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Cave on East side of Tunnel Road

The tunnels on the west side of Tunnel Road were adapted to be used by the general public. War broke out to the sound of air-raid sirens on September 3rd 1939 and there was minor panic as people, even the better informed, expected furious bombing at any moment and it is said some people were hammering at the doors of the caves in Tunnel Road and were disappointed because the conversion to air-raid shelters was not complete. These caves were nevertheless converted by September 7th 1940 when systematic bombing of the UK started with the Blitz on London. The Nazi Blitz on London was a night time campaign to terrorise the population into submission. The Nazi Luftwaffe had been beaten in the daylight Battle of Britain and this was their new strategy. At the time of the Blitz air-raid shelters were in serious demand in London and other places. It was during this period, September 1940 to May 1941 that the shelters on the west side of Tunnel Road were most used.

East side of Tunnel Road

They were used as a temporary refuge in the daytime but were fitted with bunks for sleeping over night. Some locals took advantage of the caves although many chose not to, preferring to use Morrison shelters at home or the concrete or brick built shelters scattered around the borough. Anderson shelters were not used in Reigate. Some people travelled from London to shelter in Reigate's caves although the chalk caves of Chislehurst were a nightly refuge for more Londoners. One local person recalls a nightly seven o'clock bus collecting people from Merstham to shelter in the caves.

Conditions inside must have been extremely primitive, an extant plan of the system shows it poorly equipped with washing and toilet facilities. Also the caves are very damp and cold and sand dusts off the walls and ceilings and mildew quickly grows. This discomfort was partly assuaged by lining the walls around the bunks with hessian but today some members of the public still remember those times with horror and cannot now be persuaded to enter the caves. Among the horrors were the smell and the fact it permeated the clothes of the shelterers.

These facilities (Ladies and urinal) on the East side of Tunnel Road were provided for Town Hall Staff

However, one person who was a school girl at the time remembers it as a fun experience and it was not all horror - entertainments were laid on in part of the caves. One lady recalls a Christmas party in 1940.

The sand caves on the east side of Tunnel Road have a different wartime history. These caves run the whole length of the road tunnel itself but also extend further northwards, to where a little blue door can now be seen in the vertical bank of the cutting, and further southward to just behind the present day Café Rouge. The part behind Café Rouge which contains abondoned wine racks (no old bottles) was not used during the war but its north wall contained an emergency exit from the main caves on the east side of Tunnel Road.

The bulk of the caves on the east side were divided into two. Part was set up as an air-raid shelter for the Town Hall staff. Had air-raids become very serious, to the point that the Town Hall staff needed to be evacuated, they would have descended a specially built flight of brick steps to Tunnel Road which can be seen to this day. These particular shelters were well equipped with toilets but it is unlikely that the shelters were ever used because air raids never became that serious.

As regards air raids, Britain was well prepared. The Air Raids Precautions (ARP) system was set up. ARP posts were established in towns all through Britain. These housed wardens on the watch for falling bombs or crashing planes. Such incidents needed to be telephoned to a central Bomb Report Centre so that co-ordinated action could be taken. In Reigate the Bomb Report Centre was under the Town Hall. However, a standby Bomb Report Centre was set up in the East Side Caves. But again the air raids were not severe enough to cause it to be needed. Installed with this underground Report Centre were sleeping quarters, a document storage area, a gas decontamination room and a canteen area. Additionally there were rooms to be used as a Police HQ, a Fire Brigade HQ and a First Aid Post.

The caves in Tunnel Road were not the only caves in Reigate to be used as WWII air raid shelters. The Barons' Cave was used by the boys of the Parish School on the corner of London Road and Hardwicke Road. They used the bottom entrance situated in the old moat. One lad recalls their first trip down there being quite a jolly one as they sang war time songs. However, this was not to last as their headmaster, Lesley Hide, called them into the assembly hall to tell them that he would have none of that, so their behaviour was more sombre after that. However, another lad recalls the girls coming down to the Parish School from St Mark's School (Holmesdale Road) for domestic science lessons. He kept his fingers crossed for an air raid on those days in the hope that he may get a taste of their cakes which they would take down to the caves with them. Of course, sometimes the prospect of the spectacle of a dog fight proved too much for some boys, so if they heard the siren on the way to school they would go home rather than spend the time in the damp, musty caves. From the other side of Reigate the girls of Reigate County School (now Reigate College) had access to the caves from their grounds (now blocked up). Six hundred girls would traipse down to the caves on hearing the siren.

The Barons' Cave, Castle Grounds, Reigate
(c) Nick Catford, WCMS

Air raid shelters were mostly used dring the period of the London Blitz lasting from 7th September 1940 to May 1941 and after this the Reigate cave shelters seem to have been largely neglected. In this later period we hear of school children playing in them and even of rather innocent romantic liaisons.

All the caves which were used as air raid shelters still exist but only in those on the east side of Tunnel Road does visible evidence remain. Wealden Cave & Mine Society (WCMS) conduct public tours around these caves on occasions and is doing its best to preserve and present the war time history. Details of open days and much more can be found on their site www.wcms.org.uk.

BVP would like to thank Malcolm Tadd, President of the Wealden Cave & Mine Society for this article. If you have any information or reminiscences about the caves Malcolm would like to hear from you. He can be contacted on 01737 823456. Alternatively you can email us at info@b-v-p.co.uk. Additional information and photos Carolyn Burnley.

Malcolm Tadd is the author of "A Guide to the Industrial History of Tandridge" and has written a book about Reigate Caves available from the WCMS website - www.wcms.org.uk

See also
Reigate During the Second World War
Second World War - Memories
Second World War - Battle of Britain
Second World War - Where the Bombs Fell
Churchill's Secret Reigate

This era is included in the DVD produced by BVP, Reigate Priory 1921 - 1948. which covers the period when the Priory was owned by the Admiral Beatty and later occupied by Rank the Millers during the 2nd World War.

For further reading about the area during the 2nd World War there is a new book by Peter Tatlow, "Return from Dunkirk" which explains why Redhill Station played a key role in the evacuation. It also includes some fascinating photos. To purchase this book click on the link in right hand column above. Another book has just been recommended to us, which includes the caves under the lawns of Reigate College, is "Coin Street Chronicles" (also listed in the right hand column). For more information about this and other Reigate related books and products visit The Reigate Shop.

If you would like to contribute to these pages please contact Carolyn Burnley at info@b-v-p.co.uk .