Reigate Stone

[3] Since exposure of Upper Greensand is rare, Reigate Stone was generally extracted from underground workings,[2] although it may have been quarried from the surface at first.

Parallel grooves in the floors of these workings suggest that cut stone was brought to the surface on wooden sledges.

Many probable sites were most likely destroyed by the construction of the M25 motorway, although the earliest recorded mine has been identified at the foot of Colley Hill to the north of Reigate.

[7] In the Tudor period, Reigate Stone was used in the construction of Nonsuch Palace, although much of it came from the demolition of Merton Priory and only a small portion was freshly mined.

[6] The stone continued to be used in the 17th century, including by Christopher Wren in St Paul's Cathedral and other city churches, following the Great Fire of London.