View source for Dorking

{{Short description|Market town in Surrey, England}}
{{About|the market town in Surrey}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox UK place
 | type                     = [[Market town]]
 | country                  = England
 | official_name            = Dorking
 | map_type                 = Surrey
 | label_position           = bottom
 | population               = 11,158
 | population_ref           = town wards only<ref name=ons>[http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030211201309/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |date=11 February 2003 }} [[2011 United Kingdom census]], [[Office for National Statistics]]. Retrieved 20 December 2013</ref> 17,098 wider built-up area<ref name=NOMIS_Built-up_Area>{{NOMIS2011|id=1119884849|title=Dorking Built-up area sub division |access-date=21 August 2020}}</ref> (2011 census)
 | area_total_km2           = 6.57
 | area_footnotes           = town wards<ref name=ons/>
 | shire_district           = [[Mole Valley]]
 | shire_county             = [[Surrey]]
 | region                   = South East England
 | constituency_westminster = [[Dorking and Horley (UK Parliament constituency)|Dorking and Horley]]
 | post_town                = Dorking
 | postcode_area            = RH
 | postcode_district        = RH4
 | dial_code                = 01306
 | os_grid_reference        = TQ165494
 | coordinates              = {{coord|51|13|57|N|00|19|50|W|type:city_region:GB-SRY|display=inline,title}}
 | static_image_name        = View towards Dorking from the Nower (geograph 5120040 by Ian Capper, cropped).jpg
 | static_image_caption     = View northeast from The Nower towards Dorking town centre and Box Hill
 | london_direction         = NNE
 | london_distance_mi       = 21
}}

'''Dorking''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɔːr|k|ɪ|ŋ}}) is a [[market town]] in [[Surrey]] in [[South East England]] about {{cvt|21|mi|km|sigfig=2}} south-west of [[London]]. It is in [[Mole Valley|Mole Valley District]] and the [[non-metropolitan district|council]] headquarters are to the east of the centre. The [[High Street]] runs roughly east–west, parallel to the [[Pipp Brook]] and along the northern face of an outcrop of [[Lower Greensand Group|Lower Greensand]]. The town is surrounded on three sides by the [[Surrey Hills National Landscape]] and is close to [[Box Hill, Surrey|Box Hill]] and [[Leith Hill]].

The earliest archaeological evidence of human activity is from the [[Mesolithic]] and [[Neolithic]] periods, and there are several [[Bronze Age]] [[bowl barrow]]s in the local area. The town may have been the site of a staging post on [[Stane Street (Chichester)|Stane Street]] during [[Roman Britain|Roman times]], however the name 'Dorking' suggests an [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] origin for the modern settlement. A [[marketplace|market]] is thought to have been held at least weekly since early [[Middle Ages|medieval times]] and was highly regarded for the [[poultry]] traded there. The [[Dorking chicken|Dorking]] breed of [[chicken|domestic chicken]] is named after the town.

The local economy thrived during [[Tudor period|Tudor times]], but declined in the 17th century due to poor infrastructure and competition from neighbouring towns. During the [[early modern period]] many inhabitants were [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformists]], including the author, [[Daniel Defoe]], who lived in Dorking as a child. Six of the ''[[Mayflower]]'' [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]], including [[William Mullins (Mayflower passenger)|William Mullins]] and his daughter [[Priscilla Alden|Priscilla]], lived in the town before setting sail for the New World.

Dorking started to expand during the 18th and 19th centuries as transport links improved and farmland to the south of the centre was released for [[home construction|housebuilding]]. The new [[turnpike trust|turnpike]], and later the [[railway]]s, facilitated the sale of [[lime (material)|lime]] produced in the town, but also attracted wealthier residents, who had had no previous connection to the area. Residential expansion continued in the first half of the 20th century, as the [[Deepdene House and Gardens|Deepdene]] and [[Denbies]] estates began to be broken up. Further development is now constrained by the [[Metropolitan Green Belt]], which encircles the town.

==Toponymy==
The origins and meaning of the name Dorking are uncertain.<ref name=Briggs>{{cite journal |first=Rob |last=Briggs |title=Dorking, Surrey |journal=Journal of the English Place-Name Society |volume=50 |year=2018 |pages=17–54 |url=https://www.academia.edu/42705068 |access-date=28 September 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101918/https://www.academia.edu/42705068/Dorking_Surrey |url-status=live}}</ref> Early spellings include ''Dorchinges'' (1086),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |title=Surrey Domesday Book |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715015325/http://www.gwp.enta.net/surrnames.htm |archive-date=15 July 2007}}</ref> ''Doreking'' (1138–47),<ref name=Briggs/> ''Dorkinges'' (1180),<ref name=Ekwall_Dictionary>{{harvnb|Ekwall|1940|p=142}}</ref> and ''Dorkingg'' (1219).<ref name=Briggs/> Both principal elements in the name are disputed. The first element may be from a personal name, ''Deorc'', or some variant, of either [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] or [[Old English]] origin. Alternatively it may derive from the Brittonic words ''Dorce'', a river name meaning "clear, bright stream", or ''duro'', meaning a "fort", "walled town" or "gated place".<ref name=Briggs/><ref name=Gover_1934_pp269-270>{{harvnb|Gover|Mawer|Stenton|1934|pp=269–270}}</ref> The second element, if originally plural ({{Non breaking hyphen}}''ingas''), might mean "(settlement belonging to the) followers of ...", but if singular ({{Non breaking hyphen}}''ing'') might mean "place", "stream", "wood" or "clump".<ref name=Briggs/>

==Geography==
===Location and topography===
{{maplink |frame=yes |frame-width=300 |frame-height=300 |frame-lat=SWITCH:51.2315,51.228,51.224 |frame-long=SWITCH:-0.3329,-0.3250,-0.328 |type=shape-inverse |id= Q961824 |stroke-width= 4 |stroke-opacity= 0.6 |fill= #000000 |fill-opacity= 0.05 |zoom=SWITCH:16,13,10 |switch=Pump Corner, whole town, Mole Valley district}}
Dorking is in central Surrey, about {{cvt|21|mi|km|sigfig=2}} south of [[Charing Cross|London]] and {{cvt|10|mi|km|sigfig=2}} east of [[Guildford]]. It is close to the intersection of two valleys – the north-south Mole Gap (where the [[River Mole]] cuts through the [[North Downs]]) and the west–east [[Vale of Holmesdale]] (a narrow strip of low-lying land between the North Downs and the [[Greensand Ridge]]).<ref name=Crocker_1990_p20>{{harvnb|Crocker|1990|p=20}}</ref><ref name=Bright_1884_p11>{{harvnb|Bright|1884|p=11}}</ref> The highest point in the town is the [[Glory Wood and Devil's Den|Glory Wood]], south east of the centre, where the summit ({{cvt|137|m|ft|sigfig=3}}) is marked by a [[Bronze Age]] [[bowl barrow]].<ref name=NHLE_Glory_Wood_bowl_barrow>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1007881|desc=Bowl barrow in The Glory Wood}}</ref>

The basic plan of the town centre has not changed since [[Middle Ages|medieval times]] (and may be [[Anglo-Saxon]] in origin).<ref name=Robertson_2004>{{cite web |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-726-1/dissemination/pdf/dorking/dorking_eus_report.pdf |title=Extensive Urban Survey of Surrey: Dorking |last=Robertson |first=Jane |date=August 2004 |orig-year=2002 |publisher=Surrey County Archaeological Unit |access-date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102144/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-726-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2Fdorking%2Fdorking_eus_report.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The main streets (the High Street, West Street and South Street) meet at Pump Corner, forming a "<span style="{{Transform-rotate|270}}">&nbsp;Y&nbsp;</span>" shape.<ref name=Bright_1884_p13>{{harvnb|Bright|1884|p=13}}</ref><ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp15-16>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=15–16}}</ref> Together, West Street and the High Street run approximately west–east, paralleling the [[Pipp Brook]], a tributary of the Mole, which runs to the north of the centre.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp11-13>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=11–13}}</ref>

The town is surrounded by the [[Metropolitan Green Belt]] (which also covers the Glory Wood) and is bordered on three sides by the [[Surrey Hills National Landscape]]. Several [[Site of Special Scientific Interest|Sites of Special Scientific Interest]] are close by, including the [[Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment]], immediately to the north.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/land-planning-and-development/interactive-map |title=Surrey Interactive Map |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=29 November 2013 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=3 January 2021 |archive-date=13 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213055927/https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/land-planning-and-development/interactive-map |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] owns several properties in the area, including [[Box Hill, Surrey|Box Hill]],<ref name=NT_Box_Hill>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/box-hill |title=Box Hill |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=National Trust |access-date=3 January 2021 |archive-date=15 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815042046/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/box-hill |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Leith Hill|Leith Hill Tower]]<ref name=NT_Leith_Hill_Tower>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/leith-hill-tower-and-countryside |title=Leith Hill Tower and Countryside |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=National Trust |access-date=3 January 2021 |archive-date=19 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819024359/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/leith-hill-tower-and-countryside |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Polesden Lacey]].<ref name=NT_Polesden>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/polesden-lacey |title=Polesden Lacey |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=National Trust |access-date=3 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102103859/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/polesden-lacey |url-status=live}}.</ref>

===Geology===
[[File:Western_Weald_geology_cross_section.png|thumb|Simplified geological cross section of the western Weald, showing how the land was uplifted to form the [[Weald–Artois Anticline|Weald-Artois anticline]] (dashed lines) and the strata as they are today (solid lines)]]

The rock [[stratum|strata]] on which Dorking sits, belong primarily to the [[Lower Greensand Group]]. This group is multilayered and includes the sandy Hythe Beds, the clayey Sandgate Beds and the quartz-rich Folkestone Beds.<ref name=Dines_1933_11-13>{{harvnb|Dines|Edmunds|Chatwin|Stubblefield|1933|pp=11–13}}</ref> The lower greensand was deposited in the [[early Cretaceous]], most likely in a [[anoxic waters|shallow sea with low oxygen levels]]. Over the subsequent 50 million years, other strata were deposited on top of the Lower Greensand, including [[Gault|Gault clay]], [[Upper Greensand Formation|Upper Greensand]] and the [[chalk]] of the North and South Downs.<ref>{{harvnb|Gallois|Edmunds|1965|pp=35–40}}</ref>

Following the [[Cretaceous]], the sea covering the south of England began to retreat and the land was pushed higher. The [[Weald]] (the area covering modern-day south Surrey, south Kent, north Sussex and east Hampshire) was lifted by [[Alpine orogeny|the same geological processes that created the Alps]], resulting in an [[anticline]] which stretched across the [[English Channel]] to the [[Artois|Artois region]] of northern France.<ref>{{harvnb|Gallois|Edmunds|1965|pp=51–53}}</ref> Initially an island, this [[Weald–Artois Anticline|dome-like structure]] was drained by the ancestors of the rivers which today cut through the North and South Downs, including the Mole.<ref>{{harvnb|Gallois|Edmunds|1965|pp=74–77}}</ref> The dome was eroded away over the course of the [[Cenozoic]], exposing the strata beneath and resulting in the [[escarpment]]s of the Downs and the Greensand Ridge.<ref>{{harvnb|Gallois|Edmunds|1965|pp=71–72}}</ref>

In Dorking, the dividing line between the Lower Greensand and Gault clay is marked by the course of the Pipp Brook. In the south of the town, the Hythe Beds take the form of [[Iron-rich sedimentary rocks|iron-rich]], soft, [[grain size|fine-grained]] sandstone,<ref>{{harvnb|Dines|Edmunds|Chatwin|Stubblefield|1933|pp=47–51}}</ref> whereas the Sandgate Beds have a more [[loam]]y composition.<ref>{{harvnb|Dines|Edmunds|Chatwin|Stubblefield|1933|pp=58–59}}</ref> The [[quartz|quartz-rich]] Folkestone Beds have a lower iron content, and contain veins of [[silver sand]] and rose-coloured [[iron-rich sedimentary rocks|ferruginous]] sand.<ref>{{harvnb|Dines|Edmunds|Chatwin|Stubblefield|1933|pp=73–74}}</ref> Running along the north bank of the Pipp Brook (with a width of around {{cvt|200|m|yd|sigfig=1}}) is the outcrop of Gault, a blue-black [[shale|shaly]] clay,<ref>{{harvnb|Dines|Edmunds|Chatwin|Stubblefield|1933|pp=80–82}}</ref> beyond which is a narrow band of Upper Greensand, a hard, grey [[mica|mica-rich]] sandstone.<ref>{{harvnb|Dines|Edmunds|Chatwin|Stubblefield|1933|pp=84–87}}</ref> In the extreme north west of the town, the [[marl]]y Lower Chalk was quarried for [[Lime (material)|lime production]] until the early 20th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Dines|Edmunds|Chatwin|Stubblefield|1933|pp=97–99}}</ref>

[[Ammonoidea|Ammonite fossils]] are found in the north of the town, including ''[[Stoliczkia]]'', ''[[Callihoplites]]'', ''[[Acanthoceras (ammonite)|Acanthoceras]]'' and ''[[Euomphaloceras]]'' species in the Lower Chalk and ''[[Puzosia]]'' species in the Upper Greensand.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kennedy |first1=William James |year=1969 |title=The correlation of the Lower Chalk of south-east England |journal=Proceedings of the Geologists' Association |volume=80 |issue=4 |pages=459–560 |doi=10.1016/S0016-7878(69)80033-7|bibcode=1969PrGA...80..459K }}</ref> [[Foraminifera]] fossils have been found in the Hythe Beds adjacent to the Horsham road, to the west of Tower Hill.<ref>{{harvnb|Dines|Edmunds|Chatwin|Stubblefield|1933|p=118}}</ref>

==History and development==
{{multiple image
 |width=
 |direction=vertical
 |header=South Street, Dorking
 |caption_align=center
 |image1=Dorking South Street 1959.jpg
 |alt1=
 |caption1= {{circa|1959}}
 |image2=South Street, Dorking.jpg
 |alt2=
 |caption2= in 2022
 }}

===Pre-history===
The earliest evidence of human activity in Dorking comes from the [[Mesolithic]] and [[Neolithic]] periods and includes [[stone tool|flint tools]] and [[flake tool|flakes]] found during construction development in South Street.<ref name=SouthSt1>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/land-at-rear-of-72-82-south-street-dorking |title=Land at rear of 72–82 South Street, Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2010 |publisher=Surrey Archaeological Society |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101919/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/land-at-rear-of-72-82-south-street-dorking |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=SouthSt2>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/land-at-rear-of-72-82-south-street-dorking-0 |title=Land at rear of 72–82 South Street, Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2012 |publisher=Surrey Archaeological Society |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101919/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/land-at-rear-of-72-82-south-street-dorking-0 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=HER_Waitrose>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/waitrose-south-street-dorking |title=Waitrose, South Street, Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2014 |publisher=Surrey Archaeological Society |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101920/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/waitrose-south-street-dorking |url-status=live}}</ref> During the rebuilding of the [[Waitrose]] supermarket in South Street in 2013, charred [[hazelnut]] shells, [[radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] to between 8625 and 8465 [[Common Era|BCE]], were discovered.<ref name=RingDitch>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/culture-and-leisure/archaeology/archaeological-unit/spoilheap-publications/bronze-age-ring-ditch |title=A Bronze Age ring-ditch discovered at Waitrose site, Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2016 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101920/https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/culture-and-leisure/archaeology/archaeological-unit/spoilheap-publications/bronze-age-ring-ditch |url-status=live}}</ref> A [[ring ditch]] containing two ceramic [[Urn#Cremation urns|urns]], was also found.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/1028768-2/ |title=An Exciting Excavation in South Street, Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2016 |publisher=Exploring Surrey's Past |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=16 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716005444/http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/1028768-2/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Other ditches identified during the same excavation may indicate the presence of a [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]] [[field system]], although the date of these later earthworks is less certain.<ref name=RingDitch/> Bowl barrows from the same period have been found at the Glory Wood (to the south of the town centre),<ref name=NHLE_Glory_Wood_bowl_barrow/> on Milton Heath (to the west)<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1007882 |desc=Bowl barrow on Milton Heath|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and on Box Hill (to the northeast).<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1007888|desc=Bowl barrow on Box Hill, 250m north-west of Boxhurst|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1007889|desc=Bowl barrow on Box Hill, 230m west of Upper Farm Bungalow|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>{{refn|No evidence of [[Iron Age]] settlement activity has been found in the town centre, however the nearby [[Hillforts in Britain#Iron Age hillforts|hillforts]] at Anstiebury (Leith Hill)<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1007891|desc=Anstiebury Camp: a large multivallate hillfort south-east of Crockers Farm|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hayman |first=H |year=2008 |title=Archaeological excavations at Anstiebury Camp hillfort, Coldharbour, in 1989 and 1991 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-379-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_94/surreyac094_191-207_hayman.pdf |journal=Surrey Archaeological Collections |volume=94 |pages=191–207 |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101922/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-379-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2Fvol_94%2Fsurreyac094_191-207_hayman.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Holmbury Hill]]<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1013183|desc=Holmbury Camp: a small multivallate hillfort north of Three Mile Road|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/5564840 |title=Holmbury Hillfort: An archaeological survey |last1=Hooker |first1=R |last2=English |first2=J |date=2008 |publisher=Surrey Archaeological Society |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101933/https://www.academia.edu/5564840/Archaeological_survey_of_Holmbury_Hillfort_Surrey |url-status=live}}</ref> date from the first century BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thomas |first=MS |year=2010 |title=A re-contextualisation of the prehistoric pottery from the Surrey hillforts of Hascombe, Holmbury and Anstiebury |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-379-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_95/surreyac095_001-033_seager-thomas.pdf |journal=Surrey Archaeological Collections |volume=95 |pages=1–33 |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101938/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-379-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2Fvol_95%2Fsurreyac095_001-033_seager-thomas.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Traces of an Iron Age field system and settlement activity have been observed on [[Mickleham, Surrey#Mickleham Downs|Mickleham Downs]] (about {{cvt|2|mi|km|0}} northeast of Dorking).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/having-a-field-day-with-lidar-in-the-surrey-her/ |title=Having a field day with Lidar in the Surrey HER |last=Salkeld |first=E |date=28 February 2020 |publisher=Exploring Surrey's Past |access-date=25 September 2020 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024120937/https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/having-a-field-day-with-lidar-in-the-surrey-her/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hogg |first=I |year=2019 |title=Activity within the prehistoric landscape of the Surrey chalk downland, Cherkley Court, Leatherhead |journal=Surrey Archaeological Collections |volume=102 |pages=103–129}}</ref>|group=note}}

