Reigate and Banstead

Reigate and Banstead is a district in Surrey, made up of towns such as Reigate, Redhill, Banstead, Merstham and Horley. The area sits against the North Downs ridge, with Colley Hill and Reigate Hill overlooking the townscape and Banstead Downs providing open chalk grassland used for horse training gallops. Reigate town centre includes medieval remains and a gatehouse from the old castle, and below the centre a network of sandstone tunnels — the Reigate Caves — runs under the High Street; these tunnels were carved for sand extraction and later used for storage and wartime shelter.

Transport links are concentrated around Redhill, where the station provides junction services on the Brighton Main Line and the North Downs Line to London and the south coast. The district combines residential suburbs with light industry and airport-linked businesses in the Horley corridor, while village settlements retain local shops, community halls and parish churches. Green corridors follow river valleys and open spaces are managed for biodiversity and recreation, giving short-access countryside alongside frequent rail and road connections to central London.