ref name=Hooper/> In 1954, the tunnel was closed to southbound motor traffic<ref>{{cite news |title= David against the Philistines |date= 17 December 1954 |work= Surrey Mirror and County Post |issue= 4090 |page= 9 }}</ref> and was fully pedestrianised in April 1970.<ref name=ReigateSoc/> It was Grade II listed on 27 January 1989.<ref name=NHLE/> A plaque above the southern entrance gives the year of construction as 1823.<ref>{{cite book |last= Douglas |first= Roy |year= 2006 |title= Redhill & Reigate through time |publisher= Amberley Publishing |location= Stroud |isbn= 978-1-44-563323-7 |page= 18 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} Category:Road tunnels in England Category:Pedestrian tunnels in the United Kingdom Category:1820s establishments in England Category:Roads in Surrey Tunnel Category:Grade II listed buildings in Surrey Category:Tunnels in Surrey