Editing Dorking (section)

===Commerce and industry===
A market at Dorking is first recorded in 1240 and in 1278, the sixth Earl of Surrey, [[John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey|John de Warenne]], claimed that it had been held twice weekly since "[[Time immemorial|time out of mind]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archives.history.ac.uk/gazetteer/gazweb2.html |title=Gazetteer of markets and fairs in England and Wales to 1516: Counties and Wales |first=S |last=Letters |year=2013 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101955/https://archives.history.ac.uk/gazetteer/gazweb2.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The early medieval market was probably centred around Pump Corner and between South Street and West Street, but it appears to have moved east to the widest part of the High Street by the early 15th century.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp15-16/>

[[File:PILSBURY WILMOT - Castle Mill, River Mole, Deepdene, Dorking, 1898.jpg|thumb|right|Castle Mill on the [[River Mole]] at [[Pixham]], painted by [[Wilmot Pilsbury]] in 1898]]
In the century following the Norman conquest, agricultural activity was focused on the lordship lands, which lay to the north of the Pipp Brook. However, as the Middle Ages progressed, woodland to the south and west of the centre was cleared enabling farms owned by the Goodwyns, Stubbs and Sondes families to expand.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_p21/> By the start of the Tudor period, there were at least five watermills in Dorking – two at Pixham (one on the Pipp Brook, owned by the Sondes and one on the Mole, owned by the Brownes), two close to the town centre (both owned by the manor) and one at Milton, on the road to Westcott. There may also have been a windmill on Tower Hill.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp23-24/>

[[File:Dorking_Henne.JPG|right|thumb|A female [[Dorking chicken]]{{refn|Two Dorking [[rooster|cockerels]], representing the town, appear as [[supporter]]s on the Mole Valley District Council [[coat of arms]] either side of the [[Escutcheon (heraldry)|escutcheon]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/home/council/about-district/coat-arms-town-twinning |title=Coat of arms and town twinning |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=6 February 2021}}</ref>|group=note}}]]
The town flourished in Tudor times and, in the 1590s, a [[market house]] was built between what is now St Martin's Walk and the White Horse Hotel.<ref name=Bright_1884_p13/>{{refn|The market house was demolished in 1813.<ref name=Dennis_1855_p4>{{harvnb|Dennis|1855|p=4}}</ref>|group=note}} The [[antiquarian]] [[John Aubrey]], who visited the town between 1673 and 1692, noted that the weekly market (which took place on Thursdays) was "the greatest... for poultry in England" and noted that "Sussex wheat" was also sold.<ref name=Aubrey_1718_149>{{harvnb|Aubrey|1718|p=149}}</ref> The free-draining Lower Greensand found in the Dorking area is particularly suited for [[poultry farming|rearing chickens]] and the local soils provide [[Gizzard#Gizzard stones|grit]] to assist the birds' [[digestion|digestive systems]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mvgs.org.uk/resources.htm |title=Geology: Key to the Prosperity of Box Hill and the Mole Valley |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=2013 |publisher=Mole Valley Geological Society |access-date=10 January 2021 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112130111/http://mvgs.org.uk/resources.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The Dorking fowl, which has five claws instead of the normal four, is named after the town.<ref name=Bright_1884_p36>{{harvnb|Bright|1884|p=36}}</ref>{{refn|The Dorking Poultry Society was founded in 1867 and held an annual competition for local breeders.<ref name=Bright_1884_p36/>|group=note}} 

[[Fruit wine|Wine]] made from the [[Prunus avium|wild cherries]] that grew in the town was another local speciality. A 'cherry fair' was held in July in the 17th and 18th centuries,<ref name=Aubrey_1718_163>{{harvnb|Aubrey|1718|p=163}}</ref> and was revived in the 20th century at St Barnabas Church, Ranmore. Aubrey also recorded that an annual fair took place on [[Feast of the Ascension|Ascension Day]].<ref name=Aubrey_1718_149/>

