Editing Surrey (section)

== History ==
=== Ancient British and Roman periods ===
[[File:Stane Street.JPG|right|thumb|The Roman [[Stane Street (Chichester)|Stane or Stone Street]] runs through Surrey|alt=map of southeast England with red line from mid-south to northwest]]
Before Roman times the area today known as Surrey was probably largely occupied by the [[Atrebates]] tribe, centred at [[Calleva Atrebatum]] ([[Silchester]]), in the modern county of [[Hampshire]], but eastern parts of it may have been held by the [[Cantiaci]], based largely in [[Kent]]. The Atrebates are known to have controlled the southern bank of the Thames from Roman texts describing the tribal relations between them and the powerful [[Catuvellauni]] on the north bank.

In about AD 42 King [[Cunobelinus]] (in Welsh legend [[Cunobelin|Cynfelin ap Tegfan]]) of the Catuvellauni died and war broke out between his sons and King [[Verica]] of the Atrebates. The Atrebates were defeated, their capital captured and their lands made subject to [[Togodumnus]], king of the Catuvellauni, ruling from [[Camulodunum]] ([[Colchester]]). Verica fled to [[Gaul]] and appealed for Roman aid. The Atrebates were allied with Rome during the invasion of Britain in AD&nbsp;43.{{sfn|Bird|2004|pp=21-24}}{{sfn|Bird|2004|pp=30-31}}

During the Roman era, the only important settlement within the historic area of Surrey was the London suburb of [[Southwark]] (now part of [[Greater London]]), but there were small towns at [[Staines]], [[Ewell]], [[Dorking]], [[Croydon]] and [[Kingston upon Thames]].{{sfn|Bird|2004|pp=49-72}}Remains of Roman rural temples have been excavated on [[Farley Heath]] and near [[Wanborough, Surrey|Wanborough]] and [[Titsey]], and possible temple sites at [[Chiddingfold]], [[Betchworth]] and [[Godstone]].{{sfn|Bird|2004|pp=151-168}} The area was traversed by [[Stane Street (Chichester)|Stane Street]] and other Roman roads.{{sfn|Bird|2004|pp=37-48}}

=== Formation of Surrey ===
During the 5th and 6th centuries Surrey was conquered and settled by [[Saxons]]. The names of possible tribes inhabiting the area have been conjectured on the basis of place names. These include the {{lang|ang|Godhelmingas}} (around [[Godalming (hundred)|Godalming]]) and {{lang|ang|Woccingas}} (between [[Woking]] and [[Wokingham]] in Berkshire). It has also been speculated that the entries for the {{lang|ang|Nox gaga}} and {{lang|ang|Oht gaga}} peoples in the [[Tribal Hidage]] may refer to two groups living in the vicinity of Surrey. Together their lands were assessed at a total of 7,000 [[hide (unit)|hides]], equal to the assessment for [[Kingdom of Sussex|Sussex]] or [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]].

Surrey may have formed part of a larger [[Middlesex|Middle Saxon]] kingdom or confederacy, also including areas north of the Thames. The name Surrey is derived from {{lang|ang|Sūþrīge}} (or {{lang|ang|Suthrige}}), meaning "southern region" (while [[Bede]] refers to it as {{lang|ang|Sudergeona}}){{sfn|Yorke|1990|p=47}} and this may originate in its status as the southern portion of the Middle Saxon territory.
{{sfn|Cannon|2009|p=618}}{{sfn|Drewett|Rudling|Gardiner|1988|p=275}}

If it ever existed, the Middle Saxon kingdom had disappeared by the 7th century, and Surrey became a frontier area disputed between the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], Essex, Sussex, [[Wessex]] and [[Mercia]], until its permanent absorption by Wessex in 825. Despite this fluctuating situation it retained its identity as an enduring territorial unit. During the 7th century Surrey became Christian and initially formed part of the East Saxon [[diocese of London]], indicating that it was under East Saxon rule at that time, but was later transferred to the West Saxon [[diocese of Winchester]]. Its most important religious institution throughout the [[Anglo-Saxon]] period and beyond was [[Chertsey Abbey]], founded in 666. At this point Surrey was evidently under Kentish domination, as the abbey was founded under the patronage of [[Ecgberht of Kent|King Ecgberht]] of Kent.{{sfn|Kirby|2000|p=36}}{{sfn|Kirby|2000|p=83}} However, a few years later at least part of it was subject to Mercia, since in 673–675 further lands were given to Chertsey Abbey by [[Frithuwald of Surrey|Frithuwald]], a local sub-king ({{lang|la|subregulus}}) ruling under the sovereignty of [[Wulfhere of Mercia]].{{sfn|Kirby|2000|pp=96-97}} A decade later Surrey passed into the hands of [[Caedwalla|King Caedwalla]] of Wessex, who also conquered Kent and Sussex, and founded a monastery at [[Farnham]] in 686.{{sfn|Kirby|2000|pp=102-103}}

