Dorking (Surrey)
| Dorking | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51 ° 14 ′ N , 0 ° 20 ′ W | ||
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| Residents | 17,000 | ||
| administration | |||
| Post town | Dorking | ||
| ZIP code section | RH4 | ||
| prefix | 01306 | ||
| Part of the country | England | ||
| region | South East England | ||
| Shire county | Surrey | ||
| District | Mole Valley | ||
| British Parliament | Mole Valley | ||
Dorking is a place in England , below the North Downs in Surrey , about 40 kilometers south of London . The place has 17,000 inhabitants and belongs to the Mole Valley district .
Historical development
Dorking began as a small post office on Stane Street , the Roman road that connects London to Chichester on the English Channel .
In the 11th century the place is mentioned in the Domesday Book as the Manor of Dorchinges . The landlords included the Dukes of Norfolk , who lived in Dorking until they moved to Arundel . In the Middle Ages, Dorking was a thriving agricultural market that benefited from its location on a large number of streets.
In 1750, the construction of Turnpike Road made Dorking a coaching inn on the way to Brighton and the coast. This position was lost with the construction of the railway.
geography
The Pipp Brook flows through the village and flows into the River Mole in the northeast of the city . To the north of the city, the pier cuts a steep valley, the so-called Mole Gap, into the North Downs. On its left bank is Denbies Vineyard , the largest vineyard in Great Britain.
On the right bank is Box Hill , Britain's first National Trust country park . The hill was named a Site of Special Scientific Interest because a large number of rare orchids bloom here in summer. Further north is Norbury Park with Druids Grove, a forest with trees that are over 1000 years old.
In the southwest is Leith Hill , also owned by the National Trust, at 294 meters, the second highest point in southeast England. Together with Holmbury Hill and Pitch Hill and the area around Box Hill to Newlands Corner, the landscape is known as the Surrey Hills.
Town twinning
Dorking has twinning partnerships with the cities of Güglingen in Germany and Gouvieux in France.
Personalities associated with the place
according to the ascending year of birth
- The writer Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) probably attended a school on Pixham Lane and mentioned Dorking in his travelogue A tour thro 'the whole island of Great Britain .
- The Admiral Lord Nelson (1758–1805) spent his last night in England here before going to the Battle of Trafalgar .
- The writer Jane Austen (1775-1817) had a passage from her novel Emma play in Box Hill.
- The architect Thomas Cubitt (1788–1855) was born in Dorking and died here. In the long form of the nobility title Baron Ashcombe , first bestowed on his son, the politician George Cubitt (1828-1917), the place name is included.
- The politician Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) wrote his novel Coningsby in the now demolished Deepdene House.
- The painter and photographer William Usherwood (1820–1916) lived and died in Dorking. He may have first photographed a comet here in 1858.
- The writer George Meredith (1828-1909) lived in Box Hill and died there.
- The nature writer Denham Jordan (1836–1920) lived here from 1849 until his death.
- The patron couple Sidney Schiff (1868–1944) and Violet Schiff (1874–1962) lived here from 1934 to 1944.
- The composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) grew up in Leith Hill and lived from 1929 to 1953 in Dorking.
- The television pioneer John Logie Baird (1888-1946) lived in Swiss Cottage on Box Hill from 1929 to 1932.
- The actor Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) was born here.
- The embryologist Richard L. Gardner (* 1943) was born here.
- The musician Billy Idol (* 1955) lived here from around 1964 to 1971.
- The regatta sailor Simon Hiscocks (* 1973) was born here.
- The composer Alma Deutscher (* 2005) lives here.
- The Hurtwood House boarding school , which specializes in drama and music high school, was attended by composer Hans Zimmer (* 1957), actresses and actors Nikki Amuka-Bird (* 1976), Hannah Herzsprung (* 1981), Tom Mison (* 1982), Jack Huston ( * 1982), Emily Blunt (* 1983), Cleo von Adelsheim (* 1987) and the singer Emily Beecham (* 1984).