[3] The Downs and the area to the south form part of a concentric pattern of geological deposits which also extends across southern Kent and most of Sussex, predominantly composed of Wealden Clay, Lower Greensand and the chalk of the Downs. Domesday Book records that the largest landowners in Surrey at the end of Edward's reign were Chertsey Abbey and Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex and later king, followed by the estates of King Edward himself. South Western Railway is the sole train operator in Elmbridge, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Woking and Waverley, and the main train operator in the Borough of Guildford, running regular services into London Waterloo and regional services towards the south coast and South west. ", "Chelsea - Cobham Training Centre Photos", "Surrey AdmC through time - Census tables with data for the Administrative County", "General election 2019: Surrey remains blue as Tories keep hold of all 11 seats", "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Surrey&oldid=1011079570, Articles with dead external links from December 2020, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2019, Articles containing Old English (ca. His descendants, the de La Leigh family, relinquished the majority of their Surrey lands in the 12th century, but remained landowners in the county until the early 14th century. reducing the amount of contact needed. Liberal Democrats. For purposes other than local government the administrative county of Surrey and county borough of Croydon continued to form a "county of Surrey" to which a Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum (chief magistrate) and a High Sheriff were appointed. The Brighton Main Line calls at Horley and Redhill before reaching either London Bridge or London Victoria. The other great landowners with Surrey estates were the thegns Ætsere, Ægelnoð and Osward. Its traditional building forms made a significant contribution to the vernacular revival architecture associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement, and would exert a lasting influence. This must have contributed to the antipathy between Godwin and Alfred's brother Edward the Confessor, who came to the throne in 1042. Nearby Hatchlands Park in East Clandon, was built in 1758 with Robert Adam interiors and a collection of keyboard instruments. Despite this fluctuating situation it retained its identity as an enduring territorial unit. Chelsea F.C. In line with Government advice, libraries in Surrey will continue to offer Click and Collect and computer services under the current lockdown which started on 5 January 2021, allowing customers to use Ready Reads, collect reservations, return items and use PCs for essential purposes only.Please check opening hours before visiting. Electronics manufacturers Whirlpool, Canon, Toshiba, Samsung and Philips are housed here, as are distributors Burlodge, Future Electronics, Kia Motors and Toyota UK, the medico-pharma companies Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis and oil giant Esso. George Abbot, the son of a Guildford clothworker, served as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1611–1633. The upper reaches of the River Eden, a tributary of the Medway, are in Tandridge District, in east Surrey. 2) Use our Ready Reads service, whereby you tell us the type of books you like and our knowledgeable staff will select titles to meet your needs. During the 5th and 6th centuries Surrey was conquered and settled by Saxons. We are also working with the Community Partnered Libraries to support them and what services they can provide in the next few weeks. However, if you do want to return your books, you can still hand them in at the door or put them into the "out of hours" return box. Scenes for the 2009 BBC production of Emma, starring Romola Garai and Michael Gambon, were filmed at St Mary the Virgin Church, Send near Guildford and at Loseley House. This may have survived among the "Surrey Men" into the late 19th Century, but is now extinct. It was originally proposed that the parishes of Horley and Charlwood would become part of West Sussex; however this met fierce local opposition and it was reversed by the Charlwood and Horley Act 1974. In the 15th century a Carthusian priory was founded by King Henry V at Sheen. In the case of Surrey, the term was a 'Surrey capon', from Surrey's role in the later Middle Ages as the county where chickens were fattened up for the London meat markets. Under the early Tudor kings, magnificent royal palaces were constructed in northeastern Surrey, conveniently close to London. Rather than try to attack London across the river, the Normans continued west through Surrey, crossed the Thames at Wallingford in Berkshire and descended on London from the north-west. However, Surrey was not a major focus of any of these families' interests. Runnymede at Egham is the site of the sealing of the Magna Carta in 1215. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the demise of Surrey's long-standing industries manufacturing paper and gunpowder. It is uncertain what his intentions were, but after landing with a small retinue in Sussex he was met by Godwin, Earl of Wessex, who escorted him in apparently friendly fashion to Guildford. Surrey had little political or economic significance in the Middle Ages. As a result of the 1965 boundary changes, many of the Surrey boroughs on the south bank of the river were transferred to Greater London, shortening the length associated with the county. The region remained under the control of Caedwalla's successor Ine in the early 8th century. Kingston was the scene for the coronations of Æthelstan in 924 and of Æthelred the Unready in 978, and, according to later tradition, also of other 10th-century Kings of England. Conservative. More than half the state secondary schools in Surrey have sixth forms. [19] A decade later Surrey passed into the hands of King Caedwalla of Wessex, who also conquered Kent and Sussex, and founded a monastery at Farnham in 686.