Priory Park Reigate Surrey

Oxford Archaeology undertook a staged programme of archaeological work at Priory Park, Reigate, Surrey, during May-July 2005 on behalf of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and Land Use Consultants. This programme included a desk-based assessment, walkover survey, geophysical survey and trenched evaluation. Most of the fieldwork was targeted at elucidating the location and layout of the medieval Reigate Priory, and the post-Dissolution development of the Priory as a residence set in landscaped parkland. Stone wall foundations and burials, probably from the medieval Priory, were uncovered in one of the evaluation trenches. Evidence was also uncovered of post-Dissolution structures including a 17th-18th century building, that may have been a gatehouse or stable block. A section through an 18th century avenue leading to the Priory showed that it had earlier predecessors, possibly originating as a medieval hollow-way. Geophysical survey was also carried out on a known Bronze Age site within the Park, though the results were limited.