===Roman and Saxon===
There is thought to have been a settlement at Dorking in Roman times, although its size and extent are unclear. [[Roman currency|Coins]] from the reigns of [[Hadrian]] (117–138 AD), [[Commodus]] (180–192) and [[Claudius Gothicus]] (214–270), as well as tiles and pottery fragments, have been found in the town.<ref name=Robertson_2004/> [[Stane Street (Chichester)|Stane Street]], the [[Roman roads in Britannia|Roman road]] linking London to [[Chichester]], was constructed during the first century AD<ref name=Margary_1948_p46>{{harvnb|Margary|1948|p=46}}</ref> and is thought to have run through Dorking.<ref name=Robertson_2004/> The exact course through the town is not known and no definitive archaeological evidence has been discovered for the route in the {{cvt|3|mi|km|0|adj=on}} gap between the crossing of the River Mole at the Burford Bridge and [[North Holmwood]].<ref name=Robertson_2004/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hall |first=A |year=2006 |title=Searching for Stane Street |journal=Surrey Archaeological Society Bulletin |volume=395 |pages=2–4 |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/SAS395.pdf |access-date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102002/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/SAS395.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> A [[mansio|posting station]] is thought to have been located in the area and sites have been proposed in the town centre,<ref name=Margary_1948_p67>{{harvnb|Margary|1948|p=67}}</ref> at [[Pixham]]<ref name=Robertson_2004/> and at the Burford Bridge, where the road crossed the River Mole.<ref name=Robertson_2004/><ref name=Neale>{{cite journal |author=Neale K |year=1973 |title=Stane Street (Chichester-London): the third mansio |journal=Surrey Archaeological Collections |publisher=Surrey Archaeological Society |volume=69 |pages=207–210 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-379-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_69/surreyac069_207-218_notes.pdf |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101949/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-379-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2Fvol_69%2Fsurreyac069_207-218_notes.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the name Dorking implies a settlement that was well established by the time of the [[Norman Conquest]], archaeological evidence of Saxon activity in the town centre is limited to pottery [[sherds]].<ref name=SouthSt1/><ref name=SouthSt2/><ref name=HER_Waitrose/> Probable Saxon [[cemetery|cemeteries]] have been found close to Yew Tree Road (to the north of the centre)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/ten-acre-field-yew-tree-road-dorking |title=Ten Acre Field, Yew Tree Road, Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2003 |publisher=Surrey Archaeological Society |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101944/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/ten-acre-field-yew-tree-road-dorking |url-status=live}}</ref> and at Vincent Lane (to the west).<ref>{{cite web |url= https://planningapi.agileapplications.co.uk//api/application/document/MOLE/LCT6Q3M5ETYRDWXW53X3MZVXKX |title=Archaeological Assessment on Vincent Works |last=Perry |first=JG |date=July 2009 |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240606213448/https://planningapi.agileapplications.co.uk//api/application/document/MOLE/LCT6Q3M5ETYRDWXW53X3MZVXKX |archive-date= 6 June 2024 }}</ref> In 1817, the so-called "Dorking Hoard" of around 700 [[Penny#England|silver pennies]], dating from the mid-8th to the late-9th centuries, was found near the source of the Pipp Brook on the northern slopes of Leith Hill.<ref name=Combe_1818>{{cite journal |last1=Combe |first1=Taylor |author-link=Taylor Combe |year=1818 |title=An account of some Anglo-Saxon pennies found at Dorking, in Surrey |journal=Archaeologia |volume=19 |pages=109–119 |doi=10.1017/S0261340900022852}}</ref><ref name=Horne_2016_p34>{{harvnb|Horne|2016|p=34}}</ref>{{refn|The [[hoard]] was discovered by a [[plough]]man working at Winterfold Hanger. The [[Coinage in Anglo-Saxon England|coins]] were contained in a fragile wooden box, buried {{cvt|25|-|30|cm|in|0}} beneath the ground. The find included pennies from the reigns of [[Æthelwulf, King of Wessex|Æthelwulf of Wessex]] (839–858), [[Æthelberht, King of Wessex|Æthelberht of Wessex]] (860–866), [[Beornwulf of Mercia]] (823–826), [[Burgred of Mercia]] (852–874) and several other monarchs. Around a third of the coins were donated to the [[British Museum Department of Coins and Medals|British Museum]].<ref name=Combe_1818/><ref name=Horne_2016_p34/>|group=note}} In the late Saxon period, the manor and parish were administered as part of the [[Wotton Hundred]]<ref name=Horne_2016_p57>{{harvnb|Horne|2016|p=57}}</ref> and may have been part of a large royal estate centred on [[Leatherhead]].<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp11-13/>

===Governance===
Dorking appears in [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as the Manor of ''Dorchinges''. It was held by [[William the Conqueror]], who had assumed the lordship in 1075 on the death of [[Edith of Wessex]], widow of [[Edward the Confessor]]. The settlement included one church, three [[Mill (grinding)|mills]] worth 15s 4d, 16 [[plough]]s, [[woodland]] and herbage for 88 [[Domestic pig|hogs]] and {{cvt|3|acre|ha|1}} of [[meadow]]. It [[feudalism|rendered]] £18 per year in 1086. The residents included 38 villagers, 14 smallholders and 4 [[villein]]s, which placed it in the top 20% of settlements in England by population.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp11-13/><ref name=Dorking_Domesday>{{cite web |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ1649/dorking/ |title=Dorking |author=Powell-Smith A |year=2011 |publisher=Open Domesday |access-date=20 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101918/https://opendomesday.org/place/TQ1649/dorking/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In around 1087, [[William II of England|William II]] granted the manor of Dorking to [[William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey|Willam de Warenne]], the first [[Earl of Surrey]], whose descendants have held the [[Lord of the manor|lordship]] almost continuously until the present day.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp11-13/> By the early 14th century, the manor had been divided for administrative purposes into four [[tithing]]s: Eastburgh and Chippingburgh (corresponding respectively to the eastern and western halves of the modern town); Foreignburgh (the area covered by the Holmwoods) and Waldburgh (which would later be renamed [[Capel, Surrey|Capel]]).<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp15-16/> On the death of the seventh Earl, [[John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey|John de Warenne]], in 1347, the manor passed to his [[sibling-in-law|brother-in-law]], [[Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel|Richard Fitzalan]], the third [[Earl of Arundel]]. In 1580 both Earldoms passed through the female line to [[Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel|Phillip Howard]], whose father, [[Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk|Thomas Howard]], had forfeited the title of [[Duke of Norfolk]] and had been executed for his involvement in the [[Ridolfi plot|Ridolfi plot to assassinate Elizabeth I]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|wstitle=Norfolk, Earls and Dukes of|volume=19|page=744}}</ref> The dukedom [[Thomas Howard, 5th Duke of Norfolk|was restored to the family]] in 1660, following the accession of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]].<ref>{{EB1911|wstitle=Arundel, Earls of|volume=2|pages=706–709}}</ref>

[[File:Deepdene (1850) adjusted.jpg|thumb|right|An engraving of Deepdene House (1842) by the illustrator [[Thomas Allom]] (1804–1872)]]

As the status of the de Warennes and their descendants increased, they became less interested in the town. In the 14th and 15th centuries, prominent local families (including the Sondes and the Goodwyns) were able to buy the leases on some of the lordship lands.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_p21>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|p=21}}</ref><ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp23-24>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=23–24}}</ref> One such area was the Deepdene, first mentioned in a [[manorial roll|court roll]] of 1399. This woodland was held by several tenants, before being inherited in 1652 by Charles Howard, the fourth son of the [[Henry Howard, 15th Earl of Arundel|15th Earl of Arundel]], in whose family it remained until 1790. The estate was expanded by successive owners, including the Anglo-Dutch banker [[Thomas Hope (banker, born 1769)|Thomas Hope]] and his eldest son [[Henry Thomas Hope]], who commissioned [[William Atkinson (architect)|William Atkinson]] to remodel the main house as a "sumptuous High Renaissance palazzo".<ref name=Mercer_Deepdene>{{cite journal |last=Mercer |first=D |year=1977 |title=The Deepdene, Dorking – Rise and Decline Through Six Centuries |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-379-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_71/surreyac071_111-138_mercer.pdf |journal=Surrey Archaeological Collections |volume=71 |pages=111–138 |doi=10.5284/1069034 |access-date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102017/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-379-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2Fvol_71%2Fsurreyac071_111-138_mercer.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|Similarly, in 1448 Sir [[Thomas Browne (died 1460)|Thomas Browne, Sheriff of Kent]], purchased the manor of West Betchworth, which included [[Betchworth Castle]]. Browne converted the castle into a fortified house, in which his family and [[Browne baronets#Browne baronets, of Betchworth Castle (1627)|their descendants]] lived until the 1830s, when it was bought by Henry Thomas Hope and added to the Deepdene estate.<ref name=Malden_1911_pp141-150/> Hope dismantled much of the castle (which was in a poor state of repair) leaving the ruins visible today.<ref name=Mercer_Deepdene/> The remains are protected by a Grade II listing.<ref name=Betchworth_Castle_NHLE>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1378073|desc=Ruins of Betchworth Castle|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>|group=note}}

Unlike the neighbouring towns of Guildford and [[Reigate]], Dorking was never granted a [[Ancient borough#Town and manor|Borough Charter]] and remained under the control of the Lord of the Manor throughout the Middle Ages.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp15-16/> [[Tudor period#Local government|Reforms during the Tudor period]] reduced the importance of [[manorial court]]s and the day-to-day administration of towns such as Dorking became the responsibility of the [[vestry]] of the parish church.<ref name=Kümin_1996_pp250-255>{{harvnb|Kümin|1996|pp=250–255}}</ref><ref name=Ettinger_1991_p25>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|p=25}}</ref> There was little change in local government structure over the subsequent three centuries, until the [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834]] transferred responsibility for [[poor relief]] to the [[Poor Law Commission]], whose local powers were delegated to the newly formed [[poor law union]] in 1836.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp58-60>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=58–60}}</ref>{{refn|The Dorking Union was responsible in for poor relief in the parish of Dorking (which included Holmwood, Westcott and Coldharbour) and also the parishes of Abinger, Capel, Effingham, Mickleham, Newdigate, Ockley and Wootton.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp58-60/>|group=note}} In 1841, the Dorking Union constructed a new [[workhouse]], south of the town centre, designed by William Shearburn. The entrance block still stands and is now part of Dorking Hospital.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Dorking/ |title=Dorking, Surrey |last=Higginbotham |first=Peter |year=2020 |publisher=The Workhouse: Story of an institution |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102000/http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Dorking/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

A [[local board of health]] (LBH) was established in Dorking in 1881 to administer [[hard infrastructure|infrastructure]] including roads, street lighting and drainage. The LBH organised the first regular domestic [[waste collection|refuse collection]] and, by mid-1888, had created a new [[sewerage|sewerage system]] (including a [[sewage treatment|treatment works]] at Pixham).<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp81-82>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=81–82}}</ref><ref name=Malden_1911_pp141-150>{{harvnb|Malden|1911|pp=141–150}}</ref> The [[Local Government Act 1888]] transferred many administrative responsibilities to the newly formed [[Surrey County Council]] and was followed by an [[Local Government Act 1894|1894 Act]] that created the Dorking Urban District Council (UDC).<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp81-82/><ref name=Malden_1911_pp141-150/> Initially the offices of the UDC were in South Street,<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp81-82/> but in 1931 the Council moved to Pippbrook House, a [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] country house to the north east of the town centre, designed as a private residence by [[George Gilbert Scott]] in 1856.<ref name=Pippbrook_NHLE>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1028875|desc=Pippbrook House|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref name=Raine_Pippbrook>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/pippbrook-house-2/ |title=Pippbrook House |last1=Raine |first1=Doreen |last2=Docking |first2=Jim |year=2015 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=29 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101954/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/pippbrook-house-2/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|Pippbrook House is a Grade II*-listed building.<ref name=Pippbrook_NHLE/>|group=note}}

The [[Local Government Act 1972]] created [[Mole Valley|Mole Valley District Council]] (MVDC), by combining the UDCs of Dorking and Leatherhead with the majority of the Dorking and Horley Rural District. In 1984, the new council moved into purpose-built offices, designed by Michael Innes, at the east end of the town.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p103>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|p=103}}</ref>

===Transport and communications===
{{Annotated image
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|caption=Extract from ''Twenty Four Miles Round London'' (1820) by William Mogg showing the turnpike road running through Dorking
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Following the [[end of Roman rule in Britain]], there appears to have been no systematic planning of transport infrastructure in the local area for over a [[millennium]]. During Saxon times, the section of Stane Street between Dorking and [[Ockley]] was bypassed by the longer route via [[Coldharbour, Surrey|Coldharbour]] and the upper surface of the Roman road was most likely quarried to provide stone for local building projects.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp37-38>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=37–38}}</ref> Two routes linked the town to London, the first via the Mole crossing at Burford Bridge to Leatherhead{{refn|In the late 17th century the Burford Bridge was a [[footbridge]] and wheeled traffic was required to cross the Mole via the adjacent [[ford (crossing)|ford]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bouchard |first1=Brian E |year=2019 |title=The route of Stane Street through Ashtead: a missing link |url=https://leatherheadhistoryarchive.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/VOL_8_NO_1_1-09.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the Leatherhead & District Local History Society |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=1–9 |access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref>|group=note}} and the second, the "Winter Road", climbed the south-facing scarp slope of Box Hill from Boxhurst and ran northeastwards to meet the London-Brighton road at [[Tadworth]].<ref name=Overell_1991_pp37-38/>{{refn|Much of this "Winter Road" route is now Box Hill Road and the B2032.|group=note}}

The development of Guildford ({{cvt|12|mi|km}} to the west) was stimulated by the construction of the [[Wey and Godalming Navigations|Wey Navigation]] in the 1650s.<ref>{{cite web <!-- Citation bot bypass--> |url= http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-327-1/dissemination/html/weymain.html |first=Christopher K |last=Currie |title=A Historical and Archaeological Assessment of the Wey and Godalming Navigations and their Visual Envelopes |publisher=The National Trust |date=September 1996 |doi=10.5284/1006440 |access-date=17 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101957/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-327-1%2Fdissemination%2Fhtml%2Fweymain.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In contrast, although several schemes were proposed to make the Mole navigable, none were enacted<ref name=Vine_1986>{{harvnb|Vine|1986|pp=6–7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/papers/law-bogart.pdf |title=Political Institutions and the Emergence of Regulatory Commitment in England: Evidence from Road and River Improvement Authorities, 1600–1750 |author=Bogart D |date=August 2007 |publisher=International Institute of Social History |access-date=7 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608072734/http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/papers/law-bogart.pdf |archive-date=8 June 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> and transport links to Dorking remained poor. As a result, the local economy began to suffer and the town declined through the late 17th and early 18th centuries.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp37-38/>

