764 S U R 
SURREPTITIOUSLY, adv. By itealth; fraudulently. 
—Thou hast got it more surreptitiously than he did, and 
with less effect,. Gov. of the Tongue. 
SURREY, one of the inland counties of England, is 
situated in the southern part of the kingdom, and is bounded 
by Sussex on the south, by Kent on the east, by Berkshire 
and Hampshire on the west, and on the north is separated 
from Middlesex and a small part of Buckinghamshire by 
the river Thames. Surrey ranks below most of the other 
counties of England in extent; its greatest width from 
north to South being about 26 miles, and its utmost length 
from east to west about 38. The best modem authorities 
compute its contents at 811 square miles, or 519,000 acres. 
The surface of almost the whole of this county consists 
of a gentle diversity of hill and dale, the hills in some parts 
rising to a considerable height, and presenting very bold and 
commanding views. It will be found, on a general survey, 
that Surrey presents as great a variety of scenery as any 
county in the kingdom. In some parts naked heaths impart 
a wildness to the prospect, which is strikingly contrasted 
with the numberless beauties scattered over the surface of the 
county by the hand of art; while the hills, aspiring to the 
bold character and picturesque scenery of mountains, 
gradually decline into richly wooded dales, and plains 
covered with luxuriant harvests. Its extensive downs also 
afford pasture to numerous herds of the finest sheep. The 
north-west corner of the county is diversified by several 
rising grounds: from these there are the most commanding 
prospects. Across the middle of the county, the downs 
rising with a gentle slope from the north, and broken in their 
eastern division into deep and waving valleys, form a striking 
object, and give variety to the appearance of the county. 
Towards the northern border of the downs there are several 
hills, which afford an extensive view. To the south of the 
downs, the surface of the county above rises into hills that 
overhang the Weald. As we approach the western extremity 
of the county, these hills cover a greater breadth ; and near 
Wonersh, Godaiming, and Pepperharrow, covered with a rich 
foliage, and waving, with a graceful line, into intermediate 
valleys, watered by the different branches of the Wey, they 
present the most picturesque prospect that Surrey can afford. 
On Leith Hill, to the south-west of Dorking, Tilbuster Hill 
near Godstone, and Gratewood Hill near Godaiming, the 
views are very extensive; but perhaps there is no part of the 
county in which the appearance of the richly wooded vale 
of the Weald is more strikingly pleasing than on the road 
from Albury to Ewhurst. After toiling up the deep and 
barren sands to the south of Albury, that present no object 
on which the eye can repose, even for a moment, we 
suddenly come to the southern edge of the hill, whence the 
whole extent of the Weald, clothed with wood, appears to 
the south, with an occasional peep of the sea, through the 
breaks of the Sussex Downs, which form the back-ground : 
on the south-west appears the rich and finely varied country 
about Godaiming, backed by the wild heaths that stretch 
across from Farnham to Haslemere. Sometimes on a clear 
night, the light of the moon is to be seen glancing on the 
waves of the English channel, forming a singular and 
romantic feature in the prospect. 
General Aspect, Soil, and Climate .—The soil of this 
county is greatly varied, the different species lying inter¬ 
mixed in small patches. These, however, may be reduced 
to the general heads of clay, loam, sand and chalk. The most 
extensive and uniform track of soil is that which occupies 
the whole southern border of the county, and forms what is 
denominated the Weald of Surrey ; a district about 30 miles 
in length, and from 3 to 5 in breadth. This consists of a 
pale, cold, retentive clay, upon a sub-soil of the same nature: 
its surface is flat, covered with wood, and its elevation is said 
to be less than any other vale district in the whole island. 
Proceeding northwards, the soil is chiefly loam, stretching 
across the whole county. Near Godalming it runs to a great 
depth, and rests on a base of sand-stone, veined with iron- 
ore. Contiguous to this commences the most remarkable 
R E Y. 
district of the chalky downs, which lie nearly in the middle 
of the county, entering from Kent, into Surrey, by Croydon 
and Limpsfield, where their width is about seven miles. 
They, however, gradually decrease towards the west, till their 
termination near the border of Hampshire, where there is 
merely a narrow ridge, but little broader than the turnpike 
road. Along the elevated summit of the downs, particularly 
about Walton and Hedley, and between the Mole and the 
Wey, is a large extent of heath, which for a considerable 
depth separates the chalk of the northern from that of the 
southern compartment of the downs. From the eastern 
extremity of the downs, running northward, is a variety of 
soils, consisting chiefly of strong clay and sandy loam, with 
patches of gravel, which continue almost to Dulwich, from 
which place to the extremity of the county, near Rotherhithe, 
is a strong mixed clay. 
Climate .—In a county where the soils and elevations are 
so various, the climate also must of course vary consider¬ 
ably. It is the general opinion, that less rain falls in most 
parts of Surrey, than in the metropolis, or in the vale of 
London; so that the climate may, upon the whole, be 
regarded as dry, as far as respects the quantity of rain 
merely ; but the southern border must necessarily be moist 
and damp, from the nature of the soil, the flatness of the 
surface, and the immense number of trees which cover it 
and obstruct ventilation. From the like causes, the low 
parts near the Thames must be considered as rather damp. 
On the other hand, the atmosphere of the chalk hills, which 
run across the whole county from east to west, is dry, rather 
keen, and bracing. On the wide and exposed heaths about 
Bagshot, Aldershot, and Hind-head, a similar climate 
prevails; so that the whole west side may, with a very small 
exception, be said to have a dry, and rather cold atmosphere. 
The spring is in general early, and here vegetation is not so 
often checked by frosty mornings, and cold, raw, easterly 
winds, as in some of the more southern counties. The 
summers are commonly dry and warm, and the harvest early, 
generally commencing in the first ten days of August; and 
from the steadiness of the weather at that important time, 
there is seldom any corn out in the fields after the first week 
of September. The wind blows most steadily from the west 
and south-west, seldom keeping long in any point between 
the north-west and north-east. In the spring, and frequently 
towards the end of autumn, the easterly winds prevail; ancl 
the weather is then cold and raw, with a drizzling moisture; 
but the greatest quantity of rain falls when the wind blows 
from the south-south-west, or south. The climate is deemed 
very healthy in most parts of the county, between the 
southern district called the Weald, and the Thames, particu¬ 
larly near the northern foot of the chalk hills. The dryness 
of the soil and atmosphere, and the entire freedom from the 
smoke of the metropolis by the prevalence of the westerly 
winds, have deservedly conferred the character of salubrity 
on this division of the county. Even in the Weald, where 
the surface is low, and the soil moist, diseases are by no 
means frequent, neither is the ordinary duration of human 
life abridged. 
Mineralogy. —Iron-ore is found in considerable quantities 
in the south-west part of the county, about Haslemere, 
Dunsfold, and Cranley; and in the south-east quarter, about 
Lingfield and Home; but in consequence of the high price 
of fuel, the iron-works of Surrey have been totally neglected . 
Fuller’s earth is discovered both to the north and south of the 
downs, but the former is of inferior quality to the latter. 
This mineral has been dug for a great length of time in 
Surrey, as the oldest pit now wrought is said to have lasted 
for 50 or 60 years. Extensive quarries of stone, of a 
peculiar quality, are worked near Godstone and its vicinity. 
When first taken from the quarry, it is incapable of bearing 
a damp atmosphere; but after being kept covered for a few 
months, it becomes sufficiently firm to resist the heat of a 
common fire, and is thence called fire-stone. In conse¬ 
quence of this property, it is much in demand for fire-places 
in the metropolis and its neighbourhood. These stones are 
procured 
