This is not a study of the mines of the South East as there are a number of other web sites that cover the topic much better such as www.wcms.org.uk and www.croydoncavingclub.org.uk. This page is largely devoted to a trip by Club Members Nigel and Steve to the Reigate/Merstham/Godstone area in October 2005. We were kindly hosted by Andy and Jane of the Wealden Cave and Mine Society and a number of their friends including Robin, Paul and Malcolm and visited the hearthstone mines at Bedlam's Bank and Godstone and the Sand mines and tunnels at Reigate.

The area we visited was on the boundary of the chalk and lower greensand where the harder rocks of the upper greensand are exposed. The sketch map below shows the area as well as the basic geology of the Weald.

Below is a series of pictures from the various trips made over the two day weekend which left us with slightly sore legs and stiff necks over the following couple of days. A good time was had by all and we are very grateful to our hosts for their hospitality and leadership.

All photos are copyright Nigel Dibben and can be used for personal use only. For any other use, please contact the .

Bedlam's Bank (west)


At the entrance	General view inside showing the height of workings	Waste pack on the left and a pillar on the right

Typical workings in the older part of the mine	A neat pack on the left	Partly backfilled workings

Low workings	The working face in the background with Andy and Jane	A window mullion awaiting removal for 300 years

Jane near the end under the M23	Crawling over the concrete infill	A rare view of the original floor

Larger chambers	Larger chambers	... but still low

Blocks waiting to be finished	Yellow formations coloured by iron in the rock above	Partly backfilled passage

Panorama of formations		Redundant wooden props

Bedlam's Bank (east)


Blocks of stone awaiting removal	Steve looking at the miner's poem	The miner's poem

Remains of a donkey or small horse	In the Far East	Looking at sledge ruts on the floor

Low passage in the Far East, but higher than further west	Miners' graffiti	More graffiti and a trough for a grinding wheel

Godstone


Near the entrance with recently installed pillars	Typical Godstone passage with white painted walls from the mushroom-farming era	A larger worked out area with timber supports

The working face	A good cross-section of the local geology	More random passages in the western part of the mine

Rail tracks on the floor	A composite picture showing the extent of the stopes	Graffiti from 1876

Reigate


Reigate road tunnel from the south	Looking through the tunnel	Looking out to the Tunnel Vaults

The plaque over the entrance of the tunnel which is the oldest road tunnel in the country still in use

Reigate West Tunnels


The recently dug entrance to the sand mines	In the sand mines	In the sand mines

Graffiti from tourists in 1862	A group of visitors in the main tunnel	Another section that was formerly designated as an air raid shelter

Reigate East Tunnels


The blast door rescued from the council offices	Carvings from the second world war	General view of the smaller tunnels

Not quite as old as it looks!	Brick supports holding up the town hall car park	Modern steps

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