Surrey, an inland county in the south of England, is bounded on the N. by the Thames, which separates it from Middlesex, E. by Kent, S. by Sussex, and W. by Hants and Berks. Its maximum length from east to west is 39 miles; greatest breadth, 26 miles; and it contains 758 sq. miles, or 485,129 acres. Pop. (1801) 269,043; (1831) 485,700; (1861) 831,093; (1891) 1,731,343. Famous for the beauty of its scenery, Surrey is traversed from east to west by the North Downs (see DOWNS), which, near Titsey on the Kentish border, rise to the height of 880 feet; on the north side of this range the land slopes gradually to the banks of the Thames—though even there plenty of high ground is to be found, as Cooper's Hill, St George's Hill, Richmond Park, and Wimbledon Common—but on the south the descent is rugged and broken up before the level of the Weald is reached. South of the main range, and about 5 miles distant from Dorking, is Leith Hill (967 feet), the highest point in the county, whilst in the extreme south-west rises Hind Head (903 feet). From all these places, as also from many others—e.g. the Hog's Back, St Martha's Chapel, and Newland's Corner (both near Guildford), Box Hill, the downs above Reigate and Epsom, and at Virginia Water—glorious views are to be obtained, a noticeable feature in the landscapes being the prevalence of commons and heath-lands—the latter chiefly in the west—scattered throughout the county. Of rivers the most important are the Wey and the Mole, both tributaries of the Thames. The soil of the northern half of the county is fertile, especially in the vicinity of London, where large tracts are occupied by market-gardens and nursery-grounds, but in the centre and southern districts the land is of a poor quality, consisting mostly of sand and chalk; it is well wooded, box-trees especially growing in great profusion, and around Farnham some 2000 acres are under cultivation as hop-grounds. Croydon, Guildford, Kingston, and Reigate are—not reckoning the suburbs of London—the principal manufacturing centres and most important towns, near the last named also extensive beds of Fuller's Earth (q.v.) being found. The county is divided into fourteen hundreds, and since 1885 has returned six members to parliament; the county council consists of seventy-six members.
In history Surrey has played but a meagre part, the only incident of importance of which it was the scene, other than those noticed under Kingston, being a defeat of the Danes at Ockley in 851. Between the two last-named places traces of the old Roman road between London and Chichester are plainly visible, whilst on Wimbledon Common, Hascombe Hill, and near Aldershot are Roman encampments. Of buildings of an architectural or historical interest the castles of Farnham and Guildford and the ruined abbeys of Newark and Waverley most call for attention, whilst at Claremont, Oatlands Park, and Sheen (now Richmond), were royal residences; nor must mention be omitted of the quaintly-timbered old houses—many of them moated—abounding in the districts around Gomshall, Godalming, and Haslemere. Of Surrey worthies the best known are William of Ockham, Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, Archbishops Abbot and Whately, Bishops Corbet and Wilberforce, Middleton and Oxenford (the dramatists), John Evelyn, Sir W. Temple, Viscount Bolingbroke, Admiral Lord Rodney, Banks (the sculptor), Gibbon, Horne Tooke, William Cobbett, Malthus, Herring (the animal painter), Michael Faraday, George Rennie, Sydney Herbert, Robert Browning, Hablot K. Browne, Albert Smith, Dr Jowett, Eliza Cook, Sant (the R.A.), Sir George Grove, Professors Cayley and Sidney Colvin, Dr Furnivall, Gilchrist (the biographer), and Miss Faithfull.
See works by Manning (3 vols. 1804-14), Allen (2 vols. 1829-30), Brayley (5 vols. 1841-48), Bevan (Stanford's series, new ed. 1891), and Murray's Handbook to Surrey and Hants (new ed. 1888); also On Surrey Hills (1892).