17 Facts About Surrey

1. Surrey is a county in South East England which borders Kent to the east, East Sussex to the southeast, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west, Berkshire to the northwest, and Greater London to the northeast.

2. Surrey is divided in two by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east–west.

3. Surrey contains England's principal concentration of lowland heath, on sandy soils in the west of the county.

4. Longest river to enter Surrey is the Thames, which historically formed the boundary between the county and Middlesex.

5. At this point Surrey was evidently under Kentish domination, as the abbey was founded under the patronage of King Ecgberht of Kent.

6. In 892 Surrey was the scene of another major battle when a large Danish army, variously reported at 200, 250 and 350 ship-loads, moved west from its encampment in Kent and raided in Hampshire and Berkshire.

7. Rather than try to attack London across the river, the Normans continued west through Surrey, crossed the Thames at Wallingford in Berkshire and descended on London from the north-west.

8. The industry in Surrey was focused on Guildford, which gave its name to a variety of cloth, gilforte, which was exported widely across Europe and the Middle East and imitated by manufacturers elsewhere in Europe.

9. Surrey made unsuccessful efforts to revitalise the local cloth industry.

10. Parts of it were outside the jurisdiction of the government of the City of London, and as a result the area of Bankside became London's principal entertainment district, since the social control exercised there by the local authorities of Surrey was less effective and restrictive than that of the City authorities.

11. Surrey raised his standard at Kingston and advanced south, but found little support.

12. For two centuries before the Reform Act, the dominant political network in Surrey was that of the Onslows of Clandon Park, a gentry family established in the county from the early 17th century, who were raised to the peerage in 1716.

13. Eastern part of Surrey was transferred from the Diocese of Winchester to that of Rochester in 1877.

14. In 1960 the report of the Herbert Commission recommended that much of north Surrey be included in a new "Greater London".

15. The boundaries of the non-metropolitan county of Surrey were similar to those of the administrative county with the exception of Gatwick Airport and some surrounding land which was transferred to West Sussex.

16. Average wage in Surrey is bolstered by the high proportion of residents who work in financial services.

17. Significant landscapes in Surrey include Box Hill just north of Dorking; the Devil's Punch Bowl at Hindhead and Frensham Common.