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Click on a city, town or village on the map to view holiday accommodation in that place
and the surrounding area. Or to view all listed places in this area, click
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| County
Town: Guildford County Population: 1,100,000 (estimate) |
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Surrey
consists of undulating lowlands, crossed in the north from east to west
by the chalk ridge of the North Downs. In the hilly south is a band of
uplands, again running from east to west, including Leith Hill, the highest
point in southeast England at 294 m (965 ft). The main rivers are the
Wey, on which Guildford stands to the west, and the Mole to the east;
both rivers flow northwards to join the River Thames. To the southeast
of Guildford, the Surrey Hills have been designated as an Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty.
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Surrey
was part of the Kingdom of Mercia in the 7th century, but in 823 it became
part of Wessex. By the time of the Norman invasion it formed part of the
Kingdom of Harold II, and William the Conqueror's army ruthlessly subjugated
it toward the end of the 11th century. The main activity in the county
during the Middle Ages was sheep farming, but by the 16th century a textile
industry had grown at Farnham, Godalming, and Guildford, and market gardening
had begun to be of importance. Henry VIII built a house at Nonsuch Park,
utilising the forests in the area for hunting, and by the early 17th century
the medicinal springs at Epsom were discovered, transforming the town
into a popular spa during the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Today
there is much pleasant countryside in Surrey, and the county is largely
devoted to agriculture. Due to its close proximity to the capital however,
Surrey is fairly heavily populated, with large numbers of London commuters
among its residents.
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