Editing Reigate (section)

===Reigate Priory===
{{main|Reigate Priory}}
[[File:Priory Pond - geograph.org.uk - 1326750.jpg|thumb|Former fish pond in Priory Park, restored in 2007<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1326750 |title= TQ2449: Priory Pond |last= Capper |first= Ian |date= 29 May 2009 |publisher= Geograph |access-date= 9 October 2021 |archive-date= 9 September 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190909013059/https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1326750 |url-status= live }}</ref>]]
William de Warenne, the fifth Earl of Surrey, is thought to have founded the Augustinian priory at Reigate before 1240.<ref name=NHLE_Priory>{{NHLE|num=1188089|desc=Reigate Priory|grade=I|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> Early documents refer to the priory as a hospital, but in 1334 it is described as a [[convent]] and thereafter as a purely religious institution.<ref name=Hooper_1979_pp68-69>{{harvnb|Hooper|1979|pp=68–69}}</ref> The priory was built to the south of the modern town centre and a series of fish ponds was constructed in the grounds.<ref name=Ward_1998_pp11-12>{{harvnb|Ward|1998|pp=11–12}}</ref> Although the exact layout is uncertain, the buildings are thought to have been arranged around a central square cloister, with the church on the north side and the [[refectory]] on the south.<ref name=Ward_1998_pp13-14>{{harvnb|Ward|1998|pp=13–14}}</ref>

[[File:Reigate Priory - geograph.org.uk - 1199604.jpg|thumb|Reigate Priory, south elevation]]
In 1541, [[Henry VIII]] granted the former priory to [[William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham]], the uncle of [[Katherine Howard]].<ref name=Hooper_1979_p71>{{harvnb|Hooper|1979|p=71}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Moore |first= Alan |date= 27 December 2006 |title= Reigate Priory and its owners |url= https://www.redhillandreigatelife.co.uk/news/heritage/1090762.reigate-priory-and-its-owners/ |work= Redhill and Reigate Life |access-date= 13 October 2021 |archive-date= 13 October 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211013211149/https://www.redhillandreigatelife.co.uk/news/heritage/1090762.reigate-priory-and-its-owners/ |url-status= live }}</ref> The old church was converted to a private residence and the majority of the rest of the buildings were demolished.<ref name=Ward_1998_pp21-22>{{harvnb|Ward|1998|pp=21–22}}</ref> Richard Ireland, who purchased the priory in 1766, is primarily responsible for the appearance of the buildings today.<ref name=Hooper_1979_pp73-74>{{harvnb|Hooper|1979|pp=73–74}}</ref> A fire destroyed much of the west wing and Ireland commissioned its rebuilding.<ref>{{harvnb|Ward|1998|p=44}}</ref> Following Ireland's death in 1780, the priory passed through a succession of owners, including [[Lady Henry Somerset]], who remodelled the grounds between 1883 and 1895, creating a sunken garden.<ref>{{harvnb|Ward|1998|pp=63–65}}</ref> Following her death in 1921, the estate was divided for sale and much of the land was purchased for housebuilding.<ref name="Ward 1998 86–87">{{harvnb|Ward|1998|pp=86–87}}</ref>

The final private owner of the house was the racehorse trainer, [[Peter Beatty]], who sold it to the Mutual Property Life and General Insurance Company, which relocated from London for the second half of the Second World War. In 1948, the borough council bought the grounds, having secured them as Public Open Space three years earlier.<ref name=SM_May1948>{{cite news |date= 7 May 1948 |title= Ministerial sanction for £19,120 loan for Priory purchase and £7,000 grant |work= Surrey Mirror |page= 7 |issue= 3665 }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ward|1998|pp=106–107}}</ref> Also in 1948, the Reigate Priory County Secondary School opened in the main priory building, with 140 children aged 13 and 14. In 1963 the boys moved to Woodhatch School and the Priory School continued as an all-girls secondary school. In 1971, the secondary school closed and Holmesdale Middle School, which had been founded in 1852, moved to the priory.<ref name=Ward_1998_114-115>{{harvnb|Ward|1998|pp=114–115}}</ref>