Surrey

SURREY, an inland county, bounded on the north by the river Thames, which separates it from Middlesex and the south-eastern extremity of Bucks; on the northwest, by Berkshire; on the west, by Hants; on the south by Sussex; and on the east, by Kent. It extends from 51° 5' to 51° 31' (N. Lat.), and from 3' (E. Lon.) to 51' (W. Lon.), and comprises an area of 758 square miles, or about 485,120 acres. Within its limits are 95,372 houses inhabited, 3982 uninhabited, and 1203 in course of erection; and the population amounts to 582,678, of whom 278,203 are males, and 304,475 females. The most ancient inhabitants of this district of whom we have authentic information, were the Segontiaci, or, as they are called by Ptolemy, the Regni, a people who had been expelled from Hampshire by the invading Belgæ. Cæsar, in his exploratory invasion of Britain, crossed the north-eastern part of Surrey, from the county of Kent, to the river Thames, which he is supposed to have passed at a place now called Cowey Stakes, at Walton, the Britons endeavouring to prevent his passage by driving stakes into the bed of the river. Under the Roman dominion, Surrey was included in the division Britannia Prima. On the complete establishment of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex, it appears to have included the greater part of this county. In the year 568, Ethelbert, in defence of his own kingdom, having invaded the territories of Ceawlin, King of Wessex, a great battle was fought between them at Wimbledon, in Surrey, in which the former was defeated with considerable loss: this was the first battle between Saxon kings. The county suffered severely from the ravages of the Danes, who entered it in 852, after sacking London, but were defeated with great slaughter at Ockley, near its southern border, by Ethelwulph and his son Ethelbald.

Surrey is chiefly included in the diocese of Winchester, and is within the province of Canterbury. Under the ecclesiastical arrangements provided by the act 6th and 7th of William IV., cap. 77, the parish of Croydon remains in the diocese of Canterbury, to which also the parish of Addington, and the district of Lambeth Palace, have been annexed; the parishes of St. Mary Newington, Barnes, Putney, Mortlake, and Wimbledon have been assigned to the diocese of London. The large remaining portion, subject to the Bishop of Winchester, forms an archdeaconry, in which are the deaneries of Ewell, Southwark, and Stoke. The total number of parishes in the county is 141. For purposes of civil government, Surrey is divided into the hundreds of Blackheath, Brixton, Copthorne and Effingham, Elmbridge, Farnham, Godalming, Godley, Kingston, Reigate, Tandridge, Wallington, Woking, and Wotton, all having first and second divisions, except Brixton, which is divided into east and west, and Farnham, which has no division. It contains the borough and market towns of Southwark, Guildford, and Reigate; the newly-enfranchised borough of Lambeth, with the populous suburban parishes of Rotherhithe, Bermondsey, Newington, Camberwell, Clapham, and Battersea; the market-towns of Chertsey, Croydon, Dorking, Farnham, Godalming, Haslemere, and Kingston; and the large and elegant town of Richmond. By the act 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, the county was divided into the Eastern and Western divisions, each to send two members to parliament; and two representatives are returned for each of the boroughs, except Reigate, which sends only one. Surrey is included in the Home circuit: the lent assizes are held at Kingston, and the summer at Guildford and Croydon alternately; the winter assizes have been discontinued since the establishment of the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey. The county gaol is in Horsemonger-lane, in the parish of Newington. The winter quarter-sessions take place at the sessions-house, Newington; the spring sessions, at Reigate; the summer, at Guildford; and the autumn, at Kingston.

The form of the county is oblong, except that the northern border is rendered extremely irregular by the devious course of the Thames. The scenery, celebrated for its beauty, possesses also great variety, presenting in some parts wild and naked heaths, which form a powerful contrast to the adjoining highly cultivated and ornamented districts. The surface, for the most part, is gently undulated. The Weald, a district about 30 miles in length, and varying from three to five in breadth, extends along the whole southern border, and forms, with the Wealds of Kent and Sussex, an immense plain, whose flat surface is of very inferior elevation. The middle of the county is crossed from east to west by the Downs, which rise with a gentle acclivity from the north, but on the south are broken into precipitous cliffs of great height and romantic irregularity. Southward of the Downs are the hills that overhang the Weald, in the vicinities of Oxted, Godstone, Reigate, and Dorking. Approaching the western side of the county, this range becomes of greater extent, and near Wonersh, Godalming, and Peper-Harrow, is adorned with rich woods, and intersected by pleasing valleys watered by streams tributary to the Wey; the whole forming one of the most picturesque portions of the county. The largest tracts of heath lie in the western part. From Egham, on the bank of the Thames, south-south-westward as far as the village of Ash, the district consists, with little exception, of heath and moor; as likewise does that stretching in a transverse direction from Bagshot, on the north-western confines, by Chobham and Byfleet, to Cobham,. Ripley, and Oatlands. The whole south-western angle is of the same barren character, from Haslemere to Farnham in one direction, and from Elstead to Frensham in the other.

