which also appear in isolated patches at Headley near Leatherhead; and the Thanet Sands at the base crop out between Beddington, Banstead and Leatherhead. The north-western portion of the
county, covered chiefly by heath and Scotch fir, belongs to the
Upper Eocene, Bagshot Sands: the Fox hills and the bleak Chobham
Ridges are formed of the upper series of the group, which rests upon
the middle beds occupying the greater part of Bagshot Heath and
Bisley and Pirbright commons, while eastwards the commons of
Chobham, Woking and Esher belong to the lower division of the
group. To the south of the Eocene formations the smooth rounded
outlines of the chalk hills extend through the centre of the county
from Farnham to Westerham (Kent). From Farnham to Guildford
they form a narrow ridge called the Hog’s Back, about half a mile
in breadth with a higher northern dip, the greatest elevation reached
in this 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 Weald. The Upper Greensand, locally
known as firestone, and quarried and mined for this purpose and
for hearthstone near Godstone, crops out underneath the Chalk
along the southern escarpment of the Downs. The Gault, a dark
blue sandy clay, rests beneath the Upper Greensand in the bottom
of the 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 Folkestone Sands, exploited
near Godstone for commercial purposes; the Sandgate beds, to which
the well-known fuller’s earth of Nutfield belongs, and the Hythe
beds, which contain the Kentish Rag, a sandy glauconitic limestone
used for road repairs and building; also a hard, conglomeratic phase
of this series locally called Bargate stone. To this formation belong
the heights of Leith Hill, Hindhead and the Devil’s Punchbowl,
Holmbury Hill. Between the Lower Greensand and the Weald
Clay is a narrow inconspicuous belt of Atherfield Clay. The Weald
Clay itself consists of a blue or brown shaly clay, amid which arc
deposited river shells, plants of tropical origin and reptilian remains. The lower portion of the Wealden series, the Hastings Sands, occupy a small area in the south-eastern corner of the county. Bordering the Thames there are terraced deposits of gravel and loam.
Agriculture.—Between one-half and three-fifths of the area of the county, a low proportion, is under cultivation, and of this about five-ninths is in permanent pasture. There are considerable varieties of soil, ranging from plastic clay to calcareous earth and bare rocky heath. The plastic clay is well adapted for wheat, but oats are the most largely grown of the decreasing grain crops. A considerable area is occupied by market gardens on the alluvial soil along the banks of the Thames, especially in the vicinity of London. In early times the market gardeners were Flemings, who introduced the culture of asparagus at Battersea and of carrots at Chertsey. Rhododendrons and azaleas are largely grown in the north-western district of the county. In the neighbourhood of Mitcham various medicinal plants are cultivated, such as lavender, mint, camomile, anise, rosemary, liquorice, hyssop, &c. The calcareous soil in the neighbourhood of Farnham is well adapted for hops, but this crop in Surrey is of minor importance. There is a large area under wood. Oak, chestnut, walnut, ash and elm are extensively planted ; alder and willow plantations are common ; and the Scotch fir propagates naturally from seed on the commons in the north-west. The extent of pasture land is not great, with the exception of the Downs, which are chiefly occupied as sheep-runs. Dairy-farming is a more important industry than cattle-feeding, large quantities of milk being sent to London.
Manufactures and Communications.—The more important manufactures are chiefly confined to London and its immediate neighbourhood. The rivers Mole and Wandle, however, supply power for a variety of manufactures, such as oil, paper and sheet-iron mills. Communications include the navigation of the Thames and Wey, and the Basingstoke canal, communicating with the Wey from 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 Brighton & South Coast and the South-Eastern & Chatham.
Population and Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 485,122 acres, with a population in 1901 of 2,012,744. The population in 1801 was 268,233, and in 1851, 683,082; and it nearly doubled between 1871 and 1901. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1888, part of the county was transferred to the county of London. Thus the area of the ancient county, extra- 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. Croydon (pop. 133,895) is a county borough, and the other municipal boroughs are Godalming (8748), Guildford (15,938), Kingston (34,375), Reigate (25,993), Richmond (31,672), Wimbledon (41,652). The following are urban districts: Barnes (17,821), Carshalton (6746), Caterham (94.86), Chertsey (12,762), Dorking (7670), East and West Molesey (6034), Egham (10,187), Epsom (10,915), Esher and The Dittons (9489), Farnham (6124), Frimley (8409), Ham (1460), Leatherhead (4964), The Maidens and Coombe (6233), Surbiton (15,017), Sutton (17,223), Walton- on-Thames (10,329), Weybridge (5329), Woking (16,244). There are six parliamentary divisions—North Western or Chertsey, 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 circuit, and assizes are held at Guildford and Kingston alternately. The administrative county has one court of quarter sessions, and is divided into eleven petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Croydon, Godalming, Guildford, Kingston, Reigate and Richmond have separate commissions of the peace, and Croydon and Guildford have in addition separate courts of quarter sessions. The central criminal court has jurisdiction over certain parishes adjacent to London. All those 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 Cross, are in the metropolitan police district. The total number of civil parishes is 144. The ancient county contains 230 ecclesiastical parishes ordistricts, wholly or in part situated in the dioceses of Rochester, Winchester, Canterbury, Oxford and Chichester.
History.—The early history of this district is somewhat uncertain. Ethelwerd, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 823, places it in the “Medii Angli” or “Medii Saxones.” Its position between the Weald and the Thames decided its northern and southern borders, and the Kentish boundary probably dates from the battle of Wibbandune between Ethelbert of Kent and Ceawlin of Wessex, which traditionally took place at Wimbledon, though this is disputed. The western border, like the southern, was a wild uncultivated district; no settled boundary probably existing at the time of the Domesday Survey. The number of hundreds at that time was fourteen as now, but the hundred of Farnham was not so called, the lands of the bishop of Winchester being placed in no hundred, but coinciding with the present hundred of that name. There is no record of Surrey ever having been in any diocese but Winchester, of which it was an archdeaconry in the 1 2th century. At the time of the Domesday Survey there were four deaneries: Croydon, Southwark, Guildford and Ewell. Croydon was a peculiar of Canterbury, in which diocese it was included in 1291. In the time of Henry VIII., Croydon was comprehended in the deanery of Ewell, some of its rectories being included in the deanery of Southwark. The old deanery of Guildford was included in the modern one of Stoke. In 1877, Southwark, with some parishes, was transferred to the diocese of Rochester. In the 7th century Surrey was under the overlordship of Wulfhere, king of Mercia, who founded Chertsey abbey, but in 823, when the Mercians were defeated by Egbert of Wessex, it was included in the 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 accession of Canute. In 857 a great national victory over the Danes took place at Ockley near Leith Hill. Surrey is not of great historical importance, except its northern border, the southern part having been forest and waste land, long uninhabited and almost impassable for an army. Guildford, though the county town, and often the seat of the court under John and Henry III., was of little importance beside Southwark, the centre of trade and commerce, the residence of many ecclesiastical dignitaries, a frequent point of attack on London, and a centre for rebellions and riots. The Norman army traversed and ravaged the county in their march on London, a large portion of the county having been in the hands of Edward and Harold, fell to the share of William himself; his most important tenants in chief being Odo of Bayeux and Richard de Tonebridge, son of Count Gilbert, afterwards “de Clare.” The church also had large possessions in the county, the abbey of Chertsey being the largest monastic house. Besides these private jurisdictions, there were the large royal parks and forests, with their special jurisdiction. The shire court was almost certainly held at Guildford, where the gaol for both Sussex and Surrey was from as early as 1202 until 1487, when Sussex had its own gaol at Lewes. The houses of Warenne and de Clare were long the two great rival influences in the county; their seats at Reigate and Blechingley being represented in parliament from the time of Edward I. till the Reform bills of the 19th century. At the time of the Barons' Wars their influence was divided—de Clare marching with Montfort, and de Warenne supporting the king. In the Peasants’ Rising of 1381,
