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Box Hill, Surrey
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Box Hill is a well known beauty spot in the North Downs of Surrey, England, close to the southern outskirts of London, overlooking Dorking to the south-west. There is a small village of the same name about to the east. Confusingly, Box Hill School is located in the village of Mickleham about to the north, and is between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead.
The hill is named after the box trees which can be found on its steep southern and western flanks, notably around the "Whites", chalk cliffs cut by the River Mole.
Box Hill site occupies approximately 490 hectares of wooded downland.
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Encyclopedia
Box Hill is a well known beauty spot in the North Downs of Surrey, England, close to the southern outskirts of London, overlooking Dorking to the south-west. There is a small village of the same name about to the east. Confusingly, Box Hill School is located in the village of Mickleham about to the north, and is between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead.
The hill is named after the box trees which can be found on its steep southern and western flanks, notably around the "Whites", chalk cliffs cut by the River Mole.
Geography and environment
The Box Hill site occupies approximately 490 hectares of wooded downland. It is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation, affording it a level of legislative protection against planning applications. The chalk downland environment supports notable populations of bats, lepidopterans, orchids and the hill's namesake, the box tree.
Public access
Box Hill was given to the nation by Leopold Salomons in 1914.
A country park, owned by the National Trust, now provides for public access to Box Hill, and the Pilgrims' Way long distance footpath runs about to the south.
At the "top" of the hill there is a car park and viewpoint, from where the entire town of Dorking can be viewed. However, this location is not actually the true summit of the hill. To the east, the ridge ascends, and most of the village of Box Hill is higher, at an altitude of around . The Ordnance Survey mark a spot height of at the radio mast at .
Box Hill is served by local and London bus routes providing access to both the visitor centre and the foot of the hill where there exists another car park (adjoining Rykers Cafe) that is frequented by motorcyclists.
The route to the top car park from the A24, known as the Zig Zag Road, is very narrow and is a popular test of fitness by road cyclists, and occasionally causes congestion if cars cannot pass. There is another small car park half way up this, with room for only around 10 cars.
Notable sights
A Major Peter Labellière is buried on the hill just west of the viewpoint at Burford slope. He was buried (on July 11 1800) head downwards, and according to some sources he reasoned for this by saying "the world is topsy turvy, and I'll be the right way in the end"; other sources indicate that he merely wished to emulate the example of St. Peter, who was apocryphally (in the Acts of Peter) crucified upside down.
John Logie Baird, the inventor of the first working television system, conducted some of his experiments on Box Hill, including his Noctovisor, an infra-red viewing device.
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