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SURREY

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 141 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SURREY , a See also:

south-eastern See also:county of See also:England bounded N. by the See also:Thames, separating it from See also:Buckinghamshire and See also:Middlesex, E. by See also:Kent, S. by See also:Sussex, and. W. by See also:Hampshire and See also:Berkshire. The administrative county of See also:London See also:bounds that of Surrey (south.. of the Thames) on the See also:north-See also:east. The See also:area is 758 sq. m. The north See also:Downs are a picturesque See also:line of hills See also:running east and See also:west through the county somewhat south of the centre (see Downs). See also:Leith See also:Hill, south-west of See also:Dorking (965 ft.), is the highest See also:summit, and commands a prospect unrivalled in the south of England; Holmbury Hill See also:close by reaches 857 ft., and the detached summit of Hindhead above See also:Haslemere in the south-west reaches 895 ft. At See also:Guildford the Wey breaches the hills; and at Dorking the See also:Mole. These are the See also:chief See also:rivers of the county; they reach the Thames near See also:Weybridge and at East Molesey respectively. The Wandle is a smaller tributary in the north-east of the county. Surrey is thus almost entirely in the Thames See also:basin. In the south-east it includes headstreams of the See also:Eden, a tributary of the See also:Medway; and in the south a small area drains to the See also:English channel. Three types of scenery appear—that of the hilly See also:southern See also:district; that of the Thames, with its richly-wooded See also:banks; and, in the north-west, that of the sandy See also:heath-covered district, abundant in conifers, which includes the healthy open tracts of Bagshot Heath and other See also:commons, extending into Berkshire and Hampshire.

Possessing these varied attractions, Surrey has become practically a See also:

great residential district for those who must live in the neighbourhood of London. See also:Geology.—The See also:northern portion of the county, in the London basin, belongs to the See also:Eocene formation: the See also:lower ground is occupied chiefly by the London See also:Clay of the Lower Eocene, stretching (with interruptions) from London to See also:Farnham; this is fringed on its southern edge by the underlying See also:Woolwich beds of the same See also:group, which also appear in isolated patches at Headley near See also:Leatherhead; and the See also:Thanet Sands at the See also:base See also:crop out between Beddington, Banstead and Leatherhead. The north-western portion of the county, covered chiefly by heath and Scotch See also:fir, belongs to the Upper Eocene, Bagshot Sands: the See also:Fox hills and the See also:bleak Chobham Ridges are formed of the upper See also:series of the group, which rests upon the See also:middle beds occupying the greater See also:part of Bagshot Heath and Risley and Pirbright commons, while eastwards the commons of Chobham, See also:Woking and See also:Esher belong to the lower See also:division of the group. To the south of the Eocene formations the smooth rounded outlines of the See also:chalk hills extend through the centre of the county trom Farnham to Westerham (Kent). From Farnham to Guildford they See also:form a narrow See also:ridge called the Hog's Back, about See also:halt a mile in breadth with a higher northern See also:dip, the greatest See also:elevation reached in this See also:section being 505 ft. East of Guildford the northern dip decreases and the outcrop widens, throwing out picturesque summits, frequently partly wooded, and commanding wide and beautiful views over the See also:Weald. The Upper See also:Greensand, locally known as firestone, and quarried and See also:mined for this purpose and for hearthstone near Godstone, crops out underneath the Chalk along the southern escarpment of the Downs. The See also:Gault, a dark See also:blue sandy clay, rests beneath the Upper Greensand in the bottom of the See also:long narrow valley which separates the chalk Downs from the well-marked Lower Greensand hills. The Lower Greensand includes the subordinate divisions known as the See also:Folkestone Sands, exploited near Godstone for commercial purposes; the See also:Sandgate beds, to which the well-known See also:fuller's See also:earth of Nutfield belongs, and the See also:Hythe beds, which contain the Kentish Rag, a sandy glauconitic See also:limestone used for road See also:repairs and See also:building; also a hard, conglomeratic phase of this series locally called Bargate See also:stone. To this formation belong the heights of Leith Hill, Hindhead and the See also:Devil's Punchbowl, Holmbury Hill. Between the Lower Greensand and the Weald Clay is a narrow inconspicuous See also:belt of Atherfield Clay. The Weald Clay itself consists of a blue or See also:brown shaly clay, amid which are deposited See also:river shells, See also:plants of tropical origin and reptilian remains.

