Reigate Stone

Reigate Stone is a special kind of building stone that people took from the ground in north east Surrey. They used it a lot during the Middle Ages to build many important buildings. This stone is called a freestone, which means it can be cut easily in all directions.

Although it is often called a kind of sandstone, it is really made from a mix of different materials. Besides silica, it contains clay, tiny pieces of calcite, mica flakes, and a mineral called glauconite.

Because the rock that forms this stone is rare on the surface, people had to dig for it underground. They used a method called post-and-stall to mine the stone. They would cut wide passages called adits into the ground and then dig the stone from there. It is believed that mines for this stone existed along the base of the North Downs from Buckland in the west to Chaldon in the east. Sadly, many of these old mines were probably destroyed when the M25 motorway was built, but one of the oldest known mines was found near Colley Hill, just north of Reigate.

Use

Reigate Stone was first used in the 11th century for the foundations of a monastery in Westminster, built by Edward the Confessor. Even earlier, around the 8th century, people were already mining this stone. Many important buildings in London and southeast England were made with Reigate Stone, such as the White Tower of the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Waltham Abbey, Windsor Castle, and the cathedrals in Rochester and Canterbury.

During the Tudor period, Reigate Stone was used to build Nonsuch Palace, mostly from old stone taken from Merton Priory. In the 17th century after the Great Fire of London, the famous architect Christopher Wren used Reigate Stone for St Paul's Cathedral and other churches. He made sure the stone came from good sources because it could be damaged by frost. Later, the stone suffered from pollution. The last mine closed in the 1960s, but in 2018, new stone was used for a stairwell at Westminster Abbey.