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Reigate Priory

This grade I listed building dates mainly from the 1770s, although some parts of the previous Tudor building remain, built by the first Lord Howard of Effingham, uncle of Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, who had been given the Manor and Priory of Reigate in 1541 following the dissolution. Lord Howard of Effingham was the father of the second Lord Howard of Effingham, famous for his victory over the Spanish Armada, who also lived here. Prior to this, an earlier Augustinian monastery had stood here, dating from the 13th century, parts of which were incorporated into the Tudor mansion.

There have been various owners since, including Sir John Parsons, a London brewer and Lord Mayor of London, who bought it from the Howards in 1703, a Mr Richard Ireland who bought it in 1766 and was responsible for the major rebuild and Lord Somers, owner of much of Reigate, who bought it in 1808 and whose family owned it until bought by the local council in 1945. It now houses Reigate Priory Junior School – what must be one of the most impressive state school buildings in the country!

For listing particulars, see Link.

In the foreground is a stone seat on the edge of the Parterre Garden that formed part of the design of the restoration of Priory Park completed in 2008.