The region remained under the control of Caedwalla's successor [[Ine of Wessex|Ine]] in the early 8th century.{{sfn|Kirby|2000|p=105}} Its political history for most of the 8th century is unclear, although West Saxon control may have broken down around 722, but by 784–785 it had passed into the hands of [[King Offa]] of Mercia.{{sfn|Kirby|2000|pp=111-112}}{{sfn|Kirby|2000|p=139}} Mercian rule continued until 825, when following his victory over the Mercians at the [[Battle of Ellandun]], [[King Egbert]] of Wessex seized control of Surrey, along with Sussex, Kent and Essex.{{sfn|Kirby|2000|p=152}}{{sfn|Kirby|2000|pp=155-156}}{{sfn|Swanton|2000|pp=60-61}} It was incorporated into Wessex as a [[shire]] and continued thereafter under the rule of the West Saxon kings, who eventually became kings of all of England.

==== Identified sub-kings of Surrey ====
*[[Frithuwold of Surrey|Frithuwald]] ({{circa|673–675}})
*Frithuric? ({{circa|675|686|lk=no}})

=== West Saxon and English shire ===

[[File:Surrey hundreds.svg|thumb|right|A map showing the traditional boundaries of Surrey ({{circa|800–1899|lk=no}}) and its constituent hundreds]]

In the 9th century England was afflicted, along with the rest of northwestern Europe, by the attacks of [[Norsemen|Scandinavian]] [[Vikings]]. Surrey's inland position shielded it from coastal raiding, so that it was not normally troubled except by the largest and most ambitious Scandinavian armies.

In 851 an exceptionally large invasion force of [[Danes]] arrived at the mouth of the Thames in a fleet of about 350 ships, which would have carried over 15,000 men. Having sacked [[Canterbury]] and London and defeated [[Beorhtwulf of Mercia|King Beorhtwulf]] of Mercia in battle, the Danes crossed the Thames into Surrey, but were slaughtered by a West Saxon army led by [[King Æthelwulf]] in the [[Battle of Aclea]], bringing the invasion to an end.{{sfn|Swanton|2000|pp=64-67}}

Two years later the men of Surrey marched into Kent to help their Kentish neighbours fight a raiding force at [[Thanet District|Thanet]], but suffered heavy losses including their [[ealdorman]], Huda.{{sfn|Swanton|2000|pp=64-67}} 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. Withdrawing with their loot, the Danes were intercepted and defeated at Farnham by an army led by [[Alfred the Great]]'s son [[Edward the Elder|Edward, the future King Edward the Elder]], and fled across the Thames towards Essex.{{sfn|Swanton|2000|pp=84-85}}

Surrey remained safe from attack for over a century thereafter, due to its location and to the growing power of the West Saxon, later English, kingdom. [[Kingston upon Thames|Kingston]] was the scene for the coronations of [[Æthelstan]] in 924 and of [[Æthelred the Unready]] in 978, and, according to later tradition, also of other 10th-century Kings of England.{{sfn|Swanton|2000|p=105}}{{sfn|Swanton|2000|pp=122-123}} The renewed Danish attacks during the disastrous reign of Æthelred led to the devastation of Surrey by the army of [[Thorkell the Tall]], which ravaged all of southeastern England in 1009–1011.{{sfn|Swanton|2000|pp=139-141}} The climax of this wave of attacks came in 1016, which saw prolonged fighting between the forces of [[Edmund Ironside|King Edmund Ironside]] and the Danish king [[Cnut]], including an English victory over the Danes somewhere in northeastern Surrey, but ended with the conquest of England by Cnut.{{sfn|Swanton|2000|pp=150-151}}

Cnut's death in 1035 was followed by a period of political uncertainty, as the succession was disputed between his sons. In 1036 [[Alfred Ætheling|Alfred]], son of King Æthelred, returned from [[Normandy]], where he had been taken for safety as a child at the time of Cnut's conquest of England. It is uncertain what his intentions were, but after landing with a small retinue in Sussex he was met by [[Godwin, Earl of Wessex]], who escorted him in apparently friendly fashion to [[Guildford]]. Having taken lodgings there, Alfred's men were attacked as they slept and killed, mutilated or enslaved by Godwin's followers, while the prince himself was blinded and imprisoned, dying shortly afterwards. This must have contributed to the antipathy between Godwin and Alfred's brother [[Edward the Confessor]], who came to the throne in 1042.