The [[turnpike trust|turnpike road]] through Dorking was authorised by the [[Sussex and Surrey Roads Act 1755]] ([[28 Geo. 2]] c. 45).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/the-turnpike-road/ |title=The Turnpike Road |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=4 June 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=17 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101951/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/the-turnpike-road/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|The route of the road across Holmwood Common was later altered and other improvements were made under the [[Horsham and Dorking Turnpike Road Act 1858]] ([[21 & 22 Vict.]] c. xlix). Turnpikes south from Horsham to [[Steyning]] and [[Worthing]] were constructed in 1764 and 1802 respectively.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp39-40>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=39–40}}</ref>|group=note}}{{refn|[[Tollhouse]]s were provided at "Giles Green" (close to the intersection of the [[A24 road (England)|A24]] and the [[North Downs Way]]) and at the "Harrow Gate" (close to the junction of the A2003 and Hampstead Road). In 1857, the "Harrow Gate" tollhouse was moved further south to Flint Hill. Its approximate position is the present-day junction between Tollgate Road and the A2003.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp39-40/>|group=note}} The new turnpike dramatically improved the accessibility of the town from the capital and a report from 1765 noted both that the Thursday grain market had increased in size and that the local flour mills were significantly busier.<ref>{{harvnb|Pawson|1977|pp=329–330}}</ref> A [[mail coach]] operated return journeys between Dorking and London six days per week and several [[stagecoach]]es used the route daily until the mid-19th century.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp47-48>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=47–48}}</ref> In contrast, the east{{endash}}west Reigate{{endash}}Guildford road remained the responsibility of the parishes through which it ran and only minimal improvements were made before the start of the 20th century.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp39-40/>

[[File:Deepdene railway station geograph-2673321-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|right|Dorking Deepdene railway station (then known simply as "Deepdene"), photographed in June 1964]]

The [[North Downs Line|first railway line]] to reach Dorking was the [[South Eastern Railway (England)#Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway|Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway (RG&RR)]], authorised by Acts of Parliament in 1846, 1847 and 1849.<ref name=Course_1987_p-xxiv>{{harvnb|Course|1987|p=xxiv}}</ref> Dorking station (now {{stnlink|Dorking West}}) was opened in 1849 northwest of the town, initially as a temporary terminus for trains from {{rws|Reigate}}.<ref name=Course_1987_p-xlviii>{{harvnb|Course|1987|p=xlviii}}</ref> Local residents had expressed a preference for the station to be sited closer to the town centre at Meadowbank, but since the line passed through a deep cutting at this point it was deemed impractical to provide the necessary freight facilities at this location.<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_11>{{harvnb|Jackson|1988|p=11}}</ref> Two years later a second station, now known as {{rws|Dorking Deepdene}}, was opened on the same line.<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_17>{{harvnb|Jackson|1988|p=17}}</ref>{{refn|Dorking Deepdene station was originally named "Box Hill and Leatherhead Road".<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_17/>|group=note}}

The [[Sutton and Mole Valley lines|second railway line]] to serve the town was authorised by Acts of Parliament in 1862 and 1864<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_27-28>{{harvnb|Jackson|1988|pp=27–28}}</ref> and was opened by the [[London, Brighton and South Coast Railway]] in 1867.<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_33-34>{{harvnb|Jackson|1988|pp=33–34}}</ref><ref name=Dendy_Marshall>{{harvnb|Dendy Marshall|1968|p=223}}</ref> A west-south connecting spur to the RG&RR was provided on opening, but was removed around 1900, before being briefly restored between 1941 and 1946 as a wartime resilience measure.<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_27-28/>{{refn|In 1923 the Southern Railway proposed a north-east spur to link the town's two railway lines. The necessary land was purchased and parliamentary approval was obtained, but no construction work took place.<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_27-28/>|group=note}}

{{rws|Dorking||Dorking station}} was provided with extensive goods facilities, a locomotive yard and a turntable (later the site of the car park).<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_33-34/> It was built with two platforms, but a third was added in 1925, when the railway line was [[Railway electrification in Great Britain|electrified]] from {{rws|Leatherhead}}.<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_37-38>{{harvnb|Jackson|1988|pp=37–38}}</ref>{{refn|Electrification was extended to {{rws|Horsham}} in 1938.<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_37-38/>|group=note}} The original building was demolished in 1980 and was replaced by a larger structure, designed by Gordon Lavington, which integrated the station with offices for [[Biwater]].<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_42>{{harvnb|Jackson|1988|p=42}}</ref>

In the late 1920s, improvements were made to the Dorking-Reigate road (now the A25), including the construction of Deepdene Bridge over the River Mole.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Reigate-Dorking Road: Last section opened yesterday |date=20 May 1927 |page=11 |issue=44586}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2227491 |title=Plaque, Deepdene Bridge |last1=Capper |first1=I |year=2010 |work=TQ1850 |publisher=Geograph Britain and Ireland |access-date=2 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019112608/http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2227491 |archive-date=19 October 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[bypass (road)|bypass road]] (now the A24) was opened in 1934<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Dorking By-pass Road: Open to traffic to-day at noon |date=2 June 1934 |page=11 |issue=46770}}</ref> following considerable local opposition to the route, which cut through the Deepdene estate.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Dorking By-pass Road: Opposition to present scheme |date=4 May 1929 |page=9 |issue=45194}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Dorking By-pass Schemes: Conflict of views at town's meeting |date=13 December 1929 |page=8 |issue=45385}}</ref>

===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/>

===Residential development===
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Although the turnpike road through Dorking had been constructed in the 1750s,<ref name=Overell_1991_pp39-40/> the built-up part of the town had changed little by the start of the 19th century.<ref name=Brigham_1997>{{cite journal |last1=Brigham |first1=Allan |year=1997 |title=Rose Hill – adapted from nature: the making of a new townscape – the first residential estate in Dorking |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%205-4.pdf |journal=Surrey History |volume=V |issue=4 |pages=194–211 |access-date=22 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101954/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%205-4.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Most of the local professional class and wealthier tradesmen lived along the three main streets (the High Street, West Street and South Street), whilst the often crowded houses of artisans and labourers tended to be in the narrower lanes and alleys. Poor [[sanitation]] was still a major problem for the poorer residents and, in 1832, a [[cholera outbreak]] was recorded in Ebenezer Place (north of the High Street), where 46 people were crammed into nine cottages.<ref name=Brigham_1997/>

Nevertheless, Dorking was beginning to attract more affluent residents, many of whom had accumulated their wealth as businessmen in London. Charles Barclay (a [[Southwark]] brewery owner) and the bankers [[Joseph Denison (banker)|Joseph Denison]] and [[Thomas Hope (banker, born 1769)|Thomas Hope]] (none of whom had any previous connection with the area) purchased the estates at Bury Hill, Denbies and Deepdene respectively. Higher-status individuals living closer to the town centre included [[William Crawford (London MP)|William Crawford]], the [[City of London]] MP, and [[Jane Elizabeth Leslie, 12th Countess of Rothes|Jane Leslie]], the Dowager Countess of Rothes.<ref name=Brigham_1997/> Although the incoming landowners played little part in local commerce, they appear to have been the driving force behind schemes to [[road surface|pave streets]] and to provide [[gas lighting]] (both paid for by [[subscription (finance)|public subscription]]).<ref name=Jackson_1991_p80>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|p=80}}</ref>

[[File:Arch Leading to Rose Hill - geograph.org.uk - 108529.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The mock-Tudor arch leading from South Street to Rose Hill]]

Rose Hill, the first planned residential estate in Dorking, was developed by William Newland, a wealthy Guildford surgeon, who also had interests in the [[Wey and Arun Canal]]. Newland purchased the "Great House" on Butter Hill and the surrounding {{cvt|6.5|ha|acre|sigfig=1}} of land in 1831, which he divided into [[land lot|plots]] for 24 houses, arranged around a central [[paddock]], known as "The Oval". The Great House was divided into two separate dwellings (Butter Hill House and Rose Hill House), adjacent to which a mock-Tudor arch was erected over the main carriageway entrance from South Street. Initially sales were slow, but the proposals for the building of the railway line from Redhill stimulated interest in the development in the late 1840s. Although most of the purchasers were private individuals (the majority of whom had been born outside of the local area), the Dorking [[Quakers|Society of Friends]] bought one of the plots in 1845 for the construction of a [[Friends meeting house|meeting house]].<ref name=Brigham_1997/><ref name=Humphreys_2002_31>{{harvnb|Humphreys|2002|p=31}}</ref> By 1861 the estate was complete.<ref name=Brigham_1997/>

The arrival of the railway in 1849 catalysed the expansion of the town to the south and west. Between 1850 and 1870, the National Freehold Land Society was responsible for housing developments in Arundel and Howard Roads, as well as around Tower Hill. Poorer quality houses were built along Falkland and Hampstead Roads (many of which were replaced in the 1960s and 1970s). Holloway Farm was sold in 1870 and the first houses in Knoll, Roman and Ridgeway Roads were constructed before 1880. Houses in Cliftonville (named after its promoter, Joseph Clift, a local [[pharmacist|chemist]]) were also built around the same time.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p75>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|p=75}}</ref> To the north of the High Street, smaller [[semi-detached]] and [[terraced house]]s were constructed in the 1890s for artisans in Rothes Road, Ansell Road, Wathen Road, Hart Road and Jubilee Terrace.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p75/>

No significant residential expansion took place in Dorking in the first two decades of the 20th century. In the 1920s and 1930s, the breakup of the Deepdene and Pippbrook estates (and the electrification of the railway line from Leatherhead) stimulated housebuilding to the north and east of the town, including Deepdene Vale and Deepdene Park.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp90-92>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=90–92}}</ref><ref name=Dorkings_Railways_52>{{harvnb|Jackson|1988|p=52}}</ref> The sale of part of Bradley Farm (part of the Denbies estate) in the 1930s, enabled the building of Ashcombe, Keppel and Calvert Roads. The Dorking UDC intended to build housing on the rest of the farm (now [[Denbies Wine Estate]]), however their plans were interrupted by the [[World War II|outbreak of war]] and were ultimately prevented by the creation of the [[Metropolitan Green Belt]].<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp90-92/>

[[File:Linden Lea, Goodwyns Estate, Dorking (July 2013).JPG|thumb|upright|The 14-storey Linden Lea tower block was built as part of the [[Goodwyns]] estate in 1965.]]

The first [[council house|council housing]] was built in Dorking by the UDC in Nower Road in 1920 and similar developments took place in Marlborough and Beresford Roads later the same decade. In 1936, the council obtained a [[slum clearance in the United Kingdom|Slum Clearance Order]] to demolish 81 properties in Church Street, North Street, Cotmandene and the surrounding areas. In total 217 residents were displaced, many of whom were rehoused by the UDC in the Fraser Gardens estate, designed by the architect [[George Grey Wornum]].{{refn|The Fraser Gardens estate was named after [[Sir Malcolm Fraser, 1st Baronet|Sir Malcolm Fraser]] of Pixham, who donated the funds to purchase the land from the Denbies estate.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp92-93>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=92–93}}</ref><ref name=Times_Fraser_Gardens>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=New Cottages at Dorking |date=19 January 1938 |page=9 |issue=47896}}</ref>|group=note}} The Chart Downs estate to the southeast of the town was built between 1948 and 1952.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp92-93/><ref name=Times_Fraser_Gardens/>

Controversially,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Flats rejected |work=Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=3 November 1960 |issue=32829 |page=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Flats in Green Belt approved |work=Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=15 November 1961 |issue=33149 |page=20}}</ref> in the late 1950s and 1960s, Dorking UDC constructed the [[Goodwyns]] estate on land [[compulsory purchase in England and Wales|compulsorily purchased]] from Howard Martineau, a major local benefactor to the town. The initial designs were by Clifford Culpin and the project was subsequently developed by William Ryder, who was responsible for the erection of the Wenlock Edge and Linden Lea [[tower blocks in Great Britain|tower blocks]].<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp92-93/> Both the design of the buildings and the layout of the estate were praised in the early 1970s by architectural historians [[Ian Nairn]] and [[Nikolaus Pevsner]].<ref name="Pevsner198">{{Harvnb|Nairn|Pevsner|1971|p=198}}</ref>

===Religion===

The first mention of a church at Dorking occurs in Domesday Book of 1086.<ref name=Dorking_Domesday/> In around 1140, Isabel de Warenne, the widow of the [[William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey|second Earl of Surrey]], granted the church and a [[tithe]] of the rents from the manor to [[Lewes Priory]] in Sussex. In the 1190s, the tithe was converted to a pension of £6, which was paid annually to the Priory until at least 1291.<ref name=Blair_church>{{cite journal |last=Blair |first=J |year=1980 |title=The Surrey endowments of Lewes Priory before 1200 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-379-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_72/surreyac072_097-126_blair.pdf |journal=Surrey Archaeological Collections |volume=72 |pages=97–126 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101957/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-379-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2Fvol_72%2Fsurreyac072_097-126_blair.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The Priory also acquired the right to appoint the town's priest.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp19-20>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=19–20}}</ref>

[[File:North transept of the Old Church, Dorking.jpg|thumb|The north [[transept]] of the 12th century medieval parish church, demolished {{circa|1830}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hussey |first=Arthur |year=1852 |title=Notes on the Churches in the Counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey |url=https://archive.org/details/notesonchurchesi00hussuoft |location=London |publisher=John Russell Smith |page=8}}</ref>]]

It is unclear where in the town the Domesday church was located. It appears to have been replaced at some point during the 12th century (possibly by Isabel de Warenne) by a large [[Cruciform#Cruciform architectural plan|cruciform building]] with a central tower.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp19-20/> A [[Dedication (ritual)|rededication]] from [[Mary, mother of Jesus|St Mary]] to [[Martin of Tours|St Martin]] may have taken place around the same time.<ref name=Blair_church/> In 1334 the church was granted to the Priory of the Holy Cross in Reigate.<ref name=Wedgwood_1990_p10>{{harvnb|Wedgwood|1990|p=10}}</ref> In the late 14th century a [[clerestory]] and two side [[aisle]]s were added to the [[nave]].<ref name=Wedgwood_1990_p4>{{harvnb|Wedgwood|1990|p=4}}</ref>

The so-called Intermediate Church was constructed in 1835–1837.<ref name=Robertson_2004/><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Dorking: The ceremony of laying the first stone of the new church, now in course of erection |location=London |date=3 November 1835 |issue=15937 |page=2}}</ref> It had a square tower, topped with an octagonal [[spire]], and could seat around 1800 worshippers.<ref name=Dennis_1855_p6>{{harvnb|Dennis|1855|p=6}}</ref> Its floor level was approximately {{cvt|1.8|m|ft|sigfig=1}} higher than that of the church it replaced, allowing the base of the medieval nave to become a [[crypt]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ettinger |first=V |year=1978 |title=Dorking St Martin's Church crypt |journal=Surrey Archaeological Society Bulletin |volume=150 |pages=3–4 |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/SAS150.pdf |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101955/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/SAS150.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1868–1877, the Intermediate Church was rebuilt into the present [[St Martin's Church, Dorking|St Martin's Church]], designed in the [[English Gothic architecture#Decorated Gothic|Decorated Gothic style]] by the architect [[Henry Woodyer]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Dorking parish church |location=London |date=3 November 1874 |issue=28029 |page=8}}</ref><ref name=NHLE_St_Martin>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1028904|desc=Church of St Martin|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> The {{cvt|64|m|ft|adj=on}} spire of the current church was dedicated as a memorial to Bishop [[Samuel Wilberforce]] (who had died in 1873)<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp77-78>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=77–78 }}</ref> and in 1905–1911 the [[Lady chapel]] was added.<ref name=NHLE_St_Martin/>

In order to accommodate the growing population in the south of the town, a second [[Church of England|Anglican church]], St Paul's, was opened in 1857 on land donated by Henry Thomas Hope. Designed by the architect, [[Benjamin Ferrey]], it was built of [[Bath stone]] in the [[English Gothic architecture#Decorated Gothic (late 13th–late 14th centuries)|Decorated Geometric]] style.<ref name=Dennis_1855_p7>{{harvnb|Dennis|1855|p=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=1857 |title=St Paul's Church, Dorking |journal=The Builder |volume=15 |pages=75–755}}</ref> A daughter church to St Martin's, designed by [[Edwin Lutyens]] and dedicated to St Mary, was opened at Pixham in 1903.<ref name=NHLE_Pixham>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1279086|desc=Pixham Church|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref name=Wedgwood_1990_pp126-139>{{harvnb|Wedgwood|1990|pp=126–139}}</ref>

