Surrey

From 1290 to 1832 the shire returned two knights to parliament. There have been several adjustments of electoral divisions since 1832.

Architecture.

The only ecclesiastical ruins worthy of special mention are the walls of Newark priory, near Woking, founded for Augustinians in the time of Richard Coeur de Lion ; and the Early English crypt and part of the refectory of Waverley abbey, the earliest house of the Cistercians in England, founded in 1128. Among the more interesting churches are Albury (the old church), near Guildford, the tower of which is of Saxon or very early Nor man date ; Beddington, a fine example of Perpendicular; Chaldon, remarkable for its fresco wall-paintings of the 12th century, dis covered during restoration in 1870; Compton, worthy of notice for its two-storeyed chancel and its carved wooden balustrade surmounting the pointed transitional Norman arch which separates the nave from the chancel; Leigh, Perpendicular, possessing some very fine brasses of the 15th century; Lingfield, Perpendicular, containing some fine stalls (the church was formerly collegiate) ; Ockham, chiefly Decorated, with a lofty embattled tower; Stoke d'Abernon, Early English, with the earliest extant English brass (1277). Of ancient domestic architecture, examples include Bed dington Hall, retaining the hall of the Elizabethan building; Crowhurst Place, built in the time of Henry VII. ; portions of Croydon palace, an ancient seat of the archbishops of Canterbury; the gate tower of Esher Place, built by a bishop of Winchester, and repaired by Cardinal Wolsey ; Archbishop Abbot's hospital, Guild ford, in the Tudor style ; the Elizabethan house of Loseley near Guildford ; Sutton Place near Woking, dating from the time of Henry VIII., possessing curious mouldings and ornaments in terra cotta ; and Ham House, of red brick, dating from 161o.

Industries.

Surrey was at first agricultural. The stone quar ries of Limpsfield and the chalk of the Downs were early used, the latter chiefly for lime-making. Fuller's earth was ob tained from Reigate and Nutfield ; and the facilities afforded by many small streams, and the excellent sheep pasture, made it of importance in the manufacture of cloth, of which Guildford was a centre. Glass, at Chiddingfold as early as 1266, and iron were made in the Weald district, whose forests produced the necessary charcoal for smelting. The ironworks of Surrey were of less importance, and much later in development than those of Kent and Sussex, owing to the want of good roads or waterways, but the increasing demand for ordnance in the 16th century led to the spread of the industry northward ; the most considerable works being at Haslemere. Chilworth was famous for its powder mills in the 16th century. The earliest Delft ware manufactory in England was at Lambeth, which remains a centre of earthen ware manufacture.

The total acreage under crops and grass in 1926 was 458,211, of which 74,788 ac. were arable land. Oats and wheat were the chief grain crops, root crops occupied about one-third the acreage of the corn, while the area under potatoes was just over 4,000 acres. Clover and rotation grasses for hay took up 1 o,o5i ac., and

the acreage of the orchards was 1,841. The cattle are chiefly of the dairy type, the milk being sent to London, while sheep are reared on the chalk downs. A considerable area is occupied by market gardens on the alluvial soil along the banks of the Thames.

The county is chiefly residential, for those people who have business interests in London, and manufactures are not of out standing importance. The more important are chiefly confined to London and its immediate neighbourhood. They include cloth, calicoes, drugs, tobacco, etc. Communications include the naviga tion of the Thames and Wey, and the Basingstoke canal, communi cating with the Wey from Frimley and Woking. The county is served by the Southern railway, whose lines intersect the county from north to south and from east to west. Near Croydon is the London terminal aerodrome.

Population and Administration.—The population in 1801 was 268,233, and in 1851, 683,082. In 1888, part of the county was transferred to the county of London. The area of the administrative county is now 461,833 ac., with a population (1931) of 1,180,81o. The county contains 14 hundreds. Croydon is a county borough, and the other municipal boroughs are Godalm ing, Guildford, Kingston, Reigate, Richmond, Wimbledon. There are seven parliamentary divisions—Chertsey, Farnham, Mitcham, Epsom, Eastern, Reigate, Guildford ; each returning one member. The borough of Croydon returns two members to parliament and the boroughs of Richmond, Kingston and Wimbledon one member each.

Guildford and Kingston are the county-towns. The assizes are held at Kingston, and the County Council sits in the County hall at Kingston. The county has one court of quarter sessions which is held at Kingston ; Croydon and Guildford have separate courts of quarter sessions. The county is in the south-eastern circuit, while 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 county is mainly in the new diocese of Guildford, recently divided off from that of Win chester.

See Topley's Geology of the Weald and Whitaker's Geology of London Basin, forming part of the Memoirs of Geological Survey of United Kingdom (1875) ; J. Aubrey, Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey (5 vols., 1718-19) ; D. Lysons, Environs of London (5 vols., i800—t I) ; Baxter, Domesday Book of Surrey (1876) ; 0. Manning and W. Bray, History and Antiquities of Surrey (3 vols., 1804-14) ; E. W. Brayley, Topographical History of Surrey (5 vols., 1841-48) ; another edition, revised by E. Walford (1878) ; • Archaeological Collections (Surrey Archaeological Society ; from 1858) ; Victoria County History: Surrey (4 vols.).