The soils, which are extremely various, are by no means so clearly discriminated as in many other counties, the different species lying in small patches much intermixed; they may, however, be reduced under the four general heads of clay, loam, chalk, and heath. The portion of arable land greatly exceeds that of meadow and pasture: the corn and pulse crops are wheat, barley, oats, beans, and peas, of which the first is raised in large quantities. The cultivation of turnips and cabbages is successfully carried on, partly for the supply of the metropolitan markets, and partly for the consumption of cattle; great quantities of carrots are grown in the northern part of the county, west of the river Mole, and parsnips on the rich deep lands between Wandsworth and Kingston. Red clover has for a considerable period been in general cultivation; trefoil, white clover, and rye-grass are occasionally sown; and large tracts of chalky soil are occupied by sainfoin, most of which is made into hay. The Farnham hops have long been celebrated for their excellent quality, always bringing- a higher price than any others in the kingdom; the number of acres occupied in the county as hop plantations, is 1170. Woad flourishes on the chalk hills about Banstead Downs, where it is generally sown along with barley. By far the most valuable tracts of meadow are situated on the banks of the Thames, in the northwestern part of the county, and on the banks of the Wey, near Godalming; there is also a small quantity of meadow in its north-eastern angle, near the metropolis. Of dairy pastures there are scarcely any: the greatest extent lying together is on the estate of the Duke of Norfolk, in the parishes of Newdigate and Charlwood, on the southern border. The quantity of garden-ground employed in raising vegetables for the London market is very considerable, and it is thought that more land is employed in the cultivation of medicinal plants in this county, than in any other in England; those chiefly grown are peppermint, lavender, wormwood, chamomile, aniseed, liquorice, and poppies.

The part most remarkable for its woods is the Weald, on the southern side of the county, and there is every reason to believe that this district was formerly wholly covered with wood, much of which was cleared away at no very remote period. The coppices consist chiefly of oak, birch, ash, chesnut, sallow, hazel, and alder, which are formed into hoops, poles for the hop plantations, hurdles, and fagots; great quantities are also made into charcoal for gunpowder and other purposes. The woodlands in the other parts of the county, particularly on the chalk hills, have a greater proportion of coppice, and fewer timber trees, than those in the Weald. The box in the county, which is chiefly to be found on Box Hill, near Dorking, attains a considerable size; and its wood is bought principally by the mathematical instrument makers, and by the turners in London and Tonbridge. Surrey is noted for the number of yew-trees scattered in a wild state over its chalk hills, and for the size which some of those that have been artificially planted have attained. Besides forming a portion of the underwoods, the birch flourishes on the heaths, and great quantities of brooms are made of its small branches, and sold chiefly in Southwark. Extensive plantations of fir and larch, have been made on the heathy lands in the western part of the county. In the western and northern parts the osier and willow are much cultivated, particularly about Byfleet, Chertsey, &c.; and the common furze is grown in different places for fuel. It appears surprising, that a county so near the metropolis should contain so large a quantity of waste land. About the commencement of the present century it was computed that one-sixth lay in a wild and uncultivated state; and though this extent has been lessened by numerous inclosures, there yet remain in heaths about 48,000 acres, and in commons about 17,000.