In the two centuries following the passing of the [[Act of Uniformity 1558|1558 Act of Uniformity]], many inhabitants of Dorking embraced more extreme forms of [[protestantism]] and by 1676, the parish (which had a total population of around 1500) contained 200 [[nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformists]].<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp32-33>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=32–33}}</ref> In 1620, six residents, including [[William Mullins (Mayflower passenger)|Williams Mullins]] (a cobbler) and his daughter [[Priscilla Alden|Priscilla]], joined the ''[[Mayflower]]'' to establish a [[English Dissenters|Separatist]] colony in the [[New World]].<ref name=Mayflower400>{{cite web |url=https://www.mayflower400uk.org/news/2020/may/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-dorking/ |title=7 things you didn't know about Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=14 May 2020 |publisher=Mayflower 400 UK |access-date=13 February 2021 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126154725/https://www.mayflower400uk.org/news/2020/may/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-dorking/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mayflowerhistory.com/mullins-william/ |title=William Mullins |last=Johnson |first=Caleb |year=2020 |publisher=MayflowerHistory.com |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102101957/http://mayflowerhistory.com/mullins-william/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mayflowerhistory.com/mullins-priscilla/ |title=Priscilla Mullins |last=Johnson |first=Caleb |year=2020 |publisher=MayflowerHistory.com |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102003/http://mayflowerhistory.com/mullins-priscilla/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|William Mullins, his wife Alice, daughter Priscilla and son Joseph lived at 58–61 West Street with their apprentice, Robert Carter. All five travelled together on the ''Mayflower''.<ref name=Mayflower400/><ref name=ESP_Mullins>{{cite web |url=https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/places/surrey/mole_valley/dorking/dorking_william_mullins_house/ |title=Dorking: William Mullins House |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=31 January 2014 |publisher=Exploring Surrey's Past |access-date=25 January 2021 |archive-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023050228/https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/places/surrey/mole_valley/dorking/dorking_william_mullins_house/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Mullins' house is the only surviving home of a Pilgrim Father in England.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/local-history/famous-dorking-residents/william-mullins/ |title=William Mullins |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1 December 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=7 February 2021 |archive-date=7 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407171133/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/local-history/famous-dorking-residents/william-mullins/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The sixth Dorking resident to join the Pilgrims was [[Peter Browne (Mayflower passenger)|Peter Browne]].<ref name=ESP_Mullins/>|group=note}} During the [[English Civil War|Civil War]], the townsfolk supported the [[roundhead|Parliamentarians]], but although some of [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s soldiers were [[billet]]ed in Dorking, no fighting took place nearby.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp29-31>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=29–31}}</ref>

[[File:Dorking United Reformed Church, West Street, Dorking (NHLE Code 1230093) (July 2013) (7).jpg|thumb|The Grade II listed United Reformed Church, built 1834.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1230093|desc=United Reformed Church}}</ref>]]

[[Christopher Feake]], the [[Fifth Monarchists|Fifth Monarchist]] and independent minister, lived in the town (allegedly under a false identity) following [[Stuart Restoration|The Restoration of the Monarchy]] in 1660. He may have incited some of the more radical residents to violence.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp32-33/><ref name=SAC_Defoe>{{cite journal |author=Bastian F |year=1957 |title=Daniel Defoe and the Dorking District |journal=Surrey Archaeological Collections |volume=55 |pages=41–64 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-379-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_55/surreyac055_041-064_bastian.pdf |access-date=27 September 2020 |doi=10.5284/1068897 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102002/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-379-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2Fvol_55%2Fsurreyac055_041-064_bastian.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Daniel Defoe]], the author of ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'' and a committed [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] throughout his life, was educated in Dorking for five years, {{circa|1669–74}}. He attended a school in Pixham Lane run by Revd James Fisher a non-conformist who had been ejected as Rector of [[Fetcham]].<ref name=SAC_Defoe/> In 1662 Fisher was involved in establishing Dorking Congregational Church, which by the 1690s was meeting in a barn on Butter Hill in South Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dorkingurc.org.uk/church-history/ |title=Church History |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Dorking United Reformed Church |access-date=22 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102009/https://www.dorkingurc.org.uk/church-history/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The present United Reformed Church in West Street, designed by the architect William Hopperton, was built for the group by William Shearburn in 1834.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.explorechurches.org/church/dorking-urc-dorking |title=Dorking URC |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2020 |publisher=Explore Churches |access-date=22 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102006/https://www.explorechurches.org/church/dorking-urc-dorking |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[John Wesley]] visited Dorking a total of nineteen times between 1764 and 1789.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp60-62>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=60–62}}</ref> He opened a [[Methodism|Methodist]] chapel in the town in 1777.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Banks |first1=Joyce |year=2002 |title=Some notes on early Methodism in Surrey |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%206-4.pdf |journal=Surrey History |volume=VI |issue=4 |pages=194–206 |access-date=21 November 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102031/https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%206-4.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> A new church with a spire was built in South Street in 1900, however this building was sold and demolished in 1974. Since 1973, Dorking Methodists have held [[church service|services]] at St Martin's.<ref name=Wedgwood_1990_p108>{{harvnb|Wedgwood|1990|p=108}}</ref>

Although England had become a predominantly [[Protestantism|Protestant]] country during the [[Reformation]], the families of the Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk remained [[Roman Catholic (term)|Catholic]].<ref name=Overell_1991_pp60-62/> The first Catholic church in Dorking was built in the early 1870s on land owned by the fifteenth Duke of Norfolk, [[Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk|Henry Fitzalan-Howard]] and was rebuilt into the present [[St Joseph's Church, Dorking|St Joseph's Church]] in the mid-1890s, by the architect [[Frederick Walters]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Roman-Catholic church opened |location=London |date=27 June 1895 |issue=34614 |page=6}}</ref><ref name=Kelly_1907_p156>{{harvnb|Kelly|1907|p=156}}</ref>

A [[mosque]] was established in Hart Road in 2006. From 1984 the building had been used as a meeting room for the [[Plymouth Brethren]] and was a [[synagogue]] for a time, before being acquired by the Dorking Muslim Community Association.<ref name="WR-76666">{{WorshipReg|id=76666|name=Meeting Room|address=13 Hart Road, Dorking|denom=Christians Not Otherwise Designated|date=13 September 1984|folio=154 |access-date=17 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="MIB-Dorking">{{cite web |url=http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/show-mosque.php?id=2621 |title=Dorking Muslim Community Association |date=18 June 2009 |work=UK Mosque Directory |publisher=Muslims in Britain |access-date=24 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717140459/http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/show-mosque.php?id=2621 |archive-date=17 July 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Dorking in the World Wars===
In late 1914, Dorking became a [[garrison]] town.<ref>{{cite news |last=Edwards |first=Mark |date=11 June 2015 |title=First World War photos show Dorking as garrison town |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/first-world-war-photos-show-9435872 |work=Get Surrey |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=8 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808092818/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/first-world-war-photos-show-9435872 |url-status=live}}</ref> Empty houses were requisitioned and from January 1915 around 4000 troops were accommodated including those from the [[London Scottish (regiment)|London Scottish regiment]], the [[Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles|Civil Service Rifles]] and the [[Queen's Westminsters|Queen's Westminster Rifles]].<ref name=Atherton_2014_pp94-95/> Training took place in the fields to the west and north west of the town.<ref name="Atherton_2014_pp104–110">{{harvnb|Atherton|2014|pp=104–110}}</ref> Many local residents were recruited to the [[Surrey Yeomanry]], which (until mid-1915) was stationed at Deepdene House and at the Public Hall in West Street.<ref name=Atherton_2014_p24>{{harvnb|Atherton|2014|p=24}}</ref><ref name=Atherton_2014_pp94-95>{{harvnb|Atherton|2014|pp=94–95}}</ref> Although he was aged over 40 at the start of the war, the composer [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] enlisted in the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]], one unit of which was based in the town.<ref name="Atherton_2014_pp104–110"/>

Of the many soldiers from Dorking who died during [[World War I]], the youngest was [[Valentine Strudwick]]. He was born in Falkland Road on 14 February 1900 and was educated at St Paul's School. He [[military service|enlisted]] in 1915 after concealing his true age and joined the [[Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)]]. A year later, in January 1916 at the age of 15 years 11 months, he was killed in action at [[Boezinge]], near [[Ypres]]. He is buried at [[Essex Farm Cemetery]] in [[Belgium]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Watkins |first=James |date=22 January 2016 |title=Valentine Joe Strudwick: Dorking remembers one of the youngest WW1 casualties 100 years on |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/valentine-joe-strudwick-dorking-remembers-10770251 |work=Get Surrey |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804201935/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/valentine-joe-strudwick-dorking-remembers-10770251 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/private-valentine-joe-strudwick/ |title=Private Valentine Joe Strudwick |last=Chambers |first=Erica |date=18 January 2021 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925204306/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/private-valentine-joe-strudwick/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:A veteran sergeant in the Dorking Home Guard cleans his Tommy gun at the dining room table, before going on parade, 1 December 1940. H5850.jpg|thumb|right|A veteran sergeant in the Dorking [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] cleaning a [[Thompson submachine gun|Tommy gun]] (December 1940)<ref>{{cite archive |item-url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205195183 |item=The Home Guard: Seated at the dining table with his wife, a Sergeant of the Dorking Home Guard in Surrey, England gives his Tommy gun a final polish before leaving home to go on parade |last=Puttnam |first=Len A |type=photograph |item-id=H 5850 |collection=War Office Second World War official collection |date=1 December 1940 |institution=Imperial War Museum |location=London}}</ref>]]

Empty houses in the town also provided billets for soldiers during [[World War II]] and over 3000 school children were [[evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II|evacuated]] to the Dorking area in September 1939. A local refugee committee (led by Vaughan Williams and the novelist [[E. M. Forster]]) was established to find accommodation for refugees fleeing Nazi persecution and also to support long-resident [[German nationality law|German]] and [[Czech nationality law|Czech nationals]] in applications to [[Home Office]] [[Tribunals in the United Kingdom|tribunals]] to remain at liberty in the UK.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p98-99>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=98–99}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/evacuees-and-refugees/ |title=Evacuees and Refugees |last=Chambers |first=Erica |date=16 July 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128053222/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/evacuees-and-refugees/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

At the start of the war, the fortified [[GHQ Line|GHQ Line B]] was constructed directly to the north of Dorking. This defensive line ran along the North Downs from [[Farnham]] via Guildford, before following the River Mole to [[Horley]]. The banks of the Mole were fortified with [[anti-tank obstacles]], [[pillbox (military)|pillboxes]] and [[coastal artillery|gun emplacements]] and an [[anti-tank trench|anti-tank ditch]] was dug from west to east across Bradley Farm (now Denbies Wine Estate). The town itself was a Class "A" nodal point and from August 1940 the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade (part of the [[VII Corps (United Kingdom)|VII Corps]]) was assigned to its defence.<ref name=Aspects_2004_pp246-248>{{harvnb|Cotton|Crocker|Graham|2004|pp=246–248}}</ref><ref name=DA12>{{cite web |url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue//adsdata/arch-455-1/dissemination/pdf/Text_Reports/DA12_TEXT_-_DORKING_GAP.pdf |title=Defence Area 12: Dorking Gap |author=Foot W |year=2009 |work=Defence Areas: a national study of Second World War anti-invasion landscapes in England |publisher=English Heritage |access-date=11 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811042351/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue//adsdata/arch-455-1/dissemination/pdf/Text_Reports/DA12_TEXT_-_DORKING_GAP.pdf |archive-date=11 August 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Pippbrook House (the then offices of the Dorking UDC) became a mobilisation centre and housed an [[Air Raid Precautions in the United Kingdom|ARP]] post as well as the local branch of the [[Royal Voluntary Service|Women's Voluntary Service]].<ref name=Raine_Pippbrook/>

Over the course of the war, 77 [[bomb|high-explosive bombs]] and 60 [[Incendiary device|incendiaries]] were dropped by the ''[[Luftwaffe]]'', however only one incident (in October 1940) resulted in fatalities in the town.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p98-99/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/wartime-incidents/ |title=Wartime incidents |last=Chambers |first=Erica |date=19 July 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128043430/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/wartime-incidents/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the war, at least two [[Covenanter tank]]s were buried at Bradley Farm. The first was excavated and restored in 1977 and is now on display at [[The Tank Museum]] at [[Bovington Camp|Bovington]] in [[Dorset]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/a13-cruiser-mkIII-mkV-covenanter-tank-bovington.html |title=The Covenanter A13 Mk.III Cruiser Mark V tank |last=Moore |first=Craig |publisher=tank-hunter.com |access-date=17 January 2021 |archive-date=20 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720032715/http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/a13-cruiser-mkIII-mkV-covenanter-tank-bovington.html |url-status=live}}</ref> A second was excavated in 2017 for the archaeology programme ''WW2 Treasure Hunters'', presented by the musician [[Suggs (singer)|Suggs]] on the TV channel [[History (European TV channel)|HISTORY]]. The tank was displayed at the vineyard for six months, before being removed for restoration.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ballinger |first=Chris |date=5 December 2017 |title=Second World War tank discovered at Dorking vineyard taken away to be fully restored |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/second-world-war-tank-discovered-13997831 |work=Get Surrey |access-date=11 January 2021 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114105805/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/second-world-war-tank-discovered-13997831 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==National and local government==
===UK parliament===
As of 2024, Dorking is in the [[Dorking and Horley (UK Parliament constituency)|Dorking and Horley parliamentary constituency]].

===County council===
Councillors are elected to [[Surrey County Council]] every four years. The town is divided between two main wards. The villages to the south east of Dorking are in a third ward:
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|First Elected!!Member<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0 |title=Your Councillors by Division |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 February 2021 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=11 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511014133/https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0 |url-status=live }}</ref>!!
Ward
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
|1993
|Hazel Watson<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=192 |title=Mrs Hazel Watson |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 February 2021 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929082438/https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=192 |url-status=live}}</ref> ||Dorking Hills (includes Pixham and all parts of the town north of West Street, the High Street and Reigate Road)<ref name=SCC_wards>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/elections-and-local-democracy/county-council-elections/electoral-divisions-map |title=Electoral divisions map |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=3 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102005/https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/elections-and-local-democracy/county-council-elections/electoral-divisions-map |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
|2005
|Stephen Cooksey<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=132 |title=Mr Stephen Cooksey |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 February 2021 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929081939/https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=132 |url-status=live}}</ref>||Dorking South and the Holmwoods (includes the Goodwyns estate and all parts of the town south of West Street, the High Street and Reigate Road)<ref name=SCC_wards/>
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
|2001
|Helyn Clack<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=130 |title=Mrs Helyn Clack |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 February 2021 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929074930/https://mycouncil.surreycc.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=130 |url-status=live}}</ref> ||Dorking Rural (includes [[Brockham]] and other villages southeast of Dorking)<ref name=SCC_wards/>
|-
|}

===District council===
[[File:Pippbrook (geograph 5534840).jpg|thumb|upright|Entrance to Pippbrook, the offices of Mole Valley District Council in Reigate Road]]

Five councillors represent the town on [[Mole Valley]] District Council (the headquarters of which are in Dorking):

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/home/council/councillors/who-are-your-councillors |title=Who are your Councillors |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=2020 |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209162049/https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/home/council/councillors/who-are-your-councillors |url-status=live }}</ref>!!
Ward
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
|2008
|Paul Elderton<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-paul-elderton |title=Cllr Paul Elderton |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024000819/https://molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-paul-elderton |url-status=live}}</ref> ||rowspan=2|Dorking North
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
|2016
|David Draper<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-david-draper |title=Cllr David Draper |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024004612/https://molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-david-draper |url-status=live}}</ref> 
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
|1992
|Stephen Cooksey<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-stephen-cooksey |title=Cllr Stephen Cooksey |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023235822/https://molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-stephen-cooksey |url-status=live}}</ref> ||rowspan=3|Dorking South
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
|2002
|Margaret Cooksey<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-margaret-cooksey |title=Cllr Margaret Cooksey |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=24 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024002223/https://molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-margaret-cooksey |url-status=live}}</ref> 
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
|2008
|Tim Loretto<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-tim-loretto |title=Cllr Tim Loretto |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=28 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928235056/https://molevalley.gov.uk/councillor/cllr-tim-loretto |url-status=live}}</ref> 
|}