This hostility peaked in 1051, when Godwin and [[House of Godwin|his sons]] were driven into exile; returning the following year, the men of Surrey rose to support them, along with those of Sussex, Kent, Essex and elsewhere, helping them secure their reinstatement and the banishment of the king's [[Normans|Norman]] entourage. The repercussions of this antagonism helped bring about the [[Norman Conquest]] of England in 1066.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.geocities.com/guildfordian2002/AngloSaxon/PrinceAlfred.htm |title=Martyr-Prince Alfred Of England |author=Vladimir Moss |access-date=16 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225020126/http://uk.geocities.com/guildfordian2002/AngloSaxon/PrinceAlfred.htm |archive-date=25 February 2007}}</ref>{{sfn|Swanton|2000|pp=158-160}}

The [[Domesday Book]] records that the largest landowners in Surrey (then ''Sudrie'')<ref>{{cite web |title=Current page: Surrey, page 1 |url=https://opendomesday.org/book/surrey/01/ |website=Open Domesday |access-date=10 January 2024}}</ref> at the end of Edward's reign were [[Chertsey Abbey]] and [[Harold Godwinson]], Earl of Wessex and later king, followed by the estates of King Edward himself. Apart from the abbey, most of whose lands were within the shire, Surrey was not the principal focus of any major landowner's holdings, a tendency which was to persist in later periods.{{#tag:ref|Domesday Book valued the Surrey estates of Chertsey Abbey in 1066 at £189 a year, the abbey's only other holdings being £11 worth in Berkshire. Harold's lands in Surrey were valued at £175 a year, while another £15 worth were still entered under the name of his late father Earl Godwin. The revenues of King Edward's Surrey estates totalled £117, Queen Edith's £76, the Archbishopric of Canterbury's £66 and the Bishopric of Winchester's £55, all fractions of vast national holdings. The earl with jurisdiction over Surrey, Harold's brother Leofwine, held only £17 there, from a national total of £290, whose greatest concentrations were in Kent and Sussex, while his mother, Godwin's widow Gytha, held £16 from a total of £590, chiefly clustered in Devon, Wiltshire and Sussex.

The other great landowners with Surrey estates were the thegns Ætsere, Ægelnoð and Osward. Ætsere held £61 in Surrey, from a total of £271 including £163 in Sussex, Ægelnoð held £40, from a total of £260 including £71 in Kent, £58 in Sussex and £50 in Oxfordshire, and Osward held £26, from a total of £109 including £65 in Kent, where he was also sheriff. Donald Henson, ''The English Elite in 1066: Gone but not forgotten'' (Hockwold-cum-Wilton 2001), pp. 20–23, 26–27, 32–34, 39, 49–50, 64–65, 70, 73, 85, 179–181.|group= n}} Given the vast and widespread landed interests and the national and international preoccupations of the monarchy and the earldom of Wessex, the Abbot of Chertsey was therefore probably the most important figure in the local elite.

The Anglo-Saxon period saw the emergence of the shire's internal division into 14 [[hundred (division)|hundreds]], which continued until [[Victorian era|Victorian]] times. These were the hundreds of [[Blackheath, Surrey (hundred)|Blackheath]], [[Brixton (hundred)|Brixton]], [[Copthorne (hundred)|Copthorne]], [[Effingham (half hundred)|Effingham Half-Hundred]], [[Elmbridge (hundred)|Elmbridge]], [[Farnham (hundred)|Farnham]], [[Godalming (hundred)|Godalming]], [[Godley (hundred)|Godley]], [[Kingston (hundred)|Kingston]], [[Reigate (hundred)|Reigate]], [[Tandridge (hundred)|Tandridge]], [[Wallington (hundred)|Wallington]], [[Woking (hundred)|Woking]] and [[Wotton (hundred)|Wotton]].

==== Identified ''[[ealdormen]]'' of Surrey ====
*Wulfheard ({{circa|823|lk=no}})
*Huda (?–853)
*Æðelweard (late 10th century)
*Æðelmær (?–1016)

=== Later Medieval Surrey ===

After the [[Battle of Hastings]], the [[Norman people|Norman]] army advanced through Kent into Surrey, where they defeated an English force which attacked them at [[Southwark]] and then burned that suburb. Rather than try to attack London across the river, the Normans continued west through Surrey, crossed the Thames at [[Wallingford, Oxfordshire|Wallingford]] in Berkshire and descended on London from the north-west. As was the case across England, the native ruling class of Surrey was virtually eliminated by Norman seizure of land. Only one significant English landowner, the brother of the last English Abbot of Chertsey, remained by the time the Domesday survey was conducted in 1086.{{#tag:ref|This was Oswald, whose brother Wulfwold, Abbot of Chertsey and Bath, died in 1084. Oswald was one of the small number of English landowners who managed to increase their holdings in the wake of the conquest: his estates, centred on Effingham, were valued at £18 a year in 1066, but the acquisition of additional manors raised this to £35 by 1086. His descendants, the de La Leigh family, relinquished the majority of their Surrey lands in the 12th century, but remained landowners in the county until the early 14th century. One of them, William de La Leigh, served as Sheriff of Surrey in 1267.|group= n}} At that time the largest landholding in Surrey, as in many other parts of the country, was the expanded royal estate, while the next largest holding belonged to [[Richard fitz Gilbert]], founder of the [[de Clare]] family.

