Wolsey, Cardinal, house in which he Woollen manufactures of this coun- Woolpit, its manufacture of brick, Woolverston Hall, 228; obelisk in the park, 229; long litigation re- Y. Young, Arthur, Esq. introduces the SURREY. SURREY, considered as part of a highly cultivated country, will be found, on a general survey, to present, perhaps, as large a portion of beauty and deformity as any county in the kingdom. This mixture, however, contributes to give it that variety so eminently pleasing in natural scenery. Here vast naked heaths impart an air of wildness, which is strongly contrasted with the numberless beauties strewed by the hand of art over its surface; there its hills aspiring to the bold character, and exhibiting the picturesque situations of mountains, gradually decline into richly wooded dales, or plains covered with abundant harvests; whilst, on its downs, its spacious airy downs With grass and thyme o'erspread and clover wild, The fairest flocks rejoice Such are the downs of Bansted, edged with woods It is a common observation that this county contains a larger proportion of gentlemen's seats than any other district of England of the like extent. This circumstance is certainly owing in part to its vicinity to the metropolis; but when the acknowledged salubrity of its air and other natural advantages are taken into the account, we shall only wonder that they are not still more nu merous. VOL. XIV. B SITUATION • Dyer's Fleece, Book I. SITUATION AND EXTENT.-Surrey is an inland county, situated on the south-eastern part of the kingdom. On the north it is separated by the Thames from Middlesex, and a very small point of Buckinghamshire; on the west it is bounded by Berkshire and Hampshire; on the south by Sussex; and on the east by Kent. Its form is a pretty regular oblong, excepting on the north side, where it is deeply indented by the Thames. In regard to size Surrey ranks below most of the other counties of England; its greatest length from north to south being about twenty-six miles, and its greatest breadth from east to west, about thirty-eight. In the Magna Britannia* it is said to be twenty-two miles in breadth, and one hundred and twelve in circumference, and to contain 592,000 acres: but the best modern authorities make its contents 811 square miles, or about 519,000 acres. DIVISION AND POPULATION. -The county is divided into thirteen hundreds, the names of which, with their population, are shewn in the subjoined table drawn up from the returns made to Parliament in 1801. Hund of Blackheath 1118 1231 3304 3064 17647 25712 45752 54998 Copthorn&Effingham) 1485 1793 4307 4396 2444 493 6368 3124 16979 100750 1814 883 8703 Elmbridge: Farnham Godalming 962 1062 2711 2631 795 507 5342 1085 1236 3027 3186 1184 713 6213 ... 1257 1440 3932 4092 1433 929 8024 Godley & Chertsey 1528 1686 4154 4329 2773 1444 8483 Kingston 2112 2603 5404 6418 834 1293 11822 502 5398 Town of Guildford 464 579 1242 1392 Boro. of Southwark 10933 17868 35704 35744 28 495 2634 135 15037 67448 Total 46072 63673 127138 141905 22746 42865 269043 *Vol V. p. 327. In the year 1700, the population of Surrey was estimated at 154,900; in 1750, it had increased to 207,000; in 1801 it was found, as above, to be upwards of 269,000; and there is every reason to believe, that when the returns under the act of 1811 are made public, it will appear to have received farther accessions during the last ten years. No inconsiderable portion of this increase must doubtless be sought in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis, and in the establishment or extension of different manufactures there. The number of inhabitants on each square mile averages 332, and the averaged number of deaths, taken from the registered accounts for ten years, amounted to one in forty-one of the resident population. CLIMATE. In a county where the soils and elevations are so various, the climate also must of course vary considerably. 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 |