===Town council===
Dorking does not have a [[Town council#England and Wales|Town Council]], however [[project stakeholder|stakeholder]] engagement in local decision making is conducted through a number of bodies, including the Dorking Town Forum.<ref>{{cite news |last=Edwards |first=Mark |date=28 September 2014 |title=Residents to vote on independent Dorking town council |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/residents-vote-independent-dorking-town-7846638 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102017/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/residents-vote-independent-dorking-town-7846638 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=2019 |title=Dorking Town Forum |author=<!--Not stated--> |url=https://www.dorkingtownforum.co.uk |publisher=Dorking Town Forum |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102008/https://www.dorkingtownforum.co.uk/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Twin towns===
Dorking is [[sister city|twinned]] with [[Gouvieux]] ([[Oise]], France), [[Güglingen]] ([[Baden-Württemberg]], Germany) and [[Sinalunga]] ([[Tuscany]], Italy).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitdorking.com/business/town-twinning/ |title=Town Twinning |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Discover Dorking: Heart of the Surrey Hills |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102010/https://www.visitdorking.com/business/town-twinning/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Curley |first=Rebecca |date=10 January 2020 |title=Spelthorne, Mauritius and the special stories of Surrey's links to an array of foreign places |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/spelthorne-mauritius-special-stories-surreys-17538197 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128235244/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/spelthorne-mauritius-special-stories-surreys-17538197 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Demography and housing==
In the [[2011 United Kingdom census|2011 Census]], the combined population of the Dorking North and South wards was 11,158.<ref name=ons/> The larger "built-up area" (which includes the Goodwyns estate, North Holmwood, Pixham and [[Westhumble]], in addition to the two town wards) had a population of 17,741.<ref name=NOMIS_Built-up_Area/>
{|class="wikitable"
|+ 2011 Census Homes<ref name=ons/>
|-
!Ward !!Detached !!Semi-detached !!Terraced !!Flats and apartments !!Caravans/temporary/mobile homes/houseboats !!Shared between households
|-
|Dorking North	||style="text-align:center;" |378	||style="text-align:center;" |548	||style="text-align:center;" |451	||style="text-align:center;" |465	||style="text-align:center;" |0||style="text-align:center;" |0	
|-
|Dorking South||style="text-align:center;" |865	||style="text-align:center;" |695	||style="text-align:center;" |417	||style="text-align:center;" |1,045	||style="text-align:center;" |0||style="text-align:center;" |3
|}
<br />
{|class="wikitable"
|+ 2011 Census Households<ref name=ons/>
!Ward !!Population !!Households !!% Owned outright !!% Owned with a loan!!hectares
|-
|Dorking North	||style="text-align:center;" |4,157	||style="text-align:center;" |1,842||style="text-align:center;" |34	||style="text-align:center;" |38	||style="text-align:center;" |255
|-	
|Dorking South	||style="text-align:center;" |7,001	||style="text-align:center;" |3,025	||style="text-align:center;" |34	||style="text-align:center;" |32	||style="text-align:center;" |402
|-
|Regional average ||||||style="text-align:center;" |35.1 ||style="text-align:center;" |32.5 ||
|}
Dorking North ward excludes Pixham and Westhumble.<ref>{{NOMIS2011|id=E05007318|title=Dorking North ward |access-date=3 December 2020}}</ref> Dorking South ward excludes North Holmwood and the Goodwyns estate.<ref>{{NOMIS2011|id=E05007319|title=Dorking South ward |access-date=3 December 2020}}</ref>

==Public services==
===Utilities===
[[File:The Old Pumphouse, Dorking, Surrey.jpg|thumb|The Old Pumphouse, Archway Place{{refn|The Old Pumphouse dates from the early 19th century. It is built on the site of the first water pumping station in Dorking, which supplied fresh water to the town from the Pipp Brook. The new building includes the original cellar, which still contains part of one of the original pumps. The Grade II listed building bears a plaque, inscribed "R. P. Waterworks erected 1738". The initials 'R. P.' reference Resta Patching junior, the son of a prominent Dorking Quaker, who was responsible for the scheme.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp45-47>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=45–47}}</ref><ref name=Tarplee_Water>{{cite journal |last1=Tarplee |first1=Peter |year=2007 |title=Some public utilities in Surrey: Water supply |url=https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%207-4.pdf |journal=Surrey History |volume=VII |issue=4 |pages=219–225 |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%207-4.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1378074 |desc=Brookside, Archway Place |fewer-links=yes |access-date=9 January 2021}}</ref>|group=note}}]]

Until the early 18th century, local residents obtained drinking water either directly from the Pipp Brook or from wells. In 1735, a [[pump]] was installed to lift water from a [[spring (hydrology)|spring]] on the site of Archway Place, which was then distributed via wooden [[Pipe (fluid conveyance)|pipes]] made from bored [[trunk (botany)|tree trunks]]. Local dissatisfaction over the [[water tariff|charges]] levied for the supply prompted the vestry to reopen a well in the town centre and to install a [[hand pump]] there in 1780.{{refn|The location of the hand pump in the town centre, installed in 1780, is unclear, but it thought to be at Pump Corner at the intersection of the High Street, West Street and South Street.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp45-47/>|group=note}} The Archway Place spring became polluted by sewage in the middle of the 19th century and the works closed.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp45-47/><ref name=Tarplee_Water/><ref name=Bright_1884_pp37-38>{{harvnb|Bright|1884|pp=37–38}}</ref>

The Dorking Water Company (DWC) was formally established in 1869, following the passing of the Dorking Water Act 1869.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dorking Water (Provisional Order) |work=The London Gazette |date=6 November 1906 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27964/page/7486/data.pdf |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=31 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131220210/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27964/page/7486/data.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The company dug a {{cvt|90|m|ft|adj=on|sigfig=1}} well on Harrow Road East from where water was transferred by a steam-driven pump to a [[reservoir]] on Tower Hill.<ref name=Tarplee_2009_p1>{{cite web |url=https://www.leatherheadlocalhistory.org.uk/2009.htm |title=Early Water, Gas and Electricity supplies in Surrey |last=Tarplee |first=Peter |year=2009 |publisher=Leatherhead & District Local History Society |access-date=31 January 2021 |archive-date=14 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914061509/http://www.leatherheadlocalhistory.org.uk/2009.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|In the 1880s there was a proposal to supply [[seawater]] to the town from a conduit between [[Lancing, West Sussex|Lancing]] and London.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3016667/3016671 |title=.SEA.-WATER SUPPLY.&#124;1880-12-11&#124;The Cardigan Observer and General Advertiser for the Counties of Cardigan Carmarthen and Pembroke – Welsh Newspapers |website=newspapers.library.wales |access-date=14 December 2019 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102009/https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3016667/3016671 |url-status=live}}</ref>|group=note}} In 1902, a new pumping station was built on Station Road and, in 1919, the old one was converted to housing. The second pumphouse was replaced by a new works with [[borehole]]s on Beech Close in 1939.<ref name=Tarplee_2009_p1/> The DWC was absorbed by [[SES Water|East Surrey Water]] in 1959.<ref name=Crocker_1999_p111>{{harvnb|Crocker|1999|p=111}}</ref>

The Local Board of Health created the first sewerage system in Dorking and opened the treatment works at Pixham on the River Mole in 1888. Four years later, some 1360 houses (around 92% of the town) had been connected, necessitating an extensive rebuilding of the works in 1893.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp81-82/> The sewerage system became the responsibility of the [[Thames Water Authority]] under the [[Water Act 1989]].

The town [[gasworks]] were built in 1834<ref name=Bright_1884_pp37-38/> by the Dorking Gas Light Company to supply [[coal gas|gas]] for street lighting. From 1849, the [[coal]] required was delivered by train to Dorking West station and then transferred to the works by [[horse-drawn vehicle]]. The company was merged with that of Redhill in 1928 and became part of the East Surrey Gas Company when the [[Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946|industry was nationalised in 1948]]. After gas production ceased in 1956, the site of the works became part of the Dorking Business Park on Station Road.<ref name=Crocker_1999_p111/><ref name=Tarplee_Gas_Electricity>{{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>

An [[power station|electricity generating station]] was opened in 1903 in Station Road, close to the town gasworks. Initially it was capable of generating 180&nbsp;kW of power, but by the time of its closure in 1939, its [[nameplate capacity|installed capacity]] was 1&nbsp;MW.<ref name=Crocker_1999_p113>{{harvnb|Crocker|1999|p=113}}</ref> Under the [[Electricity (Supply) Act 1926]], Dorking was connected to the [[National Grid (Great Britain)|National Grid]], initially to a 33&nbsp;kV [[electric power transmission|supply ring]], which linked the town to [[Croydon]], Epsom, Leatherhead and Reigate. In 1939, the ring was connected to the [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]]-[[Woking]] main via a 132&nbsp;kV [[electrical substation|substation]] at Leatherhead.<ref name=Crocker_1999_p118>{{harvnb|Crocker|1999|p=118}}</ref><ref name=Tarplee_Gas_Electricity/>

===Emergency services and justice===

A [[Watchman (law enforcement)|nightly patrol]] was established in Dorking in 1825 and in 1838 a small [[police]] force, initially with just three officers, was established under the Lighting and Watching Act 1833.<ref name=Bartlett_2020_pp225-226>{{harvnb|Bartlett|2020|pp=225–226}}{{Self-published source|date=January 2021|reason=Published on [[Scribd]] – possible upload by author|expert=y}}</ref> This force became part of the [[Surrey Police|Surrey Constabulary]] on its creation in 1851.<ref name=Bartlett_2020_pp252>{{harvnb|Bartlett|2020|p=252}}{{Self-published source|date=January 2021|reason=Published on [[Scribd]] – possible upload by author|expert=y}}</ref> A combined [[police station]] and [[Magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]] complex was opened at the east end of the High Street in 1894 and the police station relocated to Moores Road in 1938.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp83-85>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=83–85 }}</ref> Purpose-built magistrates courts were opened adjacent to Pippbrook House in 1979<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp105-107>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=105–107}}</ref> and closed in 2010.

[[File:Old Public Hall, West Street, Dorking (former fire station).jpg|thumb|right|Dorking Fire Brigade was based at the old Public Hall on West Street from 1881 to 1971.]]

A volunteer [[Fire department|fire brigade]] was formed in 1870. Initially based at South Street, it moved to the Public Hall at the west end of West Street in 1881.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp83-85/> The brigade became full time in 1912 and, in 1971, it moved to a new [[fire station]] adjacent to the newly built [[ambulance station]] at North Holmwood.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp100-102>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=100–102}}</ref> In 2021, the [[fire authority]] for Dorking is Surrey County Council and the [[fire services in the United Kingdom|statutory fire service]] is [[Surrey Fire and Rescue Service]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/222995/Dorking-2020-21v5.pdf |title=Dorking Fire Station: Station Plan 2020/21 |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121214913/https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/222995/Dorking-2020-21v5.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Dorking Ambulance Station is run by the [[South East Coast Ambulance Service]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/our-locations/ |title=Our Locations |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=South East Coast Ambulance Service |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=10 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110224056/https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/our-locations/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Healthcare===
[[Dorking Cottage Hospital]], opened in 1871 in South Terrace, was the first hospital in the town.<ref name=Malden_1911_pp141-150/><ref name=Humphreys_2002_63>{{harvnb|Humphreys|2002|p=63}}</ref> It was merged in 1948 with the adjacent County Hospital, which had evolved from the Union Workhouse and Poor Law Infirmary, to form Dorking General Hospital.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp94-95>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=94–95}}</ref> Since 2004, Dorking Hospital has been run as a [[community hospital]] by a consortium of local [[General practitioner|GP]] groups that provides [[Outpatient clinic (hospital department)|outpatient services]] for the local area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dhcclinical.co.uk/about-dhc/history/ |title=Our History |last=Hill |first=Faye |date=10 August 2018 |publisher=DHC Ltd |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204232311/https://dhcclinical.co.uk/about-dhc/history/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The nearest [[Emergency department|accident & emergency departments]] are at [[Epsom Hospital]] ({{cvt|7|mi|km|sigfig=2}}) and [[East Surrey Hospital]] ({{cvt|7|mi|km|sigfig=2}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/other-services/Hospital/Dorking/Results/3/-0.331/51.233/7/6260?distance=25 |title=Results for Hospitals in Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=National Health Service |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=24 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424003937/https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/other-services/Hospital/Dorking/Results/3/-0.331/51.233/7/6260?distance=25 |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2020, there are GP practices on Reigate Road and South Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-gp/results/Dorking?latitude=51.23284463121652&longitude=-0.3298585974637203 |title=GPs near Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=National Health Service |access-date=9 January 2021 |archive-date=24 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424003939/https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-gp/results/Dorking?latitude=51.23284463121652&longitude=-0.3298585974637203 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Transport==
===Roads===
The [[A24 road (England)|A24]] London–[[Worthing]] and the [[A25 road|A25]] Guildford–[[Sevenoaks]] roads intersect at Deepdene Roundabout on the eastern side of Dorking. The one-way system in the town centre was introduced in 1968.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp95-97>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=95–97}}</ref>

===Railways===
[[File:Dorking station and signal box (geograph-158885-cropped).jpg|thumb|Dorking railway station and signal box]]

The [[Sutton and Mole Valley lines|Epsom-Horsham]] and [[North Downs Line|Guildford-Reigate]] railway lines cross to the northeast of Dorking, but there is now no physical connection between the two.<ref name=Dorkings_Railways_27-28/> The town is served by three railway stations. {{rws|Dorking||Dorking station}} is managed by [[Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway)|Southern]] and is served by trains to {{stn|London Victoria}} via {{rws|Sutton|London}}, to {{stn|London Waterloo}} via {{stn|Wimbledon}} and to {{rws|Horsham}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/station-information/stations/dorking-main |title=Dorking (Main) |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Southern Railway |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102020/https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/station-information/stations/dorking-main |url-status=live}}</ref> {{rws|Dorking Deepdene}} and {{rws|Dorking West}} stations are managed by [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] and are served by trains to {{rws|Reading}} via {{rws|Guildford}} and to {{rws|Gatwick Airport}} via {{rws|Redhill}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey/stations-and-routes/dorking-deepdene |title=Dorking (Deepdene) |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Great Western Railway |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102018/https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey/stations-and-routes/dorking-deepdene |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey/stations-and-routes/dorking-west |title=Dorking West |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Great Western Railway |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102018/https://www.gwr.com/plan-journey/stations-and-routes/dorking-west |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Buses===

Route 32 from Dorking to Guildford via [[Shere]] and to [[Redhill, Surrey|Redhill]] via [[Earlswood]] is run by Compass Bus.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/7738/32-Compass-260920.pdf |title=32: Guildford – Dorking – Strood Green – Redhill |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=26 September 2020 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102011/https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/7738/32-Compass-260920.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
Route 93 from Dorking to [[Horsham]] via Goodwyns and Holmwood Park is run by [[Metrobus (South East England)|Metrobus]] on behalf of Surrey County Council.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://assets.goaheadbus.com/media/cms_page_media/2020/8/27/BUS_TIMES_FROM_1ST_SEPT_2020_Route_93_for_website_Proof_7_with_closed.pdf |title=93: Horsham – Warnham – Capel – Goodwyns |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1 September 2020 |publisher=GoAhead Bus |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102012/https://assets.goaheadbus.com/media/cms_page_media/2020/8/27/BUS_TIMES_FROM_1ST_SEPT_2020_Route_93_for_website_Proof_7_with_closed.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
Route 465 from Dorking to [[Kingston upon Thames]] via Leatherhead is run by [[London United Busways|London United]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/465.pdf |title=465: Dorking – Leatherhead – Kingston |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=16 March 2015 |publisher=London Bus Routes |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102014/http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/465.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
Routes 21 (Epsom – Dorking – [[Crawley]]) and 22 (Shere – Dorking – Crawley) are run by Metrobus.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/buses-and-other-transport/bus-timetables/dorking-leatherhead-epsom-and-banstead#22 |title=Banstead, Epsom, Dorking and Leatherhead bus timetables |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=16 December 2020 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102015/https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/buses-and-other-transport/bus-timetables/dorking-leatherhead-epsom-and-banstead#22 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Cycle routes===
[[File:The Cycle Race Sculpture (geograph 6046287).jpg|thumb|Sculpture of two racing cyclists at the Pixham End roundabout, where the Surrey Cycleway and National Cycle Route 22 meet]]

[[National Cycle Route 22]] passes through the town centre<ref name="Route 22">{{cite web |url=https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-route-on-the-national-cycle-network/route-22 |title=Route 22 |publisher=Sustrans |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102025/https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-route-on-the-national-cycle-network/route-22 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the Surrey Cycleway runs to the east.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/132001/Surrey-Cycleway-Map-updated-July-2019.pdf |title=The Surrey Cycleway |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=7 July 2019 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=3 September 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102017/https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/132001/Surrey-Cycleway-Map-updated-July-2019.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Long distance footpaths===
The [[Greensand Way]], a {{cvt|108|mi|km|adj=on}} [[long-distance trail|long-distance footpath]] from [[Haslemere]], Surrey to [[Hamstreet]], [[Kent]], passes through the south of Dorking.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/culture-and-leisure/countryside/walking/long-walks/the-greensand-way-long-distance-route |title=The Greensand Way long distance route |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=17 December 2020 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102023/https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/culture-and-leisure/countryside/walking/long-walks/the-greensand-way-long-distance-route |url-status=live}}</ref> The route approaches the town centre from the east, passing over The Nower, then crossing the junction between South Street and Horsham Road. It climbs through the Glory Wood, before crossing Deepdene Terrace.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/29464/GSW-Map-Six.pdf |title=the Greensand Way: Broadmoor to Deepdene |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=12 May 2016 |publisher=Surrey County Council |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102015/https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/29464/GSW-Map-Six.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[North Downs Way]], between [[Farnham]] and [[Dover]], passes approximately {{cvt|1000|yd|km|0}} to the north of Dorking.<ref>{{harvnb|Curtis|Walker|2007|p=47}}</ref> Dorking station is the southern terminus of the [[Mole Gap Trail]], which starts at {{rws|Leatherhead||Leatherhead station}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/bw/walk_surrey-hills.pdf |title=Mole Gap Trail |date=5 October 2011 |work=Diamonds in the Landscape |publisher=Natural England |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930165949/http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/bw/walk_surrey-hills.pdf |archive-date=30 September 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Education==
===Primary schools===
There are five [[primary school]]s in Dorking, the oldest of which is Powell Corderoy School. It was founded in 1816 as The Dorking [[British and Foreign School Society|British School]], and its original premises were in West Street; but twenty years later it moved to North Street. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the school had expanded and the funds for a new building in Norfolk Road were raised by Edith Corderoy and Mr T. Powell. The new site was opened in 1898 and the school adopted its present name in 1906.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp83-85/><ref name=Powell_Corderoy_History>{{cite web |url=http://powellcorderoy.co.uk/history/ |title=History |publisher=Powell Corderoy School |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102149/http://powellcorderoy.co.uk/history/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The school moved to its current location in Longfield Road in 1968.<ref name=Powell_Corderoy_History/>