[20]. The River Colne and its anabranch, the Wraysbury River, make a brief appearance in the north of the county to join the Thames at Staines. separating returned items from the rest of the stock for 72 hours in line with Public Health England advice. The Portsmouth Direct Line is significant in linking Haslemere, Godalming and Guildford to the South Western Main Line at Woking. In the west, there is a conurbation straddling the Hampshire/Surrey border, including in Surrey Camberley and Farnham. The narrator flees in the direction of London, first passing Byfleet and then Weybridge before travelling east along the north bank of the Thames. The county council's headquarters have been outside the county's boundaries since 1 April 1965, when Kingston and other areas were included within Greater London by the London Government Act 1963. The "Surrey Delta" produced many of the musicians in 60s British blues movements. There was rapid expansion in existing towns like Guildford, Farnham, and most spectacularly Croydon, while new towns such as Woking and Redhill emerged beside the railway lines. In line with latest Government guidance, libraries across Surrey County Council are closed to browsing. In the 9th century England was afflicted, along with the rest of northwestern Europe, by the attacks of Scandinavian Vikings. [23][24] It was incorporated into Wessex as a shire and continued thereafter under the rule of the West Saxon kings, who eventually became kings of all of England. Farnham Castle largely retains its medieval structure, while the keep and fragments of the curtain walls and palace buildings survive at Guildford Castle. These areas now form the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth, and the Penge area of the London Borough of Bromley. Donald Henson. The areas that now form the London Boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton, and Sutton and that part of Richmond south of the River Thames, were transferred from Surrey to Greater London. The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking. Government Quangos such as SEEDA, SEERA and GOSE are headquartered in Guildford. Meanwhile, London itself spread swiftly across north-eastern Surrey. In 1619 he founded Abbot's Hospital, an almshouse in Guildford, which is still operating. Wisley is home to the Royal Horticultural Society gardens. It formed the template for the more systematic and radical Agreement of the People, drafted by the same men later that month. Before Roman times the area today known as Surrey was probably largely occupied by the Atrebates tribe, centred at Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester), in the modern county of Hampshire, but eastern parts of it may have been held by the Cantiaci, based largely in Kent. As a result, they gained representation in Parliament when it became established towards the end of that century, alongside the more substantial urban settlements of Guildford and Southwark. He also made unsuccessful efforts to revitalise the local cloth industry. [25], Two years later the men of Surrey marched into Kent to help their Kentish neighbours fight a raiding force at Thanet, but suffered heavy losses including their ealdorman, Huda. In the uneasy peace that followed the Royalists' defeat, a political crisis in summer 1647 saw Sir Thomas Fairfax's New Model Army pass through Surrey on their way to occupy London, and subsequent billeting of troops in the county caused considerable discontent. The ridge is pierced by the rivers Wey and Mole, tributaries of the Thames, which formed the northern border of the county before modern redrawing of county boundaries, which has left part of its north bank within the county. Consequently, the towns Staines, Woking, Guildford, Walton-on-Thames, Epsom and Ewell and Reigate and Redhill, statistically the largest examples,[82] are established rapid-transit commuter towns for Central London. It runs along the Surrey – Hampshire border, bypassing. [n 3] Farnham Castle was built during the 12th century as a residence for the Bishop of Winchester, while other stone castles were constructed in the same period at Bletchingley by the de Clares and at Reigate by the Warennes.