Chalk and sand were quarried in Dorking until the early 20th century. Chalk was dug from a pit on Ranmore Road and heated in [[lime kiln|kilns]] to produce [[calcium oxide|quicklime]].{{refn|Chalk (calcium carbonate) must be heated above {{cvt|825|C|F}} to convert it to quicklime (calcium oxide).<ref>{{cite book |last=Stecher |first=Paul G |year=1968 |title=The Merck index : an encyclopedia of chemicals and drugs |location=Rahway NJ |publisher=Merck |edition=8th}}</ref>|group=note}} In the medieval and early modern periods, the [[agricultural lime|lime]] was used to [[soil conditioner|fertilise]] local farm fields, but from the 18th century onwards (and especially after the construction of the turnpike to Epsom in 1755), it was transported to London for [[lime mortar|use in the construction industry]].<ref name=Overell_1991_pp42-43>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=42–43}}</ref>{{refn|The antiquarian J.S. Bright, writing in 1884, claimed that Dorking produced "some of the best lime in England" and that it was used in the construction of [[Somerset House]], the [[Bank of England]], [[London Bridge#1831|London Bridge]] and the [[Palace of Westminster]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bright|1884|p=136}}</ref>|group=note}} Sand from the Folkestone Beds was quarried from several sites in the town, including at two pits in Vincent Lane.<ref name=Caves_Geology>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/south-street-caves-geology/ |title=South Street Caves |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=18 March 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102129/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/south-street-caves-geology/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Caves and tunnels were also dug in the sandstone under several parts of the town. Many were used as cellars for storing wine bottles,<ref name=Bright_1876_p14>{{harvnb|Bright|1876|p=10}}</ref> but deeper workings followed [[seam (geology)|seams]] of [[silver sand]], which was used in [[glass production|glass making]].<ref name=Crocker_1990_p14>{{harvnb|Crocker|1990|p=14}}</ref> Most of the surviving caves are privately owned and not accessible to the public. A well-known example is the [[cockfight|cockpit]] beneath the former Wheatsheaf Inn in the High Street, in which fighting [[rooster|cocks]] were set against each other for [[blood sport|sport]]. During the construction of the [[parking lot|car park]] to the south of [[Sainsbury's|Sainsbury's supermarket]], the builders broke through into a large cavern of unknown date, the walls of which were painted with ''[[trompe-l'œil]]'' pillars. Unfortunately, in order to complete the car park, it was necessary to fill in the cave with concrete.<ref name=Caves_Geology/> Guided tours of the caves in South Street are held on a regular basis and are organised by Dorking Museum.<ref name=Dawson_Subterranea>{{cite journal |last1=Dawson |first1=Sam |year=2017 |title=Here runneth under |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/south-street-caves-press/ |journal=Subterranea |issue=44 |pages=24–37 |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102127/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/south-street-caves-press/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

By the start of the 19th century, increasing [[mechanised agriculture|mechanisation of agriculture]] was leading to a local [[labour supply|surplus of labour]]. The wages for unskilled farm workers were decreasing, exacerbated by a fall in produce prices following the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1815. Like many towns in the south of England, Dorking was affected by [[Swing Riots|civil unrest]] among its poorest residents.<ref name=Hill_Swing_Riots>{{cite journal |last1=Hill |first1=J |year=2004 |title=The Dorking Emigration Scheme of 1832 |journal=Family & Community History |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=115–128 |doi=10.1179/fch.2004.7.2.004 |s2cid=145772534}}</ref> In November 1830 a riot broke out and a mob of 80 attacked the Red Lion Inn in the High Street. A troop of soldiers from the [[Life Guards (United Kingdom)|Life Guards regiment]] was called in to restore order.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The state of the country |date=27 November 1830 |page=3 |issue=14395}}</ref> In 1831 it was noted that the town (population 4711) had one of the highest rates of [[poor relief]] in Surrey.<ref name=Hill_Swing_Riots/>

In early 1832, the [[vestry]] devised a supported scheme to enable young unemployed, unskilled labourers to leave the town to [[emigration|settle]] in [[Upper Canada]].{{refn|Although the Dorking programme was locally funded, practicalities were arranged under the [[Petworth Emigration Scheme]] which was responsible for enabling a total of 1800 people from rural towns across south east England to travel to and settle in Canada.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haines |first=Sheila |last2=Lawson |first2=Leigh |year=2007 |title=Poor Cottages & Proud Palaces: The life and work of the Reverend Thomas Sockett of Petworth 1777–1859 |location=Hastings |publisher=Hastings Press |page=158}}</ref><ref name="Cameron">{{cite book |last1=Cameron |first1=Wendy |last2=Maude |first2=Mary McDougall |title=Assisting emigration to Upper Canada : the Petworth Project, 1832–1837 |year=2000 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal |isbn=0773520341 |url=https://archive.org/details/assistingemigrat0000came |access-date=27 June 2016 |chapter="Pauperism [is] almost universal": Who Were the Petworth Emigrants? |url-access=registration}}</ref>|group=note}} The cost of the voyage from [[Portsmouth]] to [[Montreal]] for 61 recipients of poor relief was paid by private donations, however the emigrants also received an allowance for food and clothing from parish funds. Although many were young, single men aged 14–20, a few families also joined the group.{{refn|An additional 16 residents, who were not in receipt of poor relief and who were able to pay for their own passage, also joined the group. In total 77 Dorking residents left England for Canada in 1832, with a further 13 from Capel.<ref name=Hill_Swing_Riots/>|group=note}} Most appear to have settled in the [[Toronto]] area, but a few are recorded as living in [[Kingston, Ontario]].<ref name=Hill_Swing_Riots/>

In 1911, the town was described in the [[Victoria County History]] as "almost entirely residential and agricultural, with some [[lime (material)|lime]] works on the chalk, though not so extensive as those in neighbouring parishes, a little brick-making, watermills (corn) at Pixham Mill, and timber and saw-mills."<ref name=Malden_1911_pp141-150/>