St Martin's Primary School was founded as a [[National school (England and Wales)|National School]] by the vestry in the 1830s,<ref name=Humphreys_2002_39>{{harvnb|Humphreys|2002|p=39}}</ref> however there is thought to have been a school located in the transepts of the parish church as early as the 17th century.<ref name=Wedgwood_1990_pp12-13>{{harvnb|Wedgwood|1990|pp=12–13}}</ref> The National School was moved from the grounds of the church to West Street in 1862.<ref name=Wedgwood_1990_pp12-13/> The Middle School relocated to Ranmore Road in 1969 and was joined by the First School in 1985.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p94/> The Pixham First School was founded in 1880 by Mary Mayo and was built to a design by [[Gilbert Richard Redgrave|Gilbert Redgrave]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jackson|1989|p=89}}</ref> St Paul's Primary School was founded in 1860.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stpaulsschool-dorking.co.uk/page/?title=Our+School+History&pid=43 |title=Our School History |publisher=St Paul's C of E Primary School |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102150/https://www.stpaulsschool-dorking.co.uk/page/?title=Our+School+History&pid=43 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Bright_1884_p35>{{harvnb|Bright|1884|p=35}}</ref>

St Paul's School was designed by the architect, [[Thomas Allom]], and admitted its first pupils in March 1860.<ref>{{harvnb|Wharmby|2013|pp=14–16}}</ref> The infants department opened in 1872 and, from that year, the school educated children aged from 5 to 13.<ref>{{harvnb|Wharmby|2013|pp=24–26}}</ref> Today, St Paul's is a Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School and educates children from the ages of 5 to 11.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/125171 |title=St Paul's CofE (Aided) Primary School |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=8 October 2020 |publisher=Ofsted |access-date=1 October 2021 |archive-date=2 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002090417/https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/125171 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:St.Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Dorking...looking East across Vincent Lane - geograph.org.uk - 108158.jpg|thumb|right|St Joseph's Catholic Primary School]]

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School was founded in 1873 by [[Augusta Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk]]. The first premises were in Falkland Grove adjacent to St Joseph's Church. The school was run by nuns of the [[Servite Order]] from 1887 to 1970, when it moved to its present site in Norfolk Road, which had been vacated by Powell Corderoy School.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stjosephsschooldorking.co.uk/page/?title=Our+History&pid=9 |title=Our History |publisher=St Joseph's Catholic Primary School |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102149/https://www.stjosephsschooldorking.co.uk/page/?title=Our+History&pid=9 |url-status=live}}</ref>

St John's Primary School was founded in 1955 on the [[Goodwyns|Goodwyns housing estate]] to the south of the town.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p94>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|p=94}}</ref> It was known as The Redlands Junior School until August 1999.<ref>{{ofsted|124950|The Redlands Junior School}}</ref>

New Lodge School, a [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|private]] [[preparatory school (United Kingdom)|prep school]] formed in 2002 from the merger of Stanway School and [[Nower Lodge School]], closed in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/independent-schools-in-big-shake-up-4857591 |title=Independent schools in big shake-up |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=21 June 2002 |publisher=Surrey Live |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102155/https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/new-lodge-to-close-4836143 |title=New Lodge to close |author=<!--Not stated--> |orig-year=2007 |date=3 July 2013 |publisher=Surrey Live |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102156/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/new-lodge-to-close-4836143 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Secondary schools===
[[The Ashcombe School]] is a coeducational secondary school, north of the town centre. It traces its origins to the Dorking High School for Boys, founded in 1884, and the St Martin's High School for Girls, opened in 1903.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp83-85/> In 1931, the two schools were merged to become the Dorking County School and moved to a new site in Ashcombe Road. In 1959 the Mowbray County Secondary Modern for girls was opened on an adjacent site. The two schools were combined to create the Ashcombe School in 1975.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p94/>

[[The Priory School, Dorking|The Priory School]] opened as the County Secondary Modern Mixed School in September 1949. It was initially based at the Dene Street Institute, but moved to its present location in West Bank within a few years. In 1959, the girls were transferred to the Mowbray School in the Ashcombe Road, and Sondes Place continued as a boys-only school.<ref>{{harvnb|Wharmby|2013|p=121}}</ref> In 1976 it became a mixed comprehensive school and was renamed the Priory School in 1996.<ref>{{harvnb|Wharmby|2013|pp=160–161}}</ref>

==Culture==
===Art===
[[File:Let there be light in Dorking high street - geograph.org.uk - 1407931.jpg|thumb|"[[Let there be light]]", a decorative moulding above one of the shops in the High Street]]

The Dorking Group of Artists, established in 1947, exhibits locally twice a year, in [[Betchworth]] and at Denbies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dga.org.uk/ |title=Dorking Artists |website=dga1 |access-date=18 June 2007 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102024/https://www.dga.org.uk/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Arts Society Dorking promotes local [[visual arts education|art appreciation]] and the preservation of the town's artistic heritage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theartssociety.org/dorking |title=The Arts Society Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=2020 |publisher=The Arts Society |access-date=3 January 2021 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019124247/https://theartssociety.org/dorking |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Leith Hill Musical Festival===
The three-day [[Leith Hill Musical Festival]] for local, amateur [[choir|choral societies]], founded in 1905, takes place at the Dorking Halls each year. Ralph Vaughan Williams was the Festival Conductor until 1953, a post currently held by [[Jonathan Willcocks]].<ref name=LMHF_About>{{cite web |url=http://www.lhmf.org.uk/about/ |title=Leith Hill Music Festival: About us |access-date=27 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102115/http://www.lhmf.org.uk/about/ |publisher=Leith Hill Musical Festival |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Corke_2005_pp16-17>{{harvnb|Corke|2005|pp=16–17}}</ref>

[[File:Ralph Vaughan Williams in Dorking.JPG|thumb|upright|right|Statue of Ralph Vaughan Williams outside Dorking Halls, created by [[William Fawke]]]]

Each day features a different group (or division) of choirs, which compete against each other in the morning and then combine to give a concert in the evening. Following the tradition established by Vaughan Williams, the ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'' by [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] and the ''[[St Matthew Passion|St Matthew]]'' and ''[[St John Passion]]s'' by [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J. S. Bach]] are frequently performed.<ref name=LMHF_About/><ref name=Corke_2005_pp53-56>{{harvnb|Corke|2005|pp=53–56}}</ref>

After the death of Vaughan Williams in 1958, the festival committee commissioned [[David McFall]] to design a [[bronze]] bas [[relief]] likeness of the composer: one cast was placed in St Martin's Church and another in the Dorking Halls.<ref name=McFall_bronze>{{cite web |url=http://davidmcfall.co.uk/page114.html |title=1961/1 Dr Ralph Vaughan Williams OM |publisher=David McFall |access-date=27 January 2021 |archive-date=13 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913045228/http://davidmcfall.co.uk/page114.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Recording studios===
[[Strawberry Studios#Expansion and sale|Strawberry Studios South]] was opened in 1976, in a former cinema in South Street, by [[Graham Gouldman]] and [[Eric Stewart]] of the band [[10cc]]. They recorded the [[album]], ''[[Deceptive Bends]]'' there. Other artists also worked at the Studios, including [[Paul McCartney]], who recorded part of "[[Ebony and Ivory]]" (a duet with [[Stevie Wonder]]) there.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.surreylife.co.uk/out-about/music-history-created-in-surrey-s-recording-studios-paul-mccartney-stevie-wonder-radiohead-et-al-1-1635327 |title=Music history created in Surrey's recording studios: Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Radiohead et al. |last=Williams |first=Matthew |date=26 March 2015 |orig-year=2011 |publisher=Surrey Life |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102027/https://www.surreylife.co.uk/out-about/music-history-created-in-surrey-s-recording-studios-paul-mccartney-stevie-wonder-radiohead-et-al-1-1635327 |url-status=live}}</ref> The English [[rock music|rock]] band, [[The Cure]], recorded at Rhino Studios at Pippbrook Mill.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thehuntgroup.co.uk/why-the-hunt-group/mill-conversion/ |title=Mill Conversion |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=April 2014 |publisher=The Hunt Group |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102028/https://www.thehuntgroup.co.uk/why-the-hunt-group/mill-conversion/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Literature===
''[[The Battle of Dorking]]'', a novella written by Lt. Col. Sir [[George Tomkyns Chesney]] in 1871, was set in the town. Describing a fictional invasion and conquest of Britain by a German-speaking country, it triggered an explosion of what came to be known as [[invasion literature]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clarke |first1=IF |year=1997 |title=Before and after "The Battle of Dorking" |jstor=4240574 |journal=Science Fiction Studies |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=33–46}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=AM |year=2011 |title=Scrutinizing the Battle of Dorking" The Royal United Service Institution and the mid-Victorian invasion constroversy |jstor=41307873 |journal=Victorian Literature and Culture |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=485–407 |doi=10.1017/S1060150311000052 |s2cid=154627731}}</ref>
[[Benjamin Disraeli]] wrote part of his [[political fiction|political novel]] ''[[Coningsby (novel)|Coningsby]]'' while staying at Deepdene between 1841 and 1844. The novel was subsequently dedicated to his host, Henry Thomas Hope.<ref name=Mercer_Deepdene/><ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1000143|desc=The Deepdene (including Chart Park)}}</ref> The fourth chapter of ''[[A Fool's Alphabet]]'' by novelist [[Sebastian Faulks]], published in 1992, is set in the town.<ref>{{harvnb|Faulks|1992|pp=40–48}}</ref>

==Sport==
===Shrove Tuesday football===
A football game was played annually in Dorking on [[Shrove Tuesday]] between two teams representing the eastern and western halves of the town. The match began at 2pm outside the gates to St Martin's Church and lasted until 6pm.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Curious custom in Dorking |location=London |date=7 March 1862 |issue=24187 |page=12}}</ref> After a particularly riotous game in 1897,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Disturbances at Dorking |location=London |date=3 March 1897 |issue=35141 |page=12}}</ref> the local magistrates declared that the tradition was in breach of the [[Highway Act 1835]] and 50 participants were [[fine (penalty)|fined]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Shrove Tuesday Football at Dorking |work=Southampton Herald |location=Southampton |date=14 April 1897 |issue=5305 |volume=73 |page=1}}</ref> Arrests were also made after local townsfolk attempted to stage the match in 1898, 1899 and 1903.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Shrove Tuesday at Dorking |work=Huddersfield Chronicle |location=Huddersfield |date=24 February 1898 |issue=9539 |page=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Shrove Tuesday Football |work=The Sunday Times |location=London |date=5 March 1899 |issue=3961 |page=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Football at Dorking on Shrove Tuesday |work=Derby Daily Telegraph |location=Derby |date=9 March 1903 |issue=7262 |page=4}}</ref> The local newspaper declared the custom extinct in 1907.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/shrove-tuesday-football/ |title=Shrove Tuesday Football |last=Chambers |first=Erica |date=25 June 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102028/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/shrove-tuesday-football/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Association football===
[[File:Meadowbank Stadium Dorking Wanderers May 2021.jpg|thumb|right|Meadowbank Stadium with the spire of [[St Martin's Church, Dorking|St Martin's Church]]]]

[[Dorking F.C.]] was formed in 1880 and moved to Meadowbank in 1956.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/dorking.html |title=Dorking FC |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Pyramid Passion |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102056/http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/dorking.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.pitchero.com/clubs/18447/IWYWRpnpReyA8DTbaO47_20170218%20Cobham.pdf |title=Dorking The Chicks vs Cobham FC |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=18 February 2017 |access-date=2 January 2017 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102021/https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.pitchero.com/clubs/18447/IWYWRpnpReyA8DTbaO47_20170218%20Cobham.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The stadium was condemned as unsafe in 2013 and for the next three years, the club shared grounds, first at [[Horley]] and then Westhumble.<ref name=DFC_Meadowbank>{{cite news |last=Watkins |first=James |date=21 January 2015 |title=£4m planned investment for restoration of Dorking football ground community hub |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/4m-planned-investment-restoration-dorkings-8423640 |work=SurreyLive |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102029/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/4m-planned-investment-restoration-dorkings-8423640 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |date=21 March 2016 |title=Dorking football teams put aside differences to create new partnership |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-football-teams-put-aside-11069529 |work=SurreyLive |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102048/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-football-teams-put-aside-11069529 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dorking F.C. closed in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=18 February 2017 |title=Dorking to have just one club next season. |url=https://combinedcounties.pitchero.com/from-dorking-fc-35189?external_domain=combinedcounties.pitchero.com |work=Pitcher |location=Leeds |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102022/https://combinedcounties.pitchero.com/from-dorking-fc-35189?external_domain=combinedcounties.pitchero.com |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Watters |first=David |date=18 February 2017 |title=Ryman South promotion-chasers Dorking Wanderers are looking forward to being bigger and better next season as the only club in their Surrey town. |url=https://www.isthmian.co.uk/wanderers-will-be-only-club-in-town-35211 |work=Pitcher |location=Leeds |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102024/https://www.isthmian.co.uk/wanderers-will-be-only-club-in-town-35211 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Dorking Wanderers F.C.]] was founded in 1999. The team played its [[home (sports)|home games]] at Westhumble for ten [[season (sports)|seasons]] from 2007, before moving to the refurbished Meadowbank Stadium in July 2018.<ref name=DWFC_Meadowbank>{{cite web |url=https://www.dorkingwanderers.com/club-history |title=Club History |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Dorking Wanderers FC |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102034/https://www.dorkingwanderers.com/club-history |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=DWFC_Meadowbank2>{{cite news |last=Boyd |first=Alex |date=9 July 2018 |title=Dorking Wanderers' Meadowbank stadium finally opens and it could get bigger in the future |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-wanderers-meadowbank-stadium-finally-14876179 |work=SurreyLive |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102032/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-wanderers-meadowbank-stadium-finally-14876179 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Rugby===
[[Dorking R.F.C.|Dorking rugby football club]] was founded in 1921. Initially its home matches were played at Meadowbank, but it moved the following year to Pixham. In 1972 the club relocated to the Big Field at [[Brockham]]<ref name=Dorking_RFC_History>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingrfc.com/information/club-history |title=Club History |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=13 August 2019 |publisher=Dorking RFC |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102036/https://dorkingrfc.com/information/club-history |url-status=live}}</ref> as tenants of the National Trust, which had acquired the field in 1966.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1829478 |title=TQ1949: Big Field |last=Capper |first=Ian |date=28 April 2010 |publisher=UK geograph |access-date=2 January 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102040/https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1829478 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2019–20 season, the 1st XV played in the London and South East Premier division.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/search-results?competition=261&division=21513&season=2019-2020#table |title=London & SE Premier Final Standings |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=16 March 2020 |publisher=England Rugby |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102047/https://www.englandrugby.com/fixtures-and-results/search-results?competition=261&division=21513&season=2019-2020#table |url-status=live}}</ref> Notable former players include [[Elliot Daly]], [[George Kruis]] and [[Kay Wilson]].<ref name=Dorking_RFC_History/>

===Motor racing===
[[File:Wagens op de baan, Bestanddeelnr 912-5057.jpg|thumb|right|[[Stirling Moss]] (car 14) on the final lap of the [[1961 Dutch Grand Prix]] at [[Circuit Zandvoort]]]]