A sandstone, commonly called ragstone, containing oxyde of iron, abounds along the line of junction of the Weald with the sand hills which skirt that tract on the north. At Purbright, and in many parts of the surrounding country, are found loose blocks of stone bearing a strong resemblance, both in quality and appearance, to those termed the Grey Wethers, on the downs of Berkshire and Wiltshire. In the neighbourhoods of Godstone, Gatton, Merstham, Reigate, and Bletchingley, are quarries of a peculiar kind of stone, in great demand for fire-places; on the white hills near Bletchingley this stone is softer than elsewhere, and is chiefly dug for glass manufacturers, who, by means of it, have been enabled to produce plate-glass of much larger dimensions than they formerly could. Limestone of a blueish-grey colour, containing a very small portion of flint, is extensively quarried near Dorking, and affords lime of great purity and strength; limestone is also dug and burned at Guildford, Sutton, and Carshalton. The sand about Tandridge, Reigate, and Dorking, is in great request for hour-glasses, writing, and a variety of other purposes; that about Reigate is considered unequalled in the kingdom for purity and colour. Fullers'-earth is found in very extensive beds about Nutfield, Reigate, and Bletchingley to the south of the Downs; it is of two kinds, blue and yellow, of which the latter and more valuable is chiefly employed in fulling the finer cloths of Wilts and Gloucestershire, while the former is sent into Yorkshire, for coarser manufactures. Brick-earth, also, is found in most parts.

Though Surrey cannot be regarded as a manufacturing county, yet its vicinity to the metropolis, and the convenience of its streams for turning mills, have caused several manufactures of importance to be established in it. On the Wandle is a great number of flour, paper, snuff, and oil mills, with mills for preparing leather and parchment, and for grinding log-wood; upon its banks also, chiefly in the parishes of Croydon and Mitcham, are large calico, bleaching, and printing works. This river, which is usually not more than three feet deep and eight broad, is remarkable for turning ninety mills in a course of only ten miles. On the Mole are several flour-mills, some iron-mills at Cobham, and flatting-mills at Ember. There are extensive mills for powder near Malden, to the north of Ewell; and several for paper on the different tributaries of the Wey. At Godalming are considerable factories for weaving all kinds of stockings, and making patent fleecy hosiery; also establishments for combing wool, and the manufacture of worsteds, blankets, tilts, and collar-cloths. At Stoke, near Guildford, is a sawing-mill for staves, ship-pins, &c.; and at Mortlake a manufacture of delft and stone ware. The manufactures carried on in Southwark, and its immediate vicinity, are of different kinds, but chiefly such as are connected with the varied trade of the port of London; and this north-eastern extremity of the county has a very large share in the vast commerce of the port. Besides its numerous wharfs and quays on the banks of the Thames, it possesses various large commercial docks, among which may be noticed, more especially, the Grand Surrey docks (Outer and Inner), connecting the Grand Surrey canal with the river.

The principal rivers are the Thames, the Wey, and the Mole. The Thames, forming the entire northern boundary of the county, first touches it at its north-western extremity, above Egham, whence it takes its course by Chertsey, Richmond, Kew, Mortlake, Barnes, Putney, Wandsworth, and Battersea, and pours its majestic stream through the spacious arches of the bridges which connect the cities of London and Westminster with the borough of Southwark and the southern suburbs of the metropolis: it quits Surrey between Rotherhithe and Deptford. The Wey, which enters Surrey on its southwestern border, near Frensham, becomes navigable at Godalming, and falls into the Thames at Ham Haw, near Weybridge. The Mole is famed for, and is supposed to derive its name from, the circumstance of a part of its waters pursuing a subterraneous passage; which is occasioned by the porous and cavernous nature of the soil over which the river runs during several miles of its course below Dorking. When its waters are at their ordinary height, no particular irregularity in the stream is observable, but in seasons of drought its current in this part is wholly carried through the swallows, as the subterraneous passages are called, and its ordinary channel, similar to that of any other river of the same size, is left dry, except here and there a stagnant pool. By the bridge at Thorncroft it rises again, and thenceforward the current is uninterrupted.

Under the head of canals it may be proper to observe that the navigation of the Wey is artificial, and has locks upon it, which are supposed to have been the first constructed in the kingdom. The bill for forming the navigation up to Guildford was passed in 1651, but the work was not carried into execution until towards the close of the century: it was extended to Godalming in 1760. The Basingstoke canal, completed in 1796, under an act passed in 1778, enters Surrey from Hampshire near Dradbrook, crossing the river Loddon, whence it derives its chief supply of water: from Dradbrook to its junction with the navigable channel of the Wey, is a distance of about fifteen miles; and at Hook Common a branch six miles long extends to Turgis-Green. The Grand Surrey canal, the act for which was obtained in 1801, commencing a little to the west of the road from London to Camberwell, is carried eastward across the Kent road, and then northward to the Grand Surrey docks. The Surrey and Sussex canal forms a junction between the navigable channel of the Arun, in Sussex, and that of the Wey, a little above Guildford.

