England Described being a Concise Delineation of Every County in England and Wales etc (1818) by John Aikin M.D.
Surrey has to the north Middlesex and a point of Buckinghamshire, from both which it is separated by the Thames; to the west Berkshire and Hampshire; to the south Sussex; and to the east Kent. Its shape is a pretty regular oblong, except the northern side, which is deeply indented by the windings of the Thames. Its greatest distance from east to west is thirty-seven miles, from north to south twenty-five. The area in square miles is reckoned at 811. It contains thirteen hundreds, exclusive of the Borough and the town of Guildford.
Surrey has been compared to a piece of coarse cloth with a fine border, its circumference being in general fertile, but its middle points barren. This, indeed, is not an accurate comparison, since there is much diversity of soil intermingled in different parts. On the banks of the Thames there is a range of beautiful meadows, interspersed with numerous villas and pleasure-grounds. Across the middle of the county from east to west, runs a ridge of irregular hills, abounding in chalk, intermixed with wide open downs and sandy heaths. The Banstead downs in the eastern part of this tract are noted for feeding the sweetest mutton.
The greatest part of the western border is also nearly sterile, extending from Bagshot heath to the opposite corner, with the exception of Farnham. Immediately beneath the hills to the south and east lies Holm dale a rough and woody tract extending into Kent. It is said to take its name from the holm oak, with which it abounds. The southern skirt of the county is well watered and finely varied with wood arable and pasture. On the whole, though there are several pleasing spots in the county, the proportion of its waste land is considerable amounting to about one-sixth; and there are many open commons, capable of much improvement.
A frequent production in Surrey is Fuller's earth of which large quantities are found about Reigate, Nutfiled, Bletchingly and other parts. Of this earth two kinds are used, the blue and the yellow. The later is chiefly employed in fulling the finer clothes of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire; the former is sent into Yorkshire for the coarser manufacturers. In the neighbourhood of Godstone, Gatton Merstham and other parts of the county, are extensive quarries of stone of a peculiar quality, which being at first soft and incapable of resisting a moist atmosphere, when kept under cover some months becomes so compact that it can withstand the heat of a common fire and is therefore in great demand in London for fireplaces.
Large quantities of limestone are under working at Dorking, their strengths and purity being equal to any in the kingdom . It is particularly serviceable for works under water and has been employed for the construction of the West-India and Wapping docks.
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| Quotations |
 Chapter 37
It soon appeared that London was not the place for her. She could not endure its noise. Her nerves were under continual irritation and suffering; and by the ten days' end, her nephew's letter to Randalls communicated a change of plan. They were going to remove immediately to Richmond. Mrs. Churchill had been recommended to the medical skill of an eminent person there, and had otherwise a fancy for the place. A ready-furnished house in a favourite spot was engaged, and much benefit expected from the change. |
Chapter 39
Miss Smith, and Miss Bickerton, another parlour boarder at Mrs. Goddard's, who had been also at the ball, had walked out together, and taken a road, the Richmond road, which, though apparently public enough for safety, had led them into alarm. |
Chapter 39
"Then pray stay at Richmond." |
Chapter 42
She smiled her acceptance; and nothing less than a summons from Richmond was to take him back before the following evening. |
Chapter 45
The following day brought news from Richmond to throw every thing else into the back-ground |
Chapter 46
She asked no more questions therefore, merely employed her own fancy, and that soon pointed out to her the probability of its being some money concern -- something just come to light, of a disagreeable nature in the circumstances of the family, something which the late event at Richmond had brought forward. |
Chapter 50
In short, my dear madam, it was a quarrel blameless on her side, abominable on mine; and I returned the same evening to Richmond, though I might have staid with you till the next morning, merely because I would be as angry with her as possible. |
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