The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street,

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The site on the north side of the High Street was previously occupied by the 13th chapel and hospice of St. Thomas of Canterbury. Although the chapel was not on the

Pilgrims' Way A pilgrims' way or pilgrim way is a standard route that pilgrims take when they go on a pilgrimage in order to reach their destination – usually a holy site or place of worship. These sites may be towns or cities of special significance such a ...

, it formed a place where pilgrims might rest on their journey from

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. The old town hall was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

and completed in 1728. The design involved arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held; an assembly room with segmental headed

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s was established on the first floor. The east elevation of the building was vertical but the west elevation of the building was curved. In 1811, a

roof lantern A roof lantern is a Daylighting (architecture), daylighting architectural element. Architectural lanterns are part of a larger roof and provide natural light into the space or room below. In contemporary use it is an architectural skylight stru ...

with, a clock, a bell and weather vane was removed from the tower of the adjacent prison building, which was itself then demolished, and installed on the roof of the old town hall. As well as accommodating the local horse-drawn fire engine and the local police station, the building was used as a courthouse for petty sessions in the 19th century. The building served as the headquarters of Reigate Municipal Borough Council from its formation in 1863 until the borough council moved to the new town hall in Castlefield Road in 1901. Following the death of Lady Henry Somerset of Reigate Priory, the old town hall formed part of the estate which was acquired by a local benefactor, Randel Vogan, and donated to the borough council in 1922. In the 1930s, two K6 red telephone boxes of the type designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott were installed at the old town hall, one at the east end and the other in the covered area at the west end. Following the restoration of the building, the ground floor of the old town hall re-opened as a Caffè Nero outlet in February 2008.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1728 City and town halls in Surrey Reigate Grade II* listed buildings in Surrey