SURREY, an inland county of England, bounded N. by Middlesex, from which it is separated throughout by the river Thames, E. by Kent, S. by Sussex, W. by Hampshire, and N.W. by Berkshire. It lies between 51' 4' and 51' 80' N. tat., 0° 3' E. long. nod 0° 51' W. !neg. The length from east to west, from the Kentish border near Westerham to the Hampshire border near Farnham, is 40 miles breadth from north to south, from the bank of the Thames at Black friars bridge, London, to near Crawley (in Sussex) is 27 miles. The area is 743 square miles, or 478,792 atatnte acres. The population in 1841 was 594,036, in 1851 it was 683,082.
Surface and Geological part of the county which lies north of a line drawn from the Kentish border near Beckenham, leaving Croydon a little to the south, and passing by Carshaltou, Epsom, Ashstead, and Leatherbead, and thence to the Hampshire border near Ash, leaving Guildford a little to the south, may be regarded as belonging, with acme exceptions which we shall notice, to the London clay formation. The district occupied by this forma tion is comparatively low. It forms however the line of hills extend ing on the south aide of London, from New Cross, near Deptford, by Nunhead, Denmark Hill, Herne Hill, Brixton Hill, Clapham Rise and Battersea Rise, Wimbledon Common, and Richmond Hill. It also forms the hills running southward along the Kentish border from New Cross by Forest Hill, Sydenham, Penge Common, and Norwood.
North of the hills which extend from New Cross to Battersea the London clay is covered by alluvium ; and it is probable that the greater part of this flat was, antecedently to the Roman period, over flowed by the river at every high tide, and formed an extensive marsh, which was gained from the river by embankment. Along the bank of the river too, between Putney and Richmond, the London clay is covered by alluvium.
The range of high and mostly waste grounds, Esher Common, Cob ham Common, St. George's Hill (between Cobham and Weybridge), Woking Heath, Pirbright Common,Romping Downs, and Ash Common, which occur in the north-west part of the county, and which extend with slight interruption from the neighbourhood of Kingston to the Hampshire border ; the range of St. Ann's Hill (240 feet), Shrubs Hill, and the other hills west of Chertsey and Bagshot Heath, extending from near the Thames to the Berkshire border; and the high ground of Cobham Ridges between these two ranges, are all formed of the siliceous sand and sandstone belonging to the upper marine formation, which here covers the London clay. The highest elevation does not
exceed 463 feet.
South of the boundary-line of the London clay the plastic clay crops out, and occupies a long narrow district extending across the county from the Kentish to the Hampshire bonier, bounded on the south by a line drawn near Addington, Banatead, Horsley, and Guildford, and thence to the Hampshire border. The breadth of the plastic clay district on the Kentish border is four or five miles, but it becomes narrower towards the west, and on tho Hampshire border is probably not more than half a mile in breadth. The hills near Addington and Croydon, Banatead Downs (576 feet), and Epsom, Ashatead, and Leatherhead Commons are on the plastic clay, which hero covers the chalk with a thin hod; the chalk is quarried beneath it on Banstead Downs. Beds of fine clay of the plastic clay formation are wrought near Ewell, and red clay near Guildford. South of the plastic clay the chalk range of the North Downs rises. These downs extend from Kent across the county into Hampshire, interrupted only by the depressions through which the rivers Mole and pass, and by a depression near Farnham. The southern escarpment may be traced • running just to the north of Titsey, Gladstone, Gatton, Reigate, Dorking, Wotton, and Farnham. Guildford is in the line of the downs in the depression through which the Wey passes. The breadth of the chalk district is greater on the eastern side of the county, and the downs there attain their greatest elevation. Botley Hill (880 feet), above Titsey, is the highest point. The breadth of tho chalk district here is about four miles. Box Hill, near Dorking, overlooks the depression through which the Mole passes, and is, from the pic turesque scenery which it presents, a favourite place of resort for the inhabitants of the metropolis. Between Dorking and Guildford the range of the Downs gradually narrows; and between Guildford and Farnham it forma a remarkable narrow unbroken ridge, above six miles long and about half a mile broad, called the Hog's Back.' The downs rims again beyond Farnham,just on the border of Hampshire, into which they extend. The thickness of the chalk formation at Denbigh, north-west of Dorking, is 440 feet. The chalk is dug in different places, and is burnt for lime.