[[File:Runnymede-meadow-eghamend.jpg|left|thumb|[[Runnymede]], where [[Magna Carta]] was sealed|alt=wooden gate with field and low hill beyond]]
In 1088, [[William II of England|King William II]] granted [[William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey|William de Warenne]] the title of [[Earl of Surrey]] as a reward for Warenne's loyalty during the [[Rebellion of 1088|rebellion that followed the death of William I]]. When the male line of the Warennes became extinct in the 14th century, the earldom was inherited by the [[Fitzalan]] [[Earls of Arundel]]. The Fitzalan line of Earls of Surrey died out in 1415, but after other short-lived revivals in the 15th century the title was conferred in 1483 on the [[Howard family]], who still hold it. However, Surrey was not a major focus of any of these families' interests.

[[File:Guildford castle 1.jpg|thumb|[[Guildford Castle]]|alt=roofless stone castle keep in parkland]]
[[Guildford Castle]], one of many fortresses originally established by the Normans to help them subdue the country, was rebuilt in stone and developed as a royal palace in the 12th century.{{#tag:ref|Besides the castles built or rebuilt in stone, remains of Norman castles of earth and timber have been identified at Abinger, Cranleigh, Thunderfield, and Walton-on-the-Hill.{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=46-48}}|group= n}} [[Farnham Castle]] was built during the 12th century as a residence for the [[Bishop of Winchester]], while other stone castles were constructed in the same period at [[Bletchingley Castle|Bletchingley]] by the de Clares and at [[Reigate Castle|Reigate]] by the Warennes.{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=46-48}}

During [[John of England|King John]]'s [[First Barons' War|struggle with the barons]], [[Magna Carta]] was issued in June 1215 at [[Runnymede]] near [[Egham]]. John's efforts to reverse this concession reignited the war, and in 1216 the barons invited [[Louis VIII of France|Prince Louis]] of [[France]] to take the throne. Having landed in Kent and been welcomed in London, he advanced across Surrey to attack John, then at [[Winchester]], occupying Reigate and Guildford castles along the way.

Guildford Castle later became one of the favourite residences of [[Henry III of England|King Henry III]], who considerably expanded the palace there. During the [[Second Barons' War|baronial revolt]] against Henry, in 1264 the rebel army of [[Simon de Montfort]] passed southwards through Surrey on their way to the [[Battle of Lewes]] in Sussex. Although the rebels were victorious, soon after the battle royal forces captured and destroyed Bletchingley Castle, whose owner [[Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester|Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Hertford and Gloucester]], was de Montfort's most powerful ally.

By the 14th century, castles were of dwindling military importance, but remained a mark of social prestige, leading to the construction of castles at [[Starborough Castle|Starborough]] near [[Lingfield, Surrey|Lingfield]] by [[John de Cobham, 2nd Baron Cobham (of Kent)|Lord Cobham]], and at [[Betchworth Castle|Betchworth]] by [[John Fitzalan, 1st Baron Arundel|John Fitzalan]], whose father had recently inherited the Earldom of Surrey. Though Reigate and Bletchingley remained modest settlements, the role of their castles as local centres for the two leading aristocratic interests in Surrey had enabled them to gain [[Ancient borough|borough]] status by the early 13th century. As a result, they gained representation in [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] when it became established towards the end of that century, alongside the more substantial urban settlements of Guildford and Southwark.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/constituencies/bletchingley |publisher=History of Parliament Trust |title=Bletchingley 1386–1421 |access-date=15 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517075519/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/constituencies/bletchingley |archive-date=17 May 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/constituencies/reigate |publisher=History of Parliament Trust |title=Reigate 1386–1421 |access-date=15 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416125942/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/constituencies/reigate |archive-date=16 April 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Surrey's third sizeable town, Kingston, despite its size, borough status and historical association with the monarchy, did not gain parliamentary representation until 1832.

Surrey had little political or economic significance in the Middle Ages. Its agricultural wealth was limited by the infertility of most of its soils, and it was not the main power-base of any important aristocratic family, nor the seat of a bishopric.<ref>Brandon and Short, ''The South East from AD 1000'', pp. 8–10, 62–64, 127–131.</ref> The London suburb of Southwark was a major urban settlement, and the proximity of the capital boosted the wealth and population of the surrounding area, but urban development elsewhere was sapped by the overshadowing predominance of London and by the lack of direct access to the sea. Population pressure in the 12th and 13th centuries initiated the gradual clearing of the [[Weald]], the forest spanning the borders of Surrey, Sussex and Kent, which had hitherto been left undeveloped due to the difficulty of farming on its heavy clay soil.{{sfn|Brandon|1998|pp=15-18}}{{sfn|Brandon|1998|pp=37-42}}

Surrey's most significant source of prosperity in the later Middle Ages was the production of woollen cloth, which emerged during that period as England's main export industry. The county was an early centre of English textile manufacturing, benefiting from the presence of deposits of [[fuller's earth]], the rare mineral composite important in the process of finishing cloth, around Reigate and [[Nutfield, Surrey|Nutfield]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/constituencies/Reigate |publisher=History of Parliament Trust |title=Reigate 1386–1421 |access-date=15 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416125942/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/constituencies/reigate |archive-date=16 April 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/constituencies/Guildford |publisher=History of Parliament Trust |title=Guildford 1386–1421 |access-date=15 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416125804/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/constituencies/guildford |archive-date=16 April 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, as the English cloth industry expanded, Surrey was outstripped by other growing regions of production.

