Reigate Society; Meetings Oct 2007 to Sep 2008

The Priory is built on the site of an Augustinian priory founded in about 1235. Very little of the medieval foundation survives, and it is only visible from inside the building. After the dissolution of the monasteries the property was granted to Lord Howard of Effingham in 1541, who erected a house on the site. The house assumed much of its present appearance during extensive rebuilding in about 1770. Edward VII and his mistress were frequent visitors to the Priory in the early 1900s. During 2007/2008 Priory Park was extensively re-modelled, and also maintenance work has been undertaken on the Priory itself.

Meetings and Events from Oct 2007 to Sep 2008

The following information is outdated and retained on the site solely to help give a feel for the type of events organised by the Reigate Society.

See our meetings archive page for more.

Date & Time	01 Oct 2007, 8.00pm	Event Type	Members Evening
Title of Talk	The Changing Face of Reigate	Guest Speaker	Jes Chandler
Venue	Woodhatch Centre, Whitebeam Drive, off Hornbeam Road, Reigate, RH2 7LS.
Additional Information	Jes Chandler is Director of Stanton Construction Ltd (www.stantonconstruction.co.uk), a Corporate member of the Society. He is also Chairman of the Reigate Business Guild (www.reigatebusinessguild.co.uk), which has over 60 members from the local business community.

Date & Time	01 Nov 2007, 8.15pm	Event Type	Talk
Title of Talk	Surreys Heathland	Guest Speaker	Rob McGibbon
Venue	Holmesdale School, Alma Road, Reigate, RH2 0BY.
Additional Information	Dr McGibbon is the project manager for the Surrey County Councils Heathland Project (www.surreycc.gov.uk/heathland), which was set up in 1989 to protect and enhance lowland heathland in Surrey, and which sponsored the recent exhibition on Reigate Heath. Lowland heath is a globally rare and unique habitat which supports a variety of specialised plants and animals. In Surrey nearly four fifths of the heathland area has been lost since the late 18th century.

Date & Time	29 Nov 2007, 8.15pm	Event Type	Talk
Title of Talk	Timber Framed Buildings in Surrey	Guest Speaker	Martin Higgins
Venue	Priory School, Bell Street, Reigate, RH2 7RL.
Additional Information	Martin Higgins is Chairman of the Domestic Buildings Research Group (Surrey). His talk is based on the work of the Surrey Dendrochronology Project, which was set up by the Domestic Buildings Research Group (Surrey) (www.dbrg.org.uk) and the Surrey Archaeology Society (www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk) with the support of Surrey County Council. The main objective of the Surrey Dendrochronology Project is to map the development of timber-framed buildings across the county, century by century and region by region, and has dendro-dated about 120 buildings.

Date & Time	24 Jan 2008, 8.15pm	Event Type	Talk
Title of Talk	Water: Source to Tap	Guest Speaker	Tony Bryan
Venue	St Mark's Church Hall, Alma Road, Reigate, RH2 0DA.
Additional Information	Tony Bryan speaks on behalf of Sutton & East Surrey Water plc (www.waterplc.com). He will explain the processes by which we are provided with water and place our local concerns in a global setting.

Date & Time	14 Feb 2008, 8.15pm	Event Type	Talk
Title of Talk	East Surrey Underground	Guest Speaker	Peter Burgess
Venue	Redhill UR Church Hall, Shaw's Corner, Hatchlands Rd, Reigate, RH1 6AU.
Additional Information	Peter Burgess, a member of the Wealden Cave & Mine Society (www.wcms.org.uk/index.shtml), will talk to us about "East Surrey Underground", which is the title of his newly published book. As well as an interest in caves and caving, the Wealden Cave & Mine Society is particularly concerned about the mines and underground stone quarries of the South East, in particular the firestone quarries of East Surrey. The Wealden Cave & Mine Society cares for some of the Reigate caves and runs open days, including during the Heritage Open Weekend. As from September 2007, the Heritage Open Weekend events in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead (i.e. Banstead, Horley, Redhill and Reigate) are organised by the Reigate Society.

Date & Time	13 Mar 2008, 8.15pm	Event Type	Talk
Title of Talk	Samaritans in the Community	Guest Speaker	John Wilson
Venue	St Matthew's C of E Primary School, Linkfield Lane, Redhill, RH1 1JF.
Additional Information	John Wilson, who lives locally, has been a Samaritans volunteer for nearly ten years. Samaritans (www.samaritans.org) was started by the Reverend Chad Varah in the crypt of St. Stephen's Walbrook over 50 years ago. It is now an international organisation providing support for the despairing and suicidal. The local branch "Samaritans of East Surrey" is based in Reigate, and is twinned with branches in Candy, Sri Lanka, and Falls River, Connecticut.

Date & Time	03 Jul 2008, 8.15pm	Event Type	AGM (Open to all)
Title of Talk	Current Projects in Planning and Regeneration	Guest Speaker	Anna Cronin
Venue	Redhill Methodist Centre, Gloucester Rd, Redhill, RH1 1BP.
Additional Information	Anna Cronin has been Director of Policy and Environment at Reigate and Banstead Borough Council for three years. She is one of three directors supporting the Chief Executive of the Borough Council, and is responsible for environmental health services, building and development, policy and community initiatives, policy development and housing. The Redhill MasterPlan is one of the projects for which she is responsible. Before coming to the Borough, Anna spent twelve years with the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames, leaving as their Chief Planner to take up the role of Head of Planning and Transportation with Wokingham District Council in 2000.