Editing Reigate (section)

===Economy and commerce===
From much of its early history, Reigate was primarily an [[Agriculture in the United Kingdom|agricultural]] settlement. At the time of the Norman conquest, the common fields covered some {{convert|3500|acre|ha|abbr=on}} and in 1623 the total area of arable land was around {{convert|4500|acre|ha|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Hooper|1979|p=40}}</ref> From the early 17th century, the manor began to specialise in the production of [[oatmeal]] for the [[Royal Navy]], possibly due to the influence of Admiral Charles Howard, who lived at the priory.<ref name="Greenwood 2008 52–53">{{harvnb|Greenwood|2008|pp=52–53}}</ref>{{refn|16th and 17th century documents indicate that [[hops]] were grown in the local area by smallholders and that [[flax]] was important as a secondary crop. There is no surviving record of [[rye]] being cultivated in Reigate.<ref>{{harvnb|Greenwood|2008|pp=10–11}}</ref>|group=note}} By 1710, 11.5% of the population was employed in cereal processing, but the trade dwindled in the mid-18th century and had ceased by 1786.<ref name="Greenwood 2008 52–53"/> Until the early 18th century, most goods were traded locally, but thereafter, London is thought to have become the most important market for produce.<ref>{{harvnb|Greenwood|2008|p=16}}</ref>

The market in Reigate is first recorded in 1279, when [[John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey|John de Warenne]], the 6th Earl of Surrey, claimed the right to hold a weekly market on Saturdays and five annual [[fair]]s. [[John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey|His son John]], the 7th Earl, was granted permission to move the event to Tuesdays in 1313.<ref>{{harvnb|Hooper|1979|pp=25–26}}</ref> The original market place was to the west of the castle, in the triangle of land now bordered by West Street, Upper West Street and Slipshoe Street (where the former route to Kingston diverged from the road to Guildford). It moved to the widest part of the High Street, close to the junction with Bell Street, in the 18th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Hooper|1979|pp=77}}</ref> Cattle ceased to be sold in the late 19th century and the market closed in 1895, in part as a result of the opening of a fortnightly market in Redhill in 1870.<ref name=Hopper_1979_p96>{{harvnb|Hooper|1979|p=96}}</ref>

Reigate has two surviving [[windmill]]s: a post mill on [[Reigate Heath Windmill|Reigate Heath]]<ref>{{harvnb|Farries|Mason|1966|pp=184–188}}</ref> and a tower mill on [[Wray Common Mill, Reigate|Wray Common]].<ref>{{harvnb|Farries|Mason|1966|pp=191–193}}</ref> In the early modern period, the parish had at least three other windmills<ref name=Hopper_1979_p96/> and about a dozen animal-powered mills for oatmeal. In addition, there were watermills along the southern boundary of the parish, on the [[River Mole, Surrey|Mole]] and Redhill Brook.<ref>{{harvnb|Farries|Mason|1966|pp=179–180}}</ref>

[[File:The White Hart Reigate.jpg|thumb|right|The White Hart pub as depicted in a book on the London–Brighton road from 1894.]]
Although the opening of the Reigate Hill turnpike in 1755 provided an easier route to transport produce and manufactured items to London, the new road appears initially to have had a negative impact on the local economy, as goods produced elsewhere became cheaper than those made in the town itself.<ref name=Greenwood_2008_pp65-66>{{harvnb|Greenwood|2008|pp=65–66}}</ref> As a result, there was little growth in the population between the 1720s and 1821.<ref>{{harvnb|Greenwood|2008|p=57}}</ref> In the late 18th century, the prosperity of the town began to recover as it became as stopping point on the London to [[Brighton]] coaching route.<ref name=Greenwood_2008_pp65-66/>{{refn|Between July and October 1760, approximately 400 visitors to Brighton passed through Reigate, rising to 2000 over the same period in 1787 and between 12,000 and 15,000 in Summer 1811.<ref name=Greenwood_2008_pp38-39>{{harvnb|Greenwood|2008|pp=38–39}}</ref>|group=note}} In 1793, over half of the traffic on the Reigate Hill turnpike was bound for the south coast and numbers swelled as a result of troop movements during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref name=Greenwood_2008_pp38-39/> The opening of the turnpike through Redhill, appears to have had little initial impact on the numbers travelling through the town, as travellers preferred to break their journeys in Reigate, rather than bypassing the town to the east.<ref name=Greenwood_2008_pp38-39/>