[[File:Waverleyabbeydormitory.jpg|thumb|left|Ruins of the monks' dormitory at [[Waverley Abbey]]|alt=grey stone walls leading to an end wall with three tall window openings]]
Though Surrey was not the scene of serious fighting in the various rebellions and civil wars of the period, armies from Kent heading for London via Southwark passed through what were then the extreme north-eastern fringes of Surrey during the [[Peasants' Revolt]] of 1381 and [[Cade's Rebellion]] in 1450, and at various stages of the [[Wars of the Roses]] in 1460, 1469 and 1471. The upheaval of 1381 also involved widespread local unrest in Surrey, as was the case all across south-eastern England, and some recruits from Surrey joined the Kentish rebel army.

In 1082 a [[Cluniac]] abbey was founded at [[Bermondsey Abbey|Bermondsey]] by Alwine, a wealthy English citizen of London. [[Waverley Abbey]] near Farnham, founded in 1128, was the first [[Cistercian]] monastery in England. Over the next quarter-century monks spread out from here to found new houses, creating a network of twelve monasteries descended from Waverley across southern and central England. The 12th and early 13th centuries also saw the establishment of [[Augustinian Order|Augustinian]] priories at [[Merton Priory|Merton]], [[Newark Priory|Newark]], [[Tandridge Priory|Tandridge]], [[Southwark Cathedral|Southwark]] and Reigate. A [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] friary was established at [[Guildford Black Friary|Guildford]] by Henry III's widow [[Eleanor of Provence]], in memory of her grandson who had died at Guildford in 1274. In the 15th century a [[Carthusian]] priory was founded by [[King Henry V]] at [[Sheen Priory|Sheen]]. These would all perish, along with the still important [[Benedictine]] abbey of [[Chertsey Abbey|Chertsey]], in the 16th-century [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]].

Now fallen into disuse, some English counties had nicknames for those raised there such as a [[Yorkshire|'tyke' from Yorkshire]], or a [[Yellowbelly (Lincolnshire)|'yellowbelly']] from [[Lincolnshire]]. In the case of Surrey, the term was a 'Surrey capon', from Surrey's role in the later Middle Ages as the county where chickens were fattened up for the London meat markets.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

=== Early Modern Surrey ===
[[File:Nonsuch Palace watercolour detail.jpg|thumb|[[Nonsuch Palace]]|alt=watercolour of long building flanked by two large cylindrical towers with a clock on a smaller central tower]]
Under the early [[Tudor dynasty|Tudor]] kings, magnificent royal palaces were constructed in northeastern Surrey, conveniently close to London. At [[Richmond Palace|Richmond]] an existing royal residence was rebuilt on a grand scale under [[King Henry VII]], who also founded a [[Franciscan]] [[Sheen Friary|friary]] nearby in 1499. The still more spectacular palace of [[Nonsuch Palace|Nonsuch]] was later built for [[Henry VIII]] near Ewell.{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=197-198}} The palace at Guildford Castle had fallen out of use long before, but a royal hunting lodge existed outside the town. All these have since been demolished.

During the [[Cornish Rebellion of 1497]], the rebels heading for London briefly occupied Guildford and fought a skirmish with a government detachment on Guildown outside the town, before marching on to defeat at [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]] in Kent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.btinternet.com/~john.whitbourn/Cornish.htm |title=The Day the Cornish Invaded Guildford |publisher=The Surrey Advertiser |date=2 June 1989 |access-date=16 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621175054/http://www.btinternet.com/~john.whitbourn/Cornish.htm |archive-date=21 June 2007}}</ref> The forces of [[Wyatt's Rebellion]] in 1554 passed through what was then northeastern Surrey on their way from Kent to London, briefly occupying Southwark and then crossing the Thames at Kingston after failing to storm London Bridge.