[[Rob Walker Racing Team|Rob Walker]]'s [[privateer (motorsport)|privateer racing team]] was based at Pippbrook Garage in London Road from 1947 to 1970. The team won nine [[List of Formula One Grands Prix|Grands Prix]] and their drivers included [[Stirling Moss]] (1958–1961) and [[Graham Hill]] (1970).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/rob-walker-racing-team/ |title=The Rob Walker Racing Team |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=10 September 2018 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102047/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/rob-walker-racing-team/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Walker's contribution to [[motorsport]] and to Dorking was celebrated on the centenary of his birth in October 2018 with a parade of classic cars through the town centre.<ref>{{cite news |last=Boyd |first=Alex |date=22 October 2018 |title=20 photos from Rob Walker Centenary Festival in Dorking |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/20-photos-rob-walker-centenary-15312081 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102039/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/20-photos-rob-walker-centenary-15312081 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Cycling===
Dorking Cycling Club was founded in 1877<ref name=DCC_About>{{cite web |url=https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/dorkingcyclingclub/a/about-dcc-52244.html |title=About DCC |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=12 March 2019 |last=Baker |first=Michael |publisher=Dorking Cycling Club |access-date=2 January 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102051/https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/dorkingcyclingclub/a/about-dcc-52244.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and by the 1890s was organising camps for amateur cyclists from across the south east of England.<ref name=Tuson-10>{{harvnb|Tuson|2013|p=10}}</ref> The club was refounded in 2011 and organises a programme of weekly rides for members.<ref name=DCC_About/> The [[Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics|2012 Summer Olympic cycling]] road races passed through Dorking en route to Box Hill.<ref>{{cite news |last=Nicholson |first=Sue |date=27 July 2012 |title=London 2012: 'Massive excitement' ahead of Surrey cycle races |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-19012854 |work=BBC News |location=Surrey |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102045/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-19012854 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|The [[List of Olympic torch relays|torch relays]] for the [[1948 Summer Olympics torch relay|1948]] and [[2012 Summer Olympics torch relay|2012 Olympic games]] passed through Dorking.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/olympics-1948-and-2012-torch-relay/ |title=1948 Olympics and 2012 Torch Relay |last=Chambers |first=Erica |date=30 July 2020 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=2 January 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102116/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/olympics-1948-and-2012-torch-relay/ |url-status=live}}</ref>|group=note}}{{refn|The [[London–Surrey Cycle Classic]] was a [[London Prepares series|test event]] which took place in summer 2011 along the same course as the 2012 Olympic cycling road race.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/14521435.stm |title=Mark Cavendish wins London 2012 road race test event |author=Ollie Williams |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC Sport |date=14 August 2011 |access-date=18 August 2011 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102048/https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/14521435 |url-status=live}}</ref> Between 2013 and 2019, the [[London–Surrey Classic]] and [[RideLondon|RideLondon-Surrey Classic]] (for professional and amateur cyclists respectively), were also routed through the town.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Duffell |first1=Beth |last2=Nightingale |first2=Laura |last3=Boyd |first3=Alex |date=5 August 2019 |title=Ride London Surrey: Thousands take on cycling event |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/ride-london-surrey-latest-thousands-16696111 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102044/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/ride-london-surrey-latest-thousands-16696111 |url-status=live}}</ref> Both events were cancelled in 2020 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/event/38850662-prudential-ridelondon-surrey-classic |title=Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic (CANCELLED) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=16 August 2020 |publisher=Visit London |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102120/https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/event/38850662-prudential-ridelondon-surrey-classic |url-status=live}}</ref> and in the same year, Surrey County Council decided not to support running the events after 2021.<ref>{{cite news |last=Armstrong |first=Julie |date=27 October 2020 |title=RideLondon cancelled for Surrey after 2021 |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/ridelondon-cancelled-surrey-after-2021-19176174 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102050/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/ridelondon-cancelled-surrey-after-2021-19176174 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bradley |first=William |date=20 October 2020 |title=RideLondon-Surrey: Your reaction after council withdraws support for race through Surrey |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/ridelondon-surrey-your-reaction-after-19134951 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102050/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/ridelondon-surrey-your-reaction-after-19134951 |url-status=live}}</ref>|group=note}}

===Running===
Dorking and Mole Valley Athletics Club is based at Pixham Sports Ground. They host the annual ''Dorking Ten'' road race starting from [[Brockham|Brockham Green]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dmvac.org.uk/ |title=Dorking and Mole Valley Athletics Club |access-date=17 April 2008 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102103/http://www.livewellsuffolk.org.uk/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The weekly Mole Valley [[Parkrun]] has taken place at Denbies Wine Estate since March 2018.<ref>{{cite news |last=Steed |first=Les |date=21 March 2018 |title=Dorking's first parkrun is an 'overwhelming success' despite freezing conditions |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/mole-valleys-first-parkrun-confirmed-13802068 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102140/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/mole-valleys-first-parkrun-confirmed-13802068 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Thomas |date=23 October 2017 |title=Mole Valley's first parkrun given the go ahead to be based at Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/mole-valleys-first-parkrun-confirmed-13802068 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102118/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/mole-valleys-first-parkrun-confirmed-13802068 |url-status=live}}</ref> The vineyard also hosts the annual Run Bacchus marathon.<ref>{{cite news |last=Seymour |first=Jenny |date=6 May 2018 |title=Run Bacchus marathon festival returns to Denbies in Dorking – and yes, there is wine included |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/run-bacchus-marathon-festival-returns-14616224 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102056/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/run-bacchus-marathon-festival-returns-14616224 |url-status=live}}</ref> The annual UK Wife-Carrying Race<ref>{{Cite web |title=The UK Wife Carrying Race |url=https://www.trionium.com/wife/ |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=www.trionium.com |archive-date=8 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208164904/https://www.trionium.com/wife/ |url-status=live }}</ref> takes place at [[Milton Heath and The Nower|The Nower]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=8 April 2018 |title=UK wife-carrying contest takes place in Dorking |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-43689192 |work=BBC News |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102114/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-43689192 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=3 March 2019 |title=Wife-carrying race: Winners in proposal joy on finish line |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-47434091 |work=BBC News |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102124/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-47434091 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Tourist attractions==
===Denbies Wine Estate===
[[File:Denbies Vineyard Visitor Centre - geograph.org.uk - 1450079.jpg|thumb|Denbies Wine Estate, looking north towards the visitor centre]]

Denbies Wine Estate, to the north of Dorking, is one of the largest wine producers in the UK. The [[vineyard]], which covers some {{cvt|107|ha|acre}}, was first planted in 1986 on the site of Bradley Farm, part of the Denbies estate. The [[winery]] and visitor centre were opened in 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.denbies.co.uk/welcome-to-denbies-wine-estate/ |title=Welcome to Denbies Wine Estate, Dorking Surrey |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=25 February 2014 |publisher=Denbies Wine Estate |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102121/https://www.denbies.co.uk/welcome-to-denbies-wine-estate/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.denbies.co.uk/history-of-denbies/ |title=History of Denbies |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=19 April 2014 |publisher=Denbies Wine Estate |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102101/https://www.denbies.co.uk/history-of-denbies/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Dorking Museum===
[[Dorking Museum]] was opened in West Street in January 1976.<ref name=Mercer_1983_15>{{harvnb|Mercer|1983|p=15}}</ref> The building had previously been an [[foundry|iron foundry]], which had opened in the 1820s and closed after World War II.<ref name=Humphreys_2002_21>{{harvnb|Humphreys|2002|p=21}}</ref> The museum houses a wide range of historical artefacts, as well as [[fossil]]s and mineral samples from the Dorking area.<ref name=Dorking_Museum_History>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/about/history-of-dorking-museum/ |title=History of Dorking Museum |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=12 January 2019 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102016/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/about/history-of-dorking-museum/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Permanent displays explain the history of the town from prehistoric times to the present day,<ref name=museum_reopening>{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Guy |date=25 October 2012 |title=Museum for the future to tell Dorking's story |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/museum-future-tell-dorkings-history-4808767 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102105/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/museum-future-tell-dorkings-history-4808767 |url-status=live}}</ref> and the building also hosts temporary exhibitions, often connected with significant anniversaries of events such as World War I.<ref>{{cite news |last=Edmondson |first=Nick |date=18 July 2014 |title=Take a look back at WW1 life in Dorking |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/take-look-back-ww1-life-7524796 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102119/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/take-look-back-ww1-life-7524796 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |date=30 September 2016 |title=Dorking Museum exhibition sees 'ghost soldier' patrol town paying tribute to the fallen |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-museum-exhibition-sees-ghost-11958569 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102120/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-museum-exhibition-sees-ghost-11958569 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The museum was fully refurbished between 2008 and 2012<ref name=museum_reopening/> and was short-listed for the Museums Heritage Awards in 2013.<ref>{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Guy |date=3 April 2013 |title=Revamped Dorking Museum up for national award |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/revamped-dorking-museum-up-national-4807228 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102114/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/revamped-dorking-museum-up-national-4807228 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===South Street Caves===
{{main|Dorking Caves}}
The [[Dorking Caves|caves in South Street]] are thought to have been excavated in four distinct phases. Firstly, three [[well]]s, the largest of which has the date 1672 inscribed on its wall, were sunk vertically from Butter Hill above. The upper level, a network of four caverns which intersects the wells, was dug in the late 17th or early 18th centuries. These caves are linked by a staircase to the lowest level, a circular chamber which may have been used by religious dissenters, approximately {{cvt|20|m|ft|sigfig=1}} below ground level. In Victorian times, the larger caverns were adapted for use as wine cellars. The current entrance to the caves dates from 1921.<ref name=Dawson_Subterranea/>

The South Street caves were sold to Dorking UDC in 1921 and were leased by the council to various local wine merchants until the 1960s. The Dorking and Leith Hill Preservation Society first opened the caves for public tours in the 1970s.<ref name=Caves_Geology/> Dorking Museum assumed responsibility for running tours in May 2015. [[Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Edward]] visited the caves in March of the same year.<ref name=Caves_Geology/><ref>{{cite news |last=Edwards |first=Mark |date=12 March 2015 |title=Prince Edward opens Dorking Caves before going on private tour |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/prince-edward-opens-dorking-caves-8827706 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102128/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/prince-edward-opens-dorking-caves-8827706 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Other nearby attractions===
<!--Please discuss on talk page before expanding this section. Although these National Trust properties are close to Dorking, they are not in the town, or in the area covered by the town wards.-->
Several [[National Trust]] properties are close to Dorking, including Box Hill,<ref name=NT_Box_Hill/> Leith Hill,<ref name=NT_Leith_Hill_Tower/> Polesden Lacey<ref name=NT_Polesden/> and [[Ranmore Common]].<ref name=NT_Denbies_Hillside>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/denbies-hillside |title=Denbies Hillside |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=National Trust |access-date=3 January 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102103905/https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/denbies-hillside |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Parks and open spaces==
===Cotmandene===
Cotmandene is a {{cvt|4.78|ha|acre|sigfig=1|adj=on}} area of [[common land]] to the east of the town centre (the name is thought to mean ''the heath of the poor cottages'').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://common-land.com/lands/view/790 |title=The Cotmandene, Chart Lane, Dorking |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |access-date=7 August 2013 |archive-date=16 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116074826/http://common-land.com/lands/view/790 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Timbs_1822_p96>{{harvnb|Timbs|1822|p=96}}</ref> During the Middle Ages it was used by [[peasant|commoners]] to [[grazing|graze]] [[pig]]s.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_pp11-13/> The first [[almshouse]]s on the north side of Cotmandene were built in 1677<ref name=Bright_1884_p27>{{harvnb|Bright|1884|p=27}}</ref> and were given [[financial endowment|endowment]]s in 1718 and 1831. They were rebuilt in 1848 and again in 1961.<ref name=Overell_1991_pp58-60/>

Cricket matches were played on the heath during the 18th century and are recorded in Edward Beavan's 1777 poem ''Box Hill''.<ref name=Beavan_1777_p22>{{harvnb|Beavan|1777|p=22}}</ref> A painting entitled ''A Cricket Match on Cotmandene, Dorking'' by the artist James Canter, dating to around 1770, is now held by the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dorkingmuseum.org.uk/howzat/ |title=Howzat |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=Dorking Museum and Heritage Centre |access-date=7 August 2013 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102108/http://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/howzat/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 19th century, a [[traveling carnival|funfair]] took place at the same time as the Ascension Day [[livestock]] fair in the town centre.<ref name=Jackson_1991_p71>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|p=71 }}</ref> In 1897, to commemorate the [[Queen Victoria#Diamond Jubilee|Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria]], [[Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk]] (who was [[lord of the manor]] of Dorking) gave Cotmandene to the Urban District Council (UDC) on the condition that it was "to remain a perpetual ornament and pleasure to the town".<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp83-85/>

===Deepdene Terrace and Gardens===
[[File:Deepdene Gardens, View from the lion.jpg|upright|thumb|Stone lion in Deepdene Gardens]]
{{Main|Deepdene House and Gardens}}

Deepdene was a country house to the south-east of Dorking. Its name derives from the narrow [[Amphitheatre#Natural amphitheatres|natural amphitheatre]] in the former grounds, most likely formed by erosion of the sandstone hillside by spring water.<ref name=Mercer_Deepdene/> The gardens were first laid out by Charles Howard in the 1650s and both the [[diary|diarist]], [[John Evelyn]], and John Aubrey recorded visits there in the second half of the 17th century.<ref name=Evelyn_1879_149>{{harvnb|Evelyn|1879|p=243}}</ref><ref name=Aubrey_1718_164-166>{{harvnb|Aubrey|1718|pp=164–166}}</ref> The grounds include a [[mausoleum]] in which owners Thomas Hope and Henry Thomas Hope are buried.<ref name=Mercer_Deepdene/>

In the late 19th century, the property began a period of decline accelerated by the [[bankruptcy]] of the owner, [[Francis Pelham-Clinton-Hope, 8th Duke of Newcastle|Lord Francis Hope]], in 1896. Much of the estate was sold for housebuilding in the early 20th century. In 1943, the terrace and garden were purchased by the Dorking and Leith Hill Preservation Society (chaired by Ralph Vaughan Williams) and transferred to the UDC, however the house was demolished in 1969.<ref name=Mercer_Deepdene/> In the mid-2010s, the garden was restored and was reopened to the public as the "Deepdene Trail".<ref>{{cite web |last=Martin |first=Guy |date=24 April 2013 |title=Funding to restore glory of Deepdene Estate |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/funding-restore-glory-deepdene-estate-4721514 |publisher=Surrey Live |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102119/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/funding-restore-glory-deepdene-estate-4721514 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=23 November 2015 |title=Exploring the lost gardens of Deepdene Dorking – Hope springs eternal |url=https://www.surreylife.co.uk/out-about/places/exploring-the-lost-gardens-of-deepdene-dorking-hope-springs-eternal-1-4321796 |publisher=Surrey Live |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102120/https://www.surreylife.co.uk/out-about/places/exploring-the-lost-gardens-of-deepdene-dorking-hope-springs-eternal-1-4321796 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.molevalley.gov.uk/deepdene/index.cfm |title=The Deepdene Trail |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=11 August 2016 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821004844/http://www.molevalley.gov.uk/deepdene/index.cfm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Glory Wood===
The Glory Wood (the highest point in Dorking) is an area of primarily [[deciduous]] woodland to the southeast of the town centre. The southern part is known as "Devil's Den" and contains mainly [[oak]] with an area of [[coppice]]d [[Castanea sativa|sweet chestnut]].<ref name=MVDC_parks>{{cite web |url=https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/home/leisure/parks-playgrounds/parks-gardens-and-open-spaces |title=Parks, Gardens and Open Spaces |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=2020 |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=28 December 2020 |archive-date=13 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113110754/https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/home/leisure/parks-playgrounds/parks-gardens-and-open-spaces |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Glory Wood was promised to the town in 1927 by Lord Francis Hope, on the condition that it was not to be built upon.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Glory Woods for the public: Lord Francis Hope's gift |location=London |date=22 October 1927 |issue=44719 |page=12}}</ref> The land was to have been transferred to the UDC in July 1929, however Hope withheld the gift until 1934, in protest at the published route of the Dorking Bypass through the Deepdene estate.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=A Duke's gift to Dorking: Disagreement with Surrey County Council |location=London |date=27 July 1929 |issue=45266 |page=14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Duke of Newcastle and Dorking: The by-pass road through Glory Woods |location=London |date=14 February 1934 |issue=46678 |page=14}}</ref>

===Meadowbank===
[[File:Millpond,_Dorking,_Surrey_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1405478.jpg|thumb|The mill pond at Meadowbank]]

Meadowbank is a park on the north side of the [[Pipp Brook]]. In medieval times, it was part of the lordship lands and later became part of the [[Denbies]] estate. By the start of the 20th century, it was the grounds of large private house (also called "Meadowbank"). The house and grounds were purchased by Dorking UDC in 1926, with the intention of building 150 council houses, however owing to financial constraints, the Council instead decided to sell the western third for development. The Parkway estate was completed in 1935.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp100-102/>

The park was landscaped in the decade before World War II and included the Pippbrook Mill [[mill pond]], which was given to the town in 1934. From 1954, Meadowbank became the permanent home of [[Dorking F.C.|Dorking Football Club]] until 2014.<ref name=DFC_Meadowbank/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://combinedcounties.pitchero.com/from-dorking-fc-35189?external_domain=combinedcounties.pitchero.com |title=From Dorking FC |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=16 February 2017 |publisher=Combined Counties Football League |access-date=28 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102022/https://combinedcounties.pitchero.com/from-dorking-fc-35189?external_domain=combinedcounties.pitchero.com |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Dorking Wanderers F.C.]] moved to the refurbished ground in 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=Return to Meadowbank |date=Autumn 2018 |work=[[Groundtastic]] |pages=28–33}}</ref>

===The Nower===
[[File:The Temple (geograph 5120035).jpg|thumb|"The Temple" at The Nower]]

[[Milton Heath and The Nower|The Nower]] is an area of open grassland, which rises above Dorking to the west of the town centre. Together with the adjacent Milton Heath, it forms a {{cvt|16 |ha|acre|adj=on}} nature reserve owned by Mole Valley District Council<ref name=MVDC_parks/> and is managed by [[Surrey Wildlife Trust]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/nature-reserves/milton-heath-nower |title=Milton Heath and The Nower |publisher=Surrey Wildlife Trust |access-date=4 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024192046/https://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/ |archive-date=24 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Nower was given to the town in 1931 by Charles Barclay, the owner of the Bury Hill estate,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Gift for Dorking: 60 acres of parkland |location=London |date=10 September 1930 |issue=45614 |page=14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=A Dorking open space: The Nower given to town by Colonel Barclay |location=London |date=23 July 1931 |issue=45882 |page=10}}</ref> although it had been accessible to visitors since Victorian times. Views over Dorking may be enjoyed from "The Temple", which dates from the early 19th century.

