GeoGraph - photograph every grid square

Former Reigate Hill Quarry

A major source of building stone over the centuries, with chalk also being quarried here. Reigate Stone (although not exclusively quarried here, other quarries along this stretch of the North Downs also being a source) was extensively used in the Middle Ages through to the end of the nineteenth century as a building stone in London, presumably because of its relative proximity. Example buildings are Westminster Abbey and Palace, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court and interior work in St Paul's Cathedral. Not surprisingly, it was also used in Reigate itself. A calcareous sandstone, it was easily cut but was also subject to severe weathering, hence its eventual falling out of favour.