[[File:Cantium southsexia surria meddlesexia Atlas.jpg|thumb|250px|Hand-drawn map of Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Middlesex from 1575]]

Surrey's cloth industry declined in the 16th century and collapsed in the 17th, harmed by falling standards and competition from more effective producers in other parts of England. The iron industry in the Weald, whose rich deposits had been exploited since prehistoric times, expanded and spread from its base in Sussex into Kent and Surrey after 1550.{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=186-190}} New furnace technology stimulated further growth in the early 17th century, but this hastened the extinction of the business as the mines were worked out.{{sfn|Brandon|1998|pp=55-57}} However, this period also saw the emergence of important new industries, centred on the valley of the [[River Tillingbourne|Tillingbourne]], south-east of Guildford, which often adapted watermills originally built for the now moribund cloth industry. The production of brass goods and wire in this area was relatively short-lived, falling victim to competitors in [[the Midlands]] in the mid-17th century, but the manufacture of paper and [[gunpowder]] proved more enduring. For a time in the mid-17th century the Surrey mills were the main producers of gunpowder in England.{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=185-190}}{{sfn|Brandon|1998|pp=51-55}}{{sfn|Brandon|1998|pp=60-61}}{{sfn|Crocker|Crocker|2000|pp=5-40}}

A glass industry also developed in the mid-16th century on the southwestern borders of Surrey, but had collapsed by 1630, as the wood-fired Surrey glassworks were surpassed by emerging coal-fired works elsewhere in England.{{sfn|Brandon|1998|pp=57-58}}{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=185-190}} The [[Wey Navigation]], opened in 1653, was one of England's first canal systems.{{sfn|Hadfield|1969|pp=118-119}}{{sfn|Vine|1996|p=10}}

[[File:George Abbot from NPG cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[George Abbot (bishop)|George Abbot]]|alt=17th century middle-aged bearded man in black cap and jacket over a white shirt]]
[[George Abbot (bishop)|George Abbot]], the son of a Guildford clothworker, served as [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in 1611–1633. In 1619 he founded [[Abbot's Hospital]], an [[almshouse]] in Guildford, which is still operating. He also made unsuccessful efforts to revitalise the local cloth industry. One of his brothers, [[Robert Abbot (bishop)|Robert]], became [[Bishop of Salisbury]], while another, [[Maurice Abbot|Maurice]], was a founding shareholder of the [[East India Company]] who became the company's Governor and later [[Lord Mayor of London]].

Southwark expanded rapidly in this period, and by 1600, if considered as a separate entity, it was the second-largest urban area in England, behind only London itself. 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.{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=153-154}} Bankside was the scene of the golden age of [[English Renaissance theatre|Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre]], with the work of playwrights including [[William Shakespeare]], [[Christopher Marlowe]], [[Ben Jonson]] and [[John Webster]] performed in its playhouses.{{sfn|Brandon|1998|p=76}} The leading actor and impresario [[Edward Alleyn]] founded the [[College of God's Gift]] in [[Dulwich]] with an endowment including an art collection, which was later expanded and opened to the public in 1817, becoming [[Dulwich Picture Gallery|Britain's first public art gallery]].
[[File:Hollar Long View detail.png|thumb|right|The second [[Globe theatre]], built 1614|alt=hand drawn view of buildings including a circular one with another building within]]

Surrey almost entirely escaped the direct impact of fighting during the [[First English Civil War|main phase]] of the [[English Civil War]] in 1642–1646. The local [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] gentry led by [[Sir Richard Onslow]] were able to secure the county without difficulty on the outbreak of war. Farnham Castle was briefly occupied by the advancing [[Cavaliers|Royalists]] in late 1642, but was easily stormed by the Parliamentarians under Sir [[William Waller]]. A new Royalist offensive in late 1643 saw skirmishing around Farnham between Waller's forces and [[Ralph Hopton]]'s Royalists, but these brief incursions into the western fringes of Surrey marked the limits of Royalist advances on the county. At the end of 1643 Surrey combined with Kent, Sussex and Hampshire to form the [[South-Eastern Association]], a military federation modelled on Parliament's existing [[Eastern Association]].{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|p=148}}

In the uneasy peace that followed the Royalists' defeat, a political crisis in summer 1647 saw [[Sir Thomas Fairfax]]'s [[New Model Army]] pass through Surrey on their way to occupy London, and subsequent billeting of troops in the county caused considerable discontent.{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|p=148}} During the brief [[Second English Civil War|Second Civil War]] of 1648, the [[Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland|Earl of Holland]] entered Surrey in July, hoping to ignite a Royalist revolt. He raised his standard at Kingston and advanced south, but found little support. After confused manoeuvres between Reigate and [[Dorking]] as Parliamentary troops closed in, his force of 500 men fled northwards and was overtaken and routed at Kingston.