The Croydon canal, the act for making which was obtained in 1801, was sold to the London and Croydon Railway Company, who formed their line along the greater portion of its bed. The tramway connecting Croydon with the river Thames at Wandsworth, for which an act was obtained in 1801, is nine miles and a half in length; it has been sold to the London and South-Western Company. There is a railway from London-bridge to Greenwich, in Kent: the London and Croydon railway branches off from the Greenwich line, and at Croydon is joined by the Brighton railway; the Brighton railway takes its course to Reigate, and afterwards quits the county for Sussex, The London and South-Western railway has its station near Waterloo Bridge, and proceeds through the north-western portion of the county into Hampshire; it has a branch to Richmond, and another to Guildford. The South-Eastern railway branches from the Brighton railway at Reigate, and proceeds in an eastern direction to Crowhurst, where it quits the county for Kent. The Epsom railway branches out of the Croydon line, to the north of Croydon.

Surrey contained the Roman station of Noviomagus, situated at Woodcote, near Croydon, besides two others, supposed to have been respectively at Kingston and Walton-on-the-Hill; and it was traversed by the roads leading from the capital to the southern and eastern coasts. These roads diverged from St. George's Fields, near Southwark, and the principal were, the Ermin-street, that ran nearly parallel to, and at a very short distance eastward of, the present road through Clapham, Tooting, Merton, Ewell, and Epsom, to Ashtead, thence proceeding, nearly in a south direction, to Dorking, where it took a western course, about a mile southward of Guildford, to Farnham, beyond which town it soon entered Hampshire; the Stane-street, which, branching from the Ermin-street at Dorking, proceeded southward, through the parish of Ockley, into Sussex; and another Stane-street, which from the metropolis passed through Streatham, Croydon, Coulsdon, Caterham, and Godstone, also into Sussex. The Watling-street, from Dovor, crossed the north-eastern extremity of Surrey to London. Remains of ancient encampments, supposed to be Roman, may be seen at Bottle Hill, in the parish of Warlingham; on Castle Hill, in that of Hascomb; near Chelsham; on Holmbury Hill, in the parish of Ockley; at Ladlands and Oatlands; and on St. George's Hill, near Walton-on-Thames. Foundations of Roman edifices have been discovered at Walton-on-the-Hill, and on Blackheath in the parish of Albury, both surrounded by intrenchments. Other remains of buildings, thought to be of like origin, have been traced in the vicinities of Wallington, Carshalton, and Beddington. Near Kingston, Roman sepulchral urns, coins, earthenware, and foundations of buildings, have been found; and many Roman coins and pavements also in St. George's Fields, Southwark. Different ancient encampments, the date of which is uncertain, exist in various places, besides those abovementioned: that at the south western angle of Wimbledon Common is supposed by Camden to mark the site of the battle fought in 568; and those of Hanstie Bury, on a projection of Leith Hill, and War Coppice Hill, in the parish of Caterham, are attributed to the Danes.

The number of religious houses of all denominations, prior to the general dissolution, was about twenty-eight; remains yet exist of the abbeys of Chertsey and Waverley, and of the priories of Merton, Newark or Newstead, and Southwark. There are extensive remains of the castles of Farnham and Guildford: the most remarkable ancient residence is Lambeth Palace; and remains also exist of the old mansion of the Archbishops of Canterbury at Croydon. Few counties in England can vie with Surrey in the number and elegance of its seats, and certainly none not exceeding it in size; a circumstance owing chiefly to its vicinity to the metropolis, and the superiority of its scenery. The mineral springs are numerous, and were formerly in high repute and much frequented, particularly those of Epsom. On the northern side of the chalk hills, and in the valleys by which they are traversed, in the eastern parts of the county, copious streams of water, in the shape of remarkably powerful springs, provincially called bourns, are periodically discharged. Surrey gives the inferior title of Earl to the family of Howard, Dukes of Norfolk.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.