[33]. Surrey had a central role in the history of the radical political movements unleashed by the civil war. eBooks, eAudio, eMagazines and eResources, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Use our Click and Collect service, allowing customers to return their items, collect. Click and collect libraries are accepting returns so you can return your items when you collect your Ready Reads or reservations or pop them through the "out of hours" return box. To the south of the Downs in the western part of the county are the sandstone Surrey Hills, while further east is the plain of the Low Weald, rising in the extreme southeast to the edge of the hills of the High Weald. [68] A considerable number of smaller houses and public houses of the 16th century are also still standing. [36] The London suburb of Southwark was a major urban settlement, and the proximity of the capital boosted the wealth and population of the surrounding area, but urban development elsewhere was sapped by the overshadowing predominance of London and by the lack of direct access to the sea. The click and collect service allows customers to return their items, collect Ready Reads and reserved books at the entrance. [8], Guildford is often regarded as the historic county town,[9] although the county administration was moved to Newington in 1791 and to Kingston upon Thames in 1893. This was Oswald, whose brother Wulfwold, Abbot of Chertsey and Bath, died in 1084. These recommendations were enacted in highly modified form in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. Reigate is on the east–west North Downs Line. Only one significant English landowner, the brother of the last English Abbot of Chertsey, remained by the time the Domesday survey was conducted in 1086. Important medieval[65] church interiors survive at Chaldon, Lingfield, Stoke D'Abernon, Compton and Dunsfold. The above routes have had a stimulative effect. Polesden Lacey south of Great Bookham is a regency villa with extensive grounds. Don't worry about returning your books and other items during the lockdown. During the later 19th century Surrey became important in the development of architecture in Britain and the wider world. We have a brilliant online offer at Surrey Libraries with over 30,000 eBooks, eAudio, eMagazines and eComics available to access for free. Guildford Castle later became one of the favourite residences of King Henry III, who considerably expanded the palace there. Its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 77,057 (2011 census); Woking is second with 62,796. Kingston and nearby Ham became a centre of aircraft manufacturing, with the establishment in 1912 of the Sopwith Aviation Company and in 1920 of its successor H.G. The county is also home to the theme parks Thorpe Park and flanks to three sides the farmland and woodland surrounding Chessington World of Adventures in Greater London. Only one person per PC (unless you need help). [63] Only fragments of Stane Street and Ermine Street, the Roman roads which crossed the county, remain. NGOs including WWF UK & Compassion in World Farming are also based here. For the Canadian city, see. Among its many notable beauty spots are Box Hill, Leith Hill, Frensham Ponds, Newlands Corner and Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons.[3]. [3] The geology of this area is dominated by London Clay in the east, Bagshot Sands in the west and alluvial deposits along the rivers. Between the wars Croydon Airport, opened in 1920, served as the main airport for London, but it was superseded after the Second World War by Heathrow, and closed in 1959. Its agricultural wealth was limited by the infertility of most of its soils, and it was not the main power-base of any important aristocratic family, nor the seat of a bishopric. The Sutton and Mole Valley Lines link Dorking, Leatherhead, Ashtead, Epsom to Waterloo via Ewell West or London Victoria via Ewell East. clear signs asking you to observe social distancing. They are followed by Ewell with 39,994 people and Camberley with 30,155. In about AD 42 King Cunobelinus (in Welsh legend Cynfelin ap Tegfan) of the Catuvellauni died and war broke out between his sons and King Verica of the Atrebates. In 1036 Alfred, son of King Æthelred, returned from Normandy, where he had been taken for safety as a child at the time of Cnut's conquest of England. Please note: Computer access will not be available at the following libraries - Bagshot, Bramley, Byfleet, Frimley Green, Lightwater, New Haw, Stoneleigh, Virginia Water and West Byfleet. 6d. [47][48] The Wey Navigation, opened in 1653, was one of England's first canal systems. Other tributaries of the Thames with their courses partially in Surrey include the Mole, the Addlestone branch and Chertsey branch of the River Bourne (which merge shortly before joining the Thames), and the Hogsmill River, which drains Epsom and Ewell. Domesday Book valued the Surrey estates of Chertsey Abbey in 1066 at £189 a year, the abbey's only other holdings being £11 worth in Berkshire. With about 1.2 million people, Surrey is the 12th-most populous English county, the third-most populous home county, after Kent and Essex, and the third-most populous in the Southeast, after Hampshire and Kent. Waverley Abbey near Farnham, founded in 1128, was the first Cistercian monastery in England. It is 294 m (965 ft)[6] above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill in West Berkshire which is 297 m (974 ft). There are a number of national rail routes: in anti-clockwise order, the Waterloo to Reading Line, South Western Main Line, Portsmouth Direct Line, Sutton and Mole Valley Lines (from Horsham, West Sussex itself on the Arun Valley Line from Littlehampton) Having taken lodgings there, Alfred's men were attacked as they slept and killed, mutilated or enslaved by Godwin's followers, while the prince himself was blinded and imprisoned, dying shortly afterwards. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. These would all perish, along with the still important Benedictine abbey of Chertsey, in the 16th-century Dissolution of the Monasteries. You can select up to 5 books using this service and can request books for multiple adults and children one form. Look out for our new online events programme. The expansion of London continued in the 20th century, engulfing Croydon, Kingston and many smaller settlements. The Anglo-Saxon period saw the emergence of the shire's internal division into 14 hundreds, which continued until Victorian times. Guildford is popularly regarded as the county town, although Surrey County Council is based extraterritorially at Kingston upon Thames. Much of H. G. Wells' 1898 novel The War of the Worlds is set in Surrey with many specific towns and villages identified. It also led to the Putney Debates shortly afterwards, in which its signatories met with Oliver Cromwell and other senior officers in the Surrey village of Putney, where the army had established its headquarters, to argue over the future political constitution of England. Cabinet Member for Community Protection. If you are one of our customers who are exempt from wearing a face covering, we will be very happy to welcome you as normal. Farnham Castle was briefly occupied by the advancing Royalists in late 1642, but was easily stormed by the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller. Population pressure in the 12th and 13th centuries initiated the gradual clearing of the Weald, the forest spanning the borders of Surrey, Sussex and Kent, which had hitherto been left undeveloped due to the difficulty of farming on its heavy clay soil.[37]. He leaves their house permanently four days before his seventeenth birthday, and that night there is an aerial battle in the skies over Surrey between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters. During the baronial revolt against Henry, in 1264 the rebel army of Simon de Montfort passed southwards through Surrey on their way to the Battle of Lewes in Sussex. Surrey's most significant source of prosperity in the later Middle Ages was the production of woollen cloth, which emerged during that period as England's main export industry. Surrey is served by the following emergency services: Significant landscapes in Surrey include Box Hill just north of Dorking; the Devil's Punch Bowl at Hindhead and Frensham Common. Surrey is the most wooded county in England, with 22.4% coverage compared to a national average of 11.8%[4] and as such is one of the few counties not to recommend new woodlands in the subordinate planning authorities' plans. Brooklands (twinned with a site in Ashford, Surrey), Reigate, Esher, Egham, Woking and Waverley host sixth-form equivalent colleges each with technical specialisations and standard sixth-form study courses. Ever since 1986, our Directors have grown the company by acquiring a number of fellow well established local independant funeral directors amongst opening new offices with the Hampshire and Surrey area. Surrey has more organisation and company headquarters than any other county in the UK. Anglo-Saxon elements survive in a number of Surrey churches, notably at Guildford (St Mary), Godalming (St Peter & St Paul), Stoke D'Abernon (St Mary), Thursley, Witley, Compton and Albury (in Old Albury). Guildford Castle, one of many fortresses originally established by the Normans to help them subdue the country, was rebuilt in stone and developed as a royal palace in the 12th century. This phenomenon of commuting brought explosive growth to Surrey's population and wealth, and tied its economy and society inextricably to London. Surrey may have formed part of a larger Middle Saxon kingdom or confederacy, also including areas north of the Thames. Please use the PCs considerately and minimise waiting time for other customers. By 1890 six towns were being considered: Epsom, Guildford, Kingston, Redhill, Surbiton and Wimbledon. Please ask a member of staff. 450-1100)-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2020, Former country articles requiring maintenance, Articles needing additional references from September 2018, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz area identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Surrey is one of a handful of English counties with no teams in the top 92, The short A331 connects the A31 to the M3. [38] The industry in Surrey was focused on Guildford, which gave its name to a variety of cloth, gilforte, which was exported widely across Europe and the Middle East and imitated by manufacturers elsewhere in Europe. Most libraries have one and they are open 24/7. [7] Its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 77,057 (2011 census); Woking is second with 62,796. In 1800 it extended only to Vauxhall; a century later the city's growth had reached as far as Putney and Streatham. protective screens at counters where you need to interact with our staff. The major stations in the county are Guildford (8.0 million passengers),[83] Woking (7.4 million passengers),[83] Epsom (3.6 million passengers),[83] Redhill (3.6 million passengers)[83] and Staines (2.9 million passengers).