==Notable buildings and landmarks==
===Dorking Cemetery===
Dorking Cemetery was opened in 1855 on farmland that had been purchased from the Deepdene estate.<ref name=Cemetery>{{cite web |url=http://www.surreygraveyards.org.uk/molevalley/dorkingcem.shtml |title=Dorking Cemetery |first=Tony |last=Kelly |year=2020 |publisher=Churches of Surrey |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102125/http://www.surreygraveyards.org.uk/molevalley/dorkingcem.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> Two chapels were built for funeral services, one for [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] (with a rectangular floor plan) and one (with an octagonal floor plan) for non-conformists. Both were designed by [[Henry Clutton]] and were constructed from [[flint]] with stone dressings.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1387309|desc=Anglican Chapel at Dorking Cemetery}}</ref><ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1387311|desc=Nonconformist Chapel at Dorking Cemetery}}</ref> An [[gatehouse|entrance lodge]] on Reigate Road was also provided.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1387308|desc=Dorking Cemetery Lodge, entrance arch, former mortuary and attached walls}}</ref> Originally the area of the cemetery was {{cvt|1.6|ha|acre|sigfig=1}}, but was enlarged to {{cvt|5.7|ha|acre|sigfig=1}} between 1884 and 1923.<ref name=Cemetery/>

The English novelist [[George Meredith]]<ref>{{Cite ODNB |id=34991 |title=Meredith, George}}</ref> and [[Victoria Cross]] recipient [[Charles Graham Robertson]]<ref name=Charles_Graham_Robertson>{{cite web |url=https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/charles-graham-robertson/ |title=Charles Graham Robertson |last=Chambers |first=Erica |date=27 March 2019 |publisher=Dorking Museum |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102126/https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk/charles-graham-robertson/ |url-status=live}}</ref> are among those buried there. The cemetery also contains 61 [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|Commonwealth war graves]] of military personnel from the First and Second World Wars.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dorking Cemetery {{!}} Cemetery Details|url=https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/44612/dorking-cemetery/ |access-date= 20 July 2023 |publisher= Commonwealth War Graves Commission |language=en}}</ref>

===Dorking Halls===
[[File:Dorking Halls (June 2021).jpg|thumb|Dorking Halls]]

The [[Art Deco]] Dorking Halls building, designed by the architect Percy W. Meredith for the Leith Hill Musical Festival (LHMF), was opened in 1931. The Grand Hall was intended to be used for performances of the [[Passions (Bach)|Passions]] by J. S. Bach, but two smaller halls (the Masonic and Martineau) were also constructed as part of the same complex. During [[World War II]], the building was used by the Meat Marketing Board and the [[British Army|Army]], and it was then sold to Dorking UDC. A major refurbishment was undertaken by Mole Valley District Council between 1994 and 1997.<ref name=Dorking_Halls_History>{{cite web |url=https://www.dorkinghalls.co.uk/history/ |title=Our History: Serving the community for more than 85 years |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Dorking Halls |access-date=23 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102150/https://www.dorkinghalls.co.uk/history/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Martineau Hall houses the Premier Cinema.<ref>{{cite news |date=4 June 2010 |title=Dorking could be forking out for 3D |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/dorking-could-forking-out-3d-4819492 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=28 January 2021}}</ref>{{refn|There have been a number of [[movie theater|cinemas]] in the town. The first to open (in 1910) was the Cinema Royal in the High Street, but it closed after WWI. The building is now used by [[The Salvation Army]].<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp104-105>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|pp=104–105}}</ref> The Royal Electric Cinema (later the New Electric and then the Regent) opened in 1913 and closed in 1938.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp104-105/><ref name=Jackson_1989_p98>{{harvnb|Jackson|1989|p=98}}</ref> The Pavillion, also in South Street, opened in 1925 and closed in 1963.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp104-105/><ref name=Jackson_1989_p98/> The Playhouse, at the Public Hall in West Street, showed [[silent film]]s from 1913 to 1930.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp104-105/> The largest cinema was the Embassy on Reigate Road, opposite the Dorking Halls, which opened as the Gaumont in 1938. After closure in 1973, it served as a [[Kingdom Hall|meeting hall]] for [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] until its demolition in 1983.<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp104-105/><ref name=Jackson_1989_p98/>|group=note}}

===Pippbrook House===
[[File:Pippbrook House (geograph 5534191).jpg|thumb|Pippbrook House]]

Pippbrook House, a [[gothic architecture|Gothic]] country house to the north east of the town centre, was designed as a private residence for William Henry Forman by [[George Gilbert Scott]] in 1856.<ref name=Pippbrook_NHLE/>{{refn|The first recorded owners of the Pippbrook estate were Walter and Alicia atte Pyppe in 1378. The first substantial house was built in 1758 by William Page of Tower Hill, who lived there for six years. Between 1764 and 1817, there were a further ten owners, of which the last was [[Henry Pigot]], a [[general (United Kingdom)|general]] in the [[British Army]].<ref name=Docking_2015_pp10-12>{{harvnb|Docking|2015|pp=10–12}}</ref> The house was then bought by [[William Crawford (London MP)|William Crawford]], on whose death in 1843 it passed to his son, [[Robert Wigram Crawford]].<ref name=Docking_2015_pp14-16>{{harvnb|Docking|2015|pp=14–16}}</ref> [[Thomas Seaton Forman]] purchased the property in 1849, but died just over a year later and it was inherited by his brother, William Henry Forman, who commissioned the current building.<ref name=Docking_2015_pp17-19>{{harvnb|Docking|2015|pp=17–19}}</ref>|group=note}} The house and surrounding {{cvt|2.3|ha|acre|sigfig=2}} were bought by the UDC in December 1930, for use as administrative offices.<ref name=Docking_2015_p44>{{harvnb|Docking|2015|p=44}}</ref> The UDC's successor, MVDC, opened purpose-built offices in the grounds in 1984, which enabled the local [[public library]] to move into the space vacated. The library relocated to St Martin's Walk in the town centre in 2012.<ref name=Pippbrook_NHLE/> In 2020, MVDC announced plans to develop Pippbrook House as a "community hub and start-up business centre".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.molevalley.gov.uk/2020/09/08/pippbrook-house-future-decided/ |title=Pippbrook House future decided |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=8 September 2020 |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=23 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102128/https://news.molevalley.gov.uk/2020/09/08/pippbrook-house-future-decided/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===White Horse Hotel===

The first building to be recorded on the site of the White Horse Hotel was granted to the [[Knights Templar]] by [[John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey]], in around 1287.<ref name=Ettinger_1991_p14>{{harvnb|Ettinger|Jackson|Overell|1991|p=14}}</ref> When the Templars were suppressed in 1308 by order of [[Pope Clement V]], the property was confiscated and passed to the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of the Order of St John]]. For much of the late medieval period, it was known as the "Cross House" and in the 16th century it was the residence of the parish priest.<ref name=Walker_White_Horse>{{cite journal |last1=Walker |first1=TEC |year=1955 |title=The White Horse Hotel, Dorking |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-379-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_54/surreyac054_071-075_walker.pdf |journal=Surrey Archaeological Collections |volume=54 |pages=71–75 |doi=10.5284/1068889 |access-date=23 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102114/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-379-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2Fvol_54%2Fsurreyac054_071-075_walker.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

The property became an inn around 1750 (by which time it was known as "The White Horse"), a few years before the opening of the Epsom to Horsham turnpike road.<ref name=Walker_White_Horse/> Most of the current hotel was built during the 18th century (including the timber-framed frontage which faces the High Street), however some parts date from the 15th and 16th centuries.<ref name=NHLE_White_Horse>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1028861|desc=The White Horse Hotel|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> Famous guests have included [[Charles Dickens]] who wrote his novel [[The Pickwick Papers]], whilst resident in the mid-1830s.<ref name=What_pub_WH>{{cite web |url=https://whatpub.com/pubs/REI/107/white-horse-hotel-dorking |title=White Horse Hotel |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=26 January 2020 |publisher=What Pub? |access-date=23 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102132/https://whatpub.com/pubs/REI/107/white-horse-hotel-dorking |url-status=live}}</ref> Further additions were made to the hotel in the 19th century, which is protected today by a Grade II listing.<ref name=NHLE_White_Horse/>

===Statues and sculptures===
[[File:Dorking Cockerel August 2012.jpg|thumb|The "Dorking Cockerel" photographed during the [[2012 Summer Olympics|London 2012 Olympic Games]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Guy |first=Martin |date=24 July 2012 |title=Podium needed as Dorking cockerel gets gold medal |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/podium-needed-dorking-cockerel-gets-4810066 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=7 March 2021 |archive-date=4 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204060301/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/podium-needed-dorking-cockerel-gets-4810066 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

The [[galvanization|galvanised]] metal [[Dorking Cockerel|sculpture of a Dorking cockerel]] by the artist Peter Parkinson was erected on the Deepdene roundabout in 2007. The {{cvt|3|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall|sigfig=1}} statue pays homage to the historical importance of the town's poultry market.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tobin |first=Olivia |date=5 February 2017 |title=As the Dorking Cockerel celebrates its 10th birthday, we ask – why is it there? |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-cockerel-celebrates-10th-birthday-12558889 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102130/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-cockerel-celebrates-10th-birthday-12558889 |url-status=live}}</ref> The cockerel is a frequent target of [[yarn bombing]] and can be seen dressed in hats, scarves and other items of clothing.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2114526_dorking_cockerel_gets_in_diamond_jubilee_spirit |title=Dorking cockerel gets in Diamond Jubilee spirit |date=28 May 2012 |publisher=Get Surrey |author=Guy Martin |access-date=26 June 2012 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102132/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/dorking-cockerel-gets-diamond-jubilee-4810844 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Edwards |first=Mark |date=28 May 2014 |title=Dorking Cockerel gets traffic cone on head – guerrilla knitters, not students, to blame |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-cockerel-adorned-knitted-traffic-7182492 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102136/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/dorking-cockerel-adorned-knitted-traffic-7182492 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The two statues outside the Dorking Halls were designed by [[William Fawke]]. The statue of architect and master builder [[Thomas Cubitt]] was installed in 1995. The statue of Ralph Vaughan Williams was donated by [[Adrian White (businessman)|Sir Adrian White]] and was unveiled in 2001.<ref name=Dorking_Halls_History/>

The sculpture of two cyclists at the Pixham End roundabout was unveiled in July 2012, less than two weeks before the Olympic road race events were routed through Dorking. The installation was designed by the artist Heather Burrell, and just over half of the cost was donated by members of the public, each of whom is represented by an [[oak|oak leaf]] on either the cyclists' [[torso]]s or the [[bicycle wheel]]s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Guy |date=18 July 2012 |title=Olympics cycling sculpture unveiled in Dorking |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/olympics-cycling-sculpture-unveiled-dorking-4809986 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102141/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/olympics-cycling-sculpture-unveiled-dorking-4809986 |url-status=live}}</ref>

There are two sculptures by the artist Lucy Quinnell in the town: the first, a metal arch commemorating the writer and philosopher [[Grant Allen]], was installed at the entrance to Allen Court in 2013;<ref>{{cite news |last=Younger |first=Rebecca |date=2 July 2013 |title=Dorking arch pays tribute to 19th Century writer |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/dorking-arch-pays-tribute-19th-4826497 |work=Get Surrey |access-date=10 January 2021 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112053002/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/dorking-arch-pays-tribute-19th-4826497 |url-status=live}}</ref> the second, depicting the ''Mayflower'' sailing westwards towards the New World, was commissioned by Mole Valley District Council and was unveiled in West Street in 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.molevalley.gov.uk/2021/03/19/historic-public-artwork-installed-in-dorking/ |title=Historic Public Artwork Installed in Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=19 March 2021 |publisher=Mole Valley District Council |access-date=30 June 2021 |archive-date=19 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319173026/https://news.molevalley.gov.uk/2021/03/19/historic-public-artwork-installed-in-dorking/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===War memorial===
[[File:War_Memorial,_Dorking,_Surrey_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1396054.jpg|thumb|right|War Memorial in South Street]]

The town [[war memorial]], in South Street, was dedicated in 1921 "in memory of Dorking men who fell in the Great War". Designed by the architect [[Tom Braddock|Thomas Braddock]], it was constructed from [[ashlar|dressed]] [[Portland stone]]. The memorial was modified in 1945 to commemorate those who had died in [[World War II]], with the addition of the wings at each side. At the base, a [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|verse]] from [[Books of Samuel|1 Samuel]] is inscribed: "They were a wall unto us both by night and by day."<ref name=NHLE_War_Memorial>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1392420|desc=Dorking War Memorial|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=401810 |title=War Memorial, Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=2016 |publisher=[[Dictionary of Scottish Architects]] |access-date=23 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102139/http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=401810 |url-status=live}}</ref> The names of 264 people who died in the two conflicts (both [[military personnel]] and [[civilian]]s) are recorded, including seven women.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/23387 |title=Memorial: Dorking |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=2019 |publisher=Imperial War Museum |access-date=23 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102141/https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/23387 |url-status=live}}</ref> The memorial is protected by a Grade II listing.<ref name=NHLE_War_Memorial/>{{refn|The construction of the War Memorial was part of a larger improvement scheme to widen South Street. A [[bandstand]] was built adjacent to the Memorial, paid for by private funds. Increasing traffic noise had however rendered it unusable by the [[concert band|Town Band]] by the 1930s<ref name=Jackson_1991_pp95-97/> and it was demolished in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/261560/ |title=Dorking Bandstand |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=20 January 2019 |publisher=War Memorials Online |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102102146/https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/261560/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The dedication plaque is preserved at Dorking Museum.<ref name=Atherton_2014_Ch7>{{harvnb|Atherton|2014|pp=258–264}}</ref>|group=note}}

==Notable residents==
<!--This section only to include people who were born, lived or died in Dorking TOWN. Those associated with nearby villages or country estates should not be listed here. Please discuss on talk page.-->
{{Category see also|People from Dorking}}
Three former residents of Dorking have been awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] (VC):
*[[Lord William Beresford|Sir William Leslie de la Poer Beresford]] was given his VC for rescuing a comrade at [[Ulundi]] (now in South Africa) during the 1879 [[Anglo-Zulu War]]. After retiring from the army, he lived at the Deepdene with his wife, the [[Lily Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough|Dowager Duchess of Marlborough]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Obituary: Lord William Beresford |date=31 December 1900 |page=8 |issue=36339}}</ref><ref>{{Who's Who |id=U183701 |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U183701 |title=Beresford, Lord William Leslie de la Poer}}</ref>
*[[Lewis Halliday|Sir Lewis Halliday]] was awarded the VC for repelling an enemy attack during the 1899-1901 [[Boxer Rebellion]] in [[China]]. He died in Dorking in 1966.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Obituary: Gen. Sir Lewis Halliday VC |date=11 March 1966 |page=14 |issue=56577}}</ref><ref>{{Who's Who |id=U52042 |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U52042 |title=Halliday, Gen. Sir Lewis Stratford Tollemache}}</ref>
*[[Charles Graham Robertson]] was given his VC for repelling an enemy attack during the [[German spring offensive]] in March 1918. On his return to Dorking after the war, he was honoured with a parade and the presentation of a gold watch. He continued to live in the town until his death in 1954 and is buried in the cemetery.<ref name=Charles_Graham_Robertson/><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