Reigate Castle Grounds and Barons' Cave

This is my latest slide show of the 11th century castle area in the centre of Reigate - a stone gateway, dry moat, inner bailey, outer bailey, wet moat, barbican, southern approach, public gardens, private grounds, medieval inn/assizes, castle walk, cottages, stately trees and rare flowers. The man-made Barons' Cave may have been the castle wine cellar before becoming a local curiosity for visitors by the 17th century. The cave is open to the public on a number of advertised Saturdays throughout the summer. Watch out for the dinosaur.

Exhibition of sculpture in caves

The sandstone caves in Tunnel Road in the centre of Reigate were used as an air raid shelter during World War 2. There are 4 or 5 open days each year, hosted by Malcolm Tadd and the Wealden Cave & Mine Society.
This exhibition of sculpture called "Reconnect" is by Zita Ra for her MA Fine Art show at the University of Brighton.

The sculptures and caves can be seen by the public in Reigate on Saturday 8th May 2010. I can highly recommend this innovative exhibition and congratulate the organisers. A special event not to be missed!

Revelation

Here's the view north from the top of Reigate Priory Park - just where Winston Churchill would have sat in contemplation a century before.

You can almost see it all mapped out! Over to the east -

Little Gatton where Eisenhower was stationed,

the Reigate Hill chalk quarry and lime kilns where the secret bunker would go plus anti-aircraft guns,

Underbeeches where Monty was stationed,

the area for Monty's pigeon loft,

Beeches Wood with tree cover for the motorbike dispatch riders to camp,

and Broadleas where Churchill stayed occasionally to write his speeches.

Then there's Colley Pit which was still being mined throughout the war until the 1960s.

No wonder he stopped writing about Reigate in his diaries -his plans for the town were all TOO SECRET.

What you can't see are the sandstone caves - right in the middle of town. Very handy for wartime.