[83]. This hostility peaked in 1051, when Godwin and his sons were driven into exile; returning the following year, the men of Surrey rose to support them, along with those of Sussex, Kent, Essex and elsewhere, helping them secure their reinstatement and the banishment of the king's Norman entourage. Prior to the Great Reform Act of 1832, Surrey returned fourteen Members of Parliament (MPs), two representing the county and two each from the six boroughs of Bletchingley, Gatton, Guildford, Haslemere, Reigate and Southwark. If it ever existed, the Middle Saxon kingdom had disappeared by the 7th century, and Surrey became a frontier area disputed between the kingdoms of Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex and Mercia, until its permanent absorption by Wessex in 825. [78] In 1891 it was decided to build the new County Hall at Kingston, and the building opened in 1893,[79] but this site was also overtaken by the growing London conurbation, and by the 1930s most of the north of the county had been built over, becoming outer suburbs of London, although continuing to form part of Surrey administratively. Use the hand sanitiser provided at the library entrance before using PCs. In 1849 Brookwood Cemetery was established near Woking to serve the population of London, connected to the capital by its own railway service. All these have since been demolished. Mr Richard Walsh. In 1082 a Cluniac abbey was founded at Bermondsey by Alwine, a wealthy English citizen of London. Abbot's Hospital, founded in 1619, is a grand edifice built in the Tudor style, despite its date. Its most important religious institution throughout the Anglo-Saxon period and beyond was Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666. Though Reigate and Bletchingley remained modest settlements, the role of their castles as local centres for the two leading aristocratic interests in Surrey had enabled them to gain borough status by the early 13th century. The relative development of Surrey at the time of the Beeching cuts led to today's retention of numerous other commuter routes except the Cranleigh Line, all with direct services to London, including: The only diesel route is the east–west North Downs Line, which runs from Reading via Guildford, Dorking Deepdene, Reigate and Redhill. Dapdune Wharf in Guildford commemorates the work of the canal system and is home to a restored Wey barge, the Reliance. [5] Surrey also contains England's principal concentration of lowland heath, on sandy soils in the west of the county. Staines South and Ashford West. This article is about the county of England. [13] Remains of Roman rural temples have been excavated on Farley Heath and near Wanborough and Titsey, and possible temple sites at Chiddingfold, Betchworth and Godstone. Due to its proximity to London there are many commuter towns and villages in Surrey. [75] The training ground was built in 2004 and officially opened in 2007. The Fitzalan line of Earls of Surrey died out in 1415, but after other short-lived revivals in the 15th century the title was conferred in 1483 on the Howard family, who still hold it. The county council assumed the administrative responsibilities previously exercised by the county's justices in quarter sessions. It contains valued reserves of mature woodland (reflected in the official logo of Surrey County Council, a pair of interlocking oak leaves). At this point Surrey was evidently under Kentish domination, as the abbey was founded under the patronage of King Ecgberht of Kent. In 1088, King William II granted William de Warenne the title of Earl of Surrey as a reward for Warenne's loyalty during the rebellion that followed the death of William I. Surrey is a relatively affluent county. The revenues of King Edward's Surrey estates totalled £117, Queen Edith's £76, the Archbishopric of Canterbury's £66 and the Bishopric of Winchester's £55, all fractions of vast national holdings. [43] However, this period also saw the emergence of important new industries, centred on the valley of the Tillingbourne, south-east of Guildford, which often adapted watermills originally built for the now moribund cloth industry. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA): Public Record Office (PRO), 1841. Mr Keith Witham. [28] The renewed Danish attacks during the disastrous reign of Æthelred led to the devastation of Surrey by the army of Thorkell the Tall, which ravaged all of southeastern England in 1009–1011. [49] Bankside was the scene of the golden age of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre, with the work of playwrights including William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and John Webster performed in its playhouses. Harold's lands in Surrey were valued at £175 a year, while another £15 worth were still entered under the name of his late father Earl Godwin. There are 80 Surrey Wildlife Trust reserves with at least one in all 11 non-metropolitan districts.[84]. [10] The administration is due to move to Reigate in 2021.[11]. Guildford Cathedral is a 20th-century cathedral built from bricks made from the clay of the hill on which it stands. A good service if you just want a selection of books. For more information please visit: rigorous cleaning in our libraries and hand sanitiser provided at library entrances. As was the case across England, the native ruling class of Surrey was virtually eliminated by Norman seizure of land. Request books for free in advance using our reservation service and pick them up from your nearest open library. Besides the castles built or rebuilt in stone, remains of Norman castles of earth and timber have been identified at Abinger, Cranleigh, Thunderfield, and Walton-on-the-Hill. Use of study spaces, seating areas and meeting rooms. The iron industry in the Weald, whose rich deposits had been exploited since prehistoric times, expanded and spread from its base in Sussex into Kent and Surrey after 1550. The Atrebates were allied with Rome during the invasion of Britain in AD 43. Scanning facilities will also be available but only at the following libraries: Camberley, Dorking, Epsom, Godalming, Guildford, Redhill, Staines, Walton, Weybridge and Woking.