The lower portion of the See also:

Wealden series, the See also:Hastings Sands, occupy a small area in the south-eastern corner of the county. Bordering the Thames there are terraced deposits of See also:gravel and See also:loam. See also:Agriculture.—Between one-See also:half and three- fifths of the area of the county, a See also:low proportion, is under cultivation, and of this about five-ninths is in permanent pasture. There are considerable varieties of See also:soil, ranging from plastic clay to calcareous earth and See also:bare rocky heath. The plastic clay is well adapted for See also:wheat, but oats are the most largely grown of the decreasing See also:grain crops. A considerable area is occupied by See also:market gardens on the alluvial soil along the banks of the Thames, especially in the vicinity of London. In See also:early times the market gardeners were Flemings, who introduced the culture of See also:asparagus at See also:Battersea and of carrots at See also:Chertsey. Rhododendrons and azaleas are largely grown in the north-western district of the county. In the neighbourhood of See also:Mitcham various medicinal plants are cultivated, such as See also:lavender, See also:mint, camomile, See also:anise, See also:rosemary, See also:liquorice, See also:hyssop, &c. The calcareous soil in the neighbourhood of Farnham is well adapted for hops, but this crop in Surrey is of See also:minor importance. There is a large area under See also:wood. See also:Oak, See also:chestnut, See also:walnut, ash and See also:elm are extensively planted; See also:alder and See also:willow plantations are See also:common; and the Scotch fir propagates naturally from See also:seed on the commons in the north-west.

The extent of pasture See also:

land is not great, with the exception of the Downs, which are chiefly occupied as See also:sheep-runs. See also:Dairy-farming is a more important See also:industry than See also:cattle-feeding, large quantities of See also:milk being sent to London. Manufactures and Communications.—The more important manufactures are chiefly confined to London and its immediate See also:neighbour-See also:hood. The rivers Mole and Wandle, however, See also:supply See also:power for a variety of manufactures, such as oil, See also:paper and See also:sheet-See also:iron See also:mills. Communications include the See also:navigation of the Thames and Wey, and the See also:Basingstoke See also:canal, communicating with the Wey from See also:Frimley and Woking. Owing to its proximity to London the county is served by many lines of railway, the companies being the London & South-Western, the London See also:Brighton & South See also:Coast and the South-Eastern & See also:Chatham. See also:Population and See also:Administration.—The area of the See also:ancient county is 485,122 acres, with a population in 1901 of 2,012,744. The population in i8oi was 268,2J3, and in 1851, 683,082; and it nearly doubled between 1871 and 1901. Under the provisions of the See also:Local See also:Government See also:Act 1888, part of the county was transferred to the county of London. Thus the area of the ancient county, extra-See also:metropolitan, is 461,999 acres, with a population in 1901 of 675,774. The area of the administrative county is 461,807 acres. The county contains 14 hundreds.

See also:

Croydon (pop. 133,895) is a county See also:borough, and the other municipal boroughs are Godaltning (8748), Guildford (15,938), See also:Kingston (34,375), See also:Reigate (25,993), See also:Richmond (31,672), See also:Wimbledon (41,652). The following are See also:urban districts: See also:Barnes (17,821), Carshalton (6746), See also:Caterham (9486), Chertsey (12,762), Dorking (7670), East and West Molesey (6034), See also:Egham.(1o,187), See also:Epsom (10,915), Esher and The Dittons (9489), Farnham (6124), Frimley (84o9), See also:Ham (146o), Leatherhead (4964), The Maidens and Coombe (6233), See also:Surbiton (15,017), See also:Sutton (17,223), Waltonan-Thames (10,329), Weybridge (5329), Woking (16,244). Thereare six See also:parliamentary divisions—North Western or Chertsey, See also:Mid or Epsom, Kingston, North Eastern or Wimbledon, South Eastern or Reigate, South Western or Guildford ; each returning one member. The borough of Croydon returns one member. Surrey is in the south-eastern See also:circuit, and assizes are held at Guildford and Kingston alternately. The administrative county has one See also:court of See also:quarter sessions, and is divided into eleven See also:petty sessional divisions The boroughs of Croydon, See also:Godalming, Guildford, Kingston, Reigate and Richmond have See also:separate commissions of the See also:peace, and Croydon and Guildford have in addition separate courts of quarter sessions. The central criminal court has See also:jurisdiction over certain parishes adjacent to London. All those See also:civil parishes within the county of Surrey, of which any part is within 12 m. of, or of which no part is more than 15 m. from, Charing See also:Cross, are in the metropolitan See also:police district. The See also:total number of civil parishes is 144. The ancient county contains 230 ecclesiastical parishes or districts, wholly or in part situated in the dioceses of See also:Rochester, See also:Winchester, See also:Canterbury, See also:Oxford and See also:Chichester. See also:History.—The early history of this district is somewhat uncertain.

Ethelwerd, in the Anglo-Saxon See also:

Chronicle for 823, places it in the "Medii See also:Angli " or " Medii Saxones." Its position between the Weald and the Thames decided its northern and southern See also:borders, and the Kentish boundary probably See also:dates from the See also:battle of Wibbandune between Ethelbert of Kent and See also:Ceawlin of Wessex, which traditionally took See also:place at Wimbledon, though this is disputed. The western border, like the southern, was a See also:wild uncultivated district; no settled boundary probably existing at the See also:time of the Domesday Survey. The number of hundreds at that time was fourteen as now, but the See also:hundred of Farnham was not so called, the lands of the See also:bishop of Winchester being placed in no hundred, but coinciding with the See also:present hundred of that name. There is no See also:record of Surrey ever having been in any See also:diocese but Winchester, of which it was an archdeaconry in the 12th See also:century. At the time of .the Domesday Survey there were four deaneries: Croydon, See also:Southwark, Guild-See also:ford and See also:Ewell. Croydon was a See also:peculiar of Canterbury, in which diocese it was included in 1291. In the time, of See also:Henry VIII., Croydon was comprehended in the deanery of Ewell, someof its rectories being included in the deanery of Southwark. The old deanery of Guildford was included in the See also:modern one of Stoke. In 1897, Southwark, with some parishes, was transferred to the diocese of Rochester. In the 7th century Surrey was under the overlordship of See also:Wulfhere, See also:king of See also:Mercia, who founded Chertsey See also:abbey, but in 823, when the Mercians were defeated by Egbert of Wessex, it was included in the See also:kingdom of Wessex, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relates. Surrey was constantly overrun by Danish hordes in the 9th century and until peace was established by the See also:accession of Canute. In 857 a great See also:national victory over the Danes took place at See also:Ockley near Leith Hill.

Surrey is not of great See also:

historical importance, except its northern border, the southern part having been See also:forest and See also:waste land, long uninhabited and almost impassable for an See also:army. Guildford, though the county See also:town, and often the seat of the court under See also:John and Henry III., was of little importance beside Southwark, the centre of See also:trade and See also:commerce, the See also:residence of many ecclesiastical dignitaries, a frequent point of attack on London, and a centre for rebellions and riots. The See also:Norman army traversed and ravaged the county in their See also:march on London, a large portion of the county having been in the hands of See also:Edward and Harold, See also:fell to the See also:share of See also:William himself; his most important tenants in chief being See also:Odo of See also:Bayeux and See also:Richard de Tonebridge, son of See also:Count See also:Gilbert, afterwards " de See also:Clare." The See also:church also had- large possessions in the county, the abbey of Chertsey being the largest monastic See also:house. Besides these private jurisdictions, there were the large royal parks and forests, with their See also:special jurisdiction. The See also:shire court was almost certainly held at Guildford, where the See also:gaol for both Sussex and Surrey was from as early as 1202 until 1487, when Sussex had its own gaol at See also:Lewes. The houses of See also:Warenne and de Clare were long the two great See also:rival influences in the county; their seats at Reigate and Blechingley being represented in See also:parliament from the time of Edward I. till the Reform bills of the 19th century. At the time of the Barons' See also:Wars their See also:influence was divided—de Clare marching with See also:Montfort, and de Warenne supporting the king. In the Peasants' Rising of 1381, and during See also:Jack See also:Cade's See also:Rebellion in the next century, Southwark was invaded, the prisons broken open and the See also:bridge into London crossed. London was unsuccessfully attacked from the Surrey See also:side in the Wars of the See also:Roses; and was held for three days and pillaged during a rising of the southern counties under See also:Mary. During the fears of invasions from See also:Spain, levies were held in readiness in Surrey to protect London; and it was an even more important See also:bulwark of London in the Civil See also:War, on See also:account of the See also:powder mills at Chilworth and the See also:cannon foundries of the Weald. In common with the south-eastern district generally, Surrey was parliamentarian in its sympathies. See also:Sir Richard See also:Onslow and Sir See also:Poynings More were the most prominent local leaders.

Farnham See also:

Castle and Kingston, with its bridge, were several times taken and held during the war by the opposing parties, and in the later part of the war, when the parliament and army were treating, three of the line of forts defending London were on the Surrey side, from which the army entered London. The last serious skirmish south of the Thames took place near Ewell and Kingston, where the See also:earl of See also:Holland and a See also:body of the Royalists were routed. This was the last real fighting in the county, though it was often a centre of riots; the most serious being those of 183o, and of the Chartists in 1848, who See also:chose See also:Kennington Common as their See also:meeting-place. The Mores of Loseley and the Onslows were among the most famous county families under the Tudors, as at the time of the Civil War; the Onslows being even better known later in the See also:person of Sir See also:Arthur Onslow, See also:Speaker of the House under See also:George I. The earliest See also:industries in Surrey were agricultural. The stone quarries of Limpsfield and the chalk of the Downs were early used, the latter chiefly for See also:lime-making. Fuller's earth was obtained from Reigate and Nutfield; and the facilities afforded by many small streams, and the excellent sheep pasture, made it of importance in the manufacture of See also:cloth, of which Guildford was a centre. See also:Glass and iron were made in the Weald district, whose forests produced the necessary See also:charcoal for smelting. Chiddingfold is mentioned in 1266 for its glass-making, and was one of the chief glass-producing districts in See also:late Tudor times. The ironworks of Surrey were of less importance, and much later in development than those of Kent and Sussex, owing to the want of See also:good roads or waterways, but the increasing demand for See also:ordnance in the 16th century led to the spread of the industry northward; the most considerable See also:works in Surrey being those of See also:Viscount Montague at Haslemere. Chilworth, which was famous for its powder mills in the 16th century, remains a seat of the industry. Southwark and its neighbour-hood early became a suburb of London and a centre of trades which were crowded out of London.

The earliest See also:

Delft See also:ware manufactory in England was at See also:Lambeth, which maintains its fame as a centre of earthenware manufacture. The beautiful encaustic tiles of Chertsey Abbey are thought to have been made in English monasteries and date from the 13th century. Although the county was doubtless represented in the representative See also:councils of the reign of Henry III., the first extant returns of two knights of the shire are for the parliament of 1290. The Reform See also:Bill of 1832 gave Surrey four members; dividing the county into east and west divisions. Several boroughs were disfranchized then and in 1867, when East Surrey was again divided into east and mid divisions, on account of the growth of London suburbs, two more members being added at the same time. In 1855 all old boroughs and divisions were superseded; the county being divided into the electoral divisions of Chertsey, Guildford, Reigate, Epsom, Kingston and Wimbledon, each returning one member. Finally, in 1888, the new county of London annexed large portions of Surrey along the northern border. Antiquities.—The only ecclesiastical ruins worthy of special mention are the picturesque walls of See also:Newark Priory, near Woking, founded for See also:Augustinians in the time of Richard Cceur de See also:Lion; and the Early English See also:crypt and part of the See also:refectory of Waverley Abbey, the earliest house of the See also:Cistercians in England, founded in 1128. The church See also:architecture is of a very varied See also:kind, and has no peculiarly special features. Among themore interesting churches are See also:Albury (the old church), near Guildford, the See also:tower of which is of Saxon or very early Norman date; Beddington, a See also:fine example of Perpendicular, containing monuments of the See also:Carew See also:family; Chaldon, remarkable for its See also:fresco See also:wall-paintings of the 12th century, discovered during restoration in 1870; See also:Compton, which, though mentioned in Domesday, possesses little of its See also:original architecture, but is worthy of See also:notice for its two-storeyed See also:chancel and its carved wooden See also:balustrade surmounting the pointed transitional Norman See also:arch which separates the See also:nave from the chancel; See also:Leigh, Perpendicular, possessing some very fine See also:brasses of the 15th century; Lingfield, Perpendicular, containing ancient tombs and brasses of the Cobhams, and some fine stalls (the church was formerly collegiate); Ockham, chiefly Decorated, with a lofty embattled tower, containing the See also:mausoleum of See also:Lord See also:Chancellor King (d. 1734), with full-length statue of the chancellor by Rysbrack; Stoke d'Abernon, Early English, with the earliest extant English See also:brass, that of Sir John d'Abernon, 1277, and other fine examples. Churches at Guildford, Reigate and Woking are also noteworthy.

Of old castles the only examples are Farnham, occupied as a See also:

palace by the bishops of Winchester, originally built by Henry of See also:Blois, and restored by Henry III.; and Guildford, with a strong quadrangular Norman keep. Of ancient domestic architecture examples include Beddington See also:Hall (now a See also:female See also:orphan See also:asylum), the ancient See also:mansion of the Carews, rebuilt in the reign of See also:Queen See also:Anne, and in modern times, but retaining the hall of the Elizabethan building; Crowhurst Place, built in the time of Henry VII., the ancient seat of the Gaynesfords, and frequently visited by Henry VIII.; portions of Croydon Palace, an ancient seat of the archbishops of Canterbury; the See also:gate tower of Esher Place, built by William of See also:Waynflete, bishop of Winchester, and repaired by See also:Cardinal See also:Wolsey; See also:Archbishop See also:Abbot's See also:hospital, Guildford, in the Tudor See also:style; the fine Elizabethan house of Loseley near Guildford; Smallfield Place near Reigate, now a farmhouse, once the seat of Sir Edward Bysshe (c. 1615-1679), garter king-at-arms; Sutton Place near Woking, dating from the time of Henry VIII., possessing curious See also:mouldings and ornaments in terra-See also:cotta; and Ham House, of red See also:brick, dating from 161o_ See Topley's Geology of the Weald and See also:Whitaker's Geology of London Basin, forming part of the See also:Memoirs of See also:Geological Survey of See also:United Kingdom (London, 1875) ; J. See also:Aubrey, Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey (5 vols., London, 1718–1719) ; D. Lysons, Environs of London (5 vols., London, 1800–1811) • See also:Baxter, Domes-See also:day See also:Book of Surrey (1876); O. See also:Manning and W. See also:Bray, History and Antiquities of Surrey (3 vols., London, 1804–1814) ; E. W. See also:Brayley, Topographical History of Surrey (5 vols., London, 1841–1848) ; another edition, revised by E. See also:Watford (London, 1878) ; Archaeological Collections (Surrey Archaeological Society; London, from 1858) ; See also:Eric See also:Parker, Highways and Byways in Surrey (London, 1908).

End of Article: SURREY

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