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Geologically
Surrey is a many layered sandwich! The centre is a wedge of chalk with outskirts of heavy
clay. Within the clay
are the smaller areas of barren Bagshot sands to the north
west and along the Greensand ridge in the south.
All tilt gently down to the north and have been worn away in
proportion to their resistance. The southern end of the chalk forms
the North Downs and the harder sandy beds stand out at St
George’s Hill, Hindhead and Leith Hill in the
south.
 Favoured by royalty from
Norman times for hunting and from the C17 for racing,
Richmond and Kew and then Epsom and Ewell
then grew rapidly. Norman
kings took advantage of the wildness and made it a hunting
paradise. The good and
the disreputable took advantage of Surrey: Tudor kings dotted
it with palaces and Jacobeans with racecourses whereas smugglers hid
and travelled secretly within its thick woods and deep cut
roads! Royal favour, varied scenery and the absence of
agricultural competition eventually gave rise to facilities for
outdoor activities on an unprecedented scale for racing, cricket,
golf, gardening, walking, riding, cycling and early motoring.
Communications
Surrey’s
prosperity began with the encroachment of London on its northern
territory, the growth of communications across it and the rise of
middle class commuting. The
earliest move was the canal system of the river Wey
from Guildford to the Thames in 1651.
The River Wey
Navigation was built at the
instigation of Sir Richard Weston of Sutton Place and opened in Guildford
in 1653. It is notable for its early use of pound locks and for the
survival of one of its wharfside cranes, the treadwheel crane at
Guildford. The first turnpike road was made from Crawley
to Reigate in 1696, though this had posts down the middle to
prevent use by carriages! In
the first half of the C18 there was a rapid spread of new roads and
in the second half a spread of canals followed, the Godalming
Navigation in 1760, the Basingstoke Canal in 1796 and the
Wey and Arun Canal in 1813.
The canals came too late for continued viability as the first public
railway in the world from Wandsworth to Croydon was
built in 1803 and on through
the Downs to Merstham in
1805 (the course of which may still be found).
The London to Woking steam
railway line was
opened in 1838, followed by the Croydon line via Forest
Hill which used a canal bed.
Railways continued to find approval and success so that by
the middle of the C19 there was a wide network with the county.
A series of Admiralty Semaphore towers, some of which still remain at Cooper's
Hill, Chatley Heath and Pewley Hill were devised by Sir Home Riggs Popham
in 1816 and were used between London and Portsmouth during
1822 -1847.
Coming
into more modern day history,
Brooklands was a major aircraft centre in the early part of the C20. Later it became the world's first motor testing and racing
circuit - home of bouncing bomb creator
Barnes Wallis and now a museum. At
present one of Surrey's most modern Business Parks is also situated here
catering for some of today's Surrey based industries.
Photo: St Nicholas Church, Peper Harow
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Surrey ~
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