Editing Surrey (section)

=== 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.