Surrey had a central role in the history of the radical political movements unleashed by the civil war. In October 1647 the first manifesto of the movement that became known as the [[Levellers]], ''[[The Case of the Armie Truly Stated]]'', was drafted at Guildford by the [[Agitators|elected representatives]] of army regiments and civilian radicals from London. This document combined specific grievances with wider demands for constitutional change on the basis of [[popular sovereignty]]. It formed the template for the more systematic and radical ''[[Agreement of the People]]'', drafted by the same men later that month. It also led to the [[Putney Debates]] shortly afterwards, in which its signatories met with [[Oliver Cromwell]] and other [[Grandee (New Model Army)|senior officers]] in the Surrey village of [[Putney]], where the army had established its headquarters, to argue over the future political constitution of England. In 1649 the [[Diggers]], led by [[Gerrard Winstanley]], established their communal settlement at [[St. George's Hill]] near [[Weybridge]] to implement egalitarian ideals of common ownership, but were eventually driven out by the local landowners through violence and litigation. A smaller Digger commune was then established near [[Cobham, Surrey|Cobham]], but suffered the same fate in 1650.<ref name=Winstanley_ODNB>{{Cite ODNB |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/29755 |title=Winstanley, Gerrard |first1=J. C. |last1=Davis |first2=J. D. |last2=Alsop}}</ref>{{sfn|Campbell|2009|p=129}}

=== Modern history ===

Prior to the [[Reform Act 1832]], Surrey returned fourteen [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs), two representing the county and two each from the six boroughs of Bletchingley, [[Gatton, Surrey|Gatton]], Guildford, [[Haslemere]], Reigate and Southwark. For two centuries before the Reform Act, the dominant political network in Surrey was that of the [[Earl of Onslow|Onslows]] of [[Clandon Park]], a gentry family established in the county from the early 17th century, who were raised to the [[Peerage of Great Britain|peerage]] in 1716. Members of the family won at least one of Surrey's two county seats in all but three of the 30 general elections between 1628 and 1768, while they took one or both of the seats for their local borough of Guildford in every election from 1660 to 1830, usually representing the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig Party]] after its emergence in the late 1670s. Successive heads of the family held the post of [[Lord Lieutenant of Surrey]] continuously from 1716 to 1814.

[[File:Kew Palace from Thomas Dugdale's Curiosities of Great Britain (1835).jpg|thumb|left|[[Kew Palace]] in 1835|alt=drawing of large seven bay three storey building]]
One of the principal residences of the British monarchy in the 18th century was [[Kew Palace]] in north Surrey, leased by Queen [[Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach]] in 1728 and inhabited by her son [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]], and later by King [[George III]] and Queen [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]]. After the latter's death at the palace in 1818 it was sold. The White House was demolished about this time, but the Dutch House survives and is now a museum.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|1992|p=443}}

In 1765 the [[Richmond Theatre (Surrey)|Richmond Theatre]] was built in Surrey under the supervision of [[David Garrick]]. It was modelled after the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]] and served as one of Surrey's main theatre's until it was demolished in 1884.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Celebrated Old Playhouse: The History of the Richmond Theatre in Surrey from 1765 to 1884|location=London|publisher=Henry Vickers|year=1886|first=Frederick|last=Bingham}}</ref>

Until the modern era Surrey, apart from its northeastern corner, was quite sparsely populated in comparison with many parts of southern England, and remained somewhat rustic despite its proximity to the capital. Communications began to improve, and the influence of London to increase, with the development of [[Turnpike trust|turnpike]] roads and a [[stagecoach]] system in the 18th century.{{sfn|Brandon|1998|pp=84-88}}{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=247-251}} A far more profound transformation followed with the arrival of the railways, beginning in the late 1830s.{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=290-291}} The availability of rapid transport enabled prosperous London workers to settle all across Surrey and travel daily to work in the capital. This phenomenon of commuting brought explosive growth to Surrey's population and wealth, and tied its economy and society inextricably to London.

There was rapid expansion in existing towns like Guildford, Farnham, and most spectacularly [[Croydon]], while new towns such as Woking and [[Redhill, Surrey|Redhill]] emerged beside the railway lines.{{sfn|Brandon|1998|pp=118-121}}{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=310-313}} The huge numbers of incomers to the county and the transformation of rural, farming communities into a "[[commuter belt]]" contributed to a decline in the traditional local culture, including the gradual demise of the distinctive [[Surrey dialect]]. This may have survived among the "Surrey Men" into the late 19th century, but is now extinct.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

[[File:Woking Crematorium - geograph.org.uk - 161645.jpg|thumb|Britain's first crematorium, in the [[Borough of Woking]]|alt=chapel-style red brick building with steep pitched slate roof]]
Meanwhile, London itself spread swiftly across north-eastern Surrey. In 1800 it extended only to [[Vauxhall]]; a century later the city's growth had reached as far as [[Putney]] and [[Streatham]]. This expansion was reflected in the creation of the [[County of London]] in 1889, detaching the areas subsumed by the city from Surrey. The expansion of London continued in the 20th century, engulfing Croydon, Kingston and many smaller settlements. This led to a further contraction of Surrey in 1965 with the creation of [[Greater London]], under the [[London Government Act 1963]]; however, [[Staines]] and [[Sunbury-on-Thames]], previously in Middlesex, were transferred to Surrey, extending the county across the Thames.{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=274-290}} Surrey's boundaries were altered again in 1974 when [[Gatwick Airport]] was transferred to [[West Sussex]].{{sfn|Gwynne|1990|p=1}}

In 1849 [[Brookwood Cemetery]] was established near Woking to serve the population of London, connected to the capital by [[London Necropolis Railway|its own railway service]]. It soon developed into the largest burial ground in the world{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}. Woking was also the site of Britain's [[Woking Crematorium|first crematorium]], which opened in 1878, and its [[Shah Jahan Mosque, Woking|first mosque]], founded in 1889.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} In 1881 Godalming became the first town in the world with a public electricity supply.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tarplee |first1=Peter |year=2007 |title=Some public utilities in Surrey: Electricity and gas |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%207-5.pdf |journal=Surrey History |volume=7 |issue=5 |pages=262–272 |access-date=10 January 2021 |archive-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205224313/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%207-5.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

The eastern part of Surrey was transferred from the [[Diocese of Winchester]] to that of [[Diocese of Rochester|Rochester]] in 1877. In 1905 this area was separated to form a new [[Diocese of Southwark]]. The rest of the county, together with part of eastern Hampshire, was separated from Winchester in 1927 to become the [[Diocese of Guildford]], whose [[Guildford Cathedral|cathedral]] was consecrated in 1961.

[[File:Guildford Cathedral, Stag Hill, Guildford (Seen from Onslow Village) (May 2014) (1).JPG|thumb|[[Guildford Cathedral]], designed by [[Edward Maufe]]|alt=tall and long red brick cathedral with green roofs and square tower topped with gold angel]]
During the later 19th century Surrey became important in the development of architecture in Britain and the wider world. Its traditional building forms made a significant contribution to the vernacular revival architecture associated with the [[Arts and Crafts Movement]], and would exert a lasting influence. The prominence of Surrey peaked in the 1890s, when it was the focus for globally important developments in domestic architecture, in particular the early work of [[Edwin Lutyens]], who grew up in the county and was greatly influenced by its traditional styles and materials.{{sfn|Nairn|Pevsner|Cherry|1971|pp=68-73}}{{sfn|Brandon|1998|pp=104-107}}{{sfn|Brandon|Short|1990|pp=353-355}}

[[File:DennisSabre.JPG|thumb|left|Dennis Sabre fire engine]]
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the demise of Surrey's long-standing industries manufacturing paper and gunpowder. Most of the county's paper mills closed in the years after 1870, and the last survivor shut in 1928. Gunpowder production fell victim to the [[First World War]], which brought about a huge expansion of the British munitions industry, followed by sharp contraction and consolidation when the war ended, leading to the closure of the Surrey powder mills.

New industrial developments included the establishment of the vehicle manufacturers [[Dennis Specialist Vehicles|Dennis Brothers]] in Guildford in 1895. Beginning as a maker of bicycles and then of cars, the firm soon shifted into the production of commercial and utility vehicles, becoming internationally important as a manufacturer of fire engines and buses. Though much reduced in size and despite multiple changes of ownership, this business continues to operate in Guildford. Kingston and nearby [[Ham, London|Ham]] became a centre of aircraft manufacturing, with the establishment in 1912 of the [[Sopwith Aviation Company]] and in 1920 of its successor H.G. Hawker Engineering, which later became [[Hawker Aviation]] and then [[Hawker Siddeley]].

[[File:Dragons teeth.jpg|thumb|"Dragon's teeth" antitank obstacles by the [[River Wey]]|alt=lines of concrete pyramids in woodland]]
During the [[Second World War]] a section of the [[GHQ Line|GHQ Stop Line]], a system of [[Bunker#Pillbox|pillboxes]], gun emplacements, anti-tank obstacles and other fortifications, was constructed along the North Downs. This line, running from [[Somerset]] to [[Yorkshire]], was intended as the principal fixed defence of London and the industrial core of England against the threat of invasion. German invasion plans envisaged that the main thrust of their advance inland would cross the North Downs at the gap in the ridge formed by the Wey valley, thus colliding with the defence line around Guildford.

Between the wars [[Croydon Airport]], opened in 1920, served as the main airport for London, but it was superseded after the Second World War by [[Heathrow]], and closed in 1959. [[Gatwick Airport]], where commercial flights began in 1933, expanded greatly in the 1950s and 1960s, but the area occupied by the airport was transferred from Surrey to [[West Sussex]] in 1974.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

In June 1972, [[British European Airways Flight 548]] crashed near [[Staines]] just after taking off from Heathrow Airport.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/4-1973%20G-ARPI.pdf |title=Civil Aircraft Accident Report 4/73: Trident I G-ARPI: Report of the Public Inquiry into the Causes and Circumstances of the Accident near Staines on 18 June 1972 |publisher=Accident Investigation Branch, Department of Trade and Industry. HMSO |location=London |year=1973 |access-date=24 October 2021 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005005649/http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=%2F4-1973%20G-ARPI.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> This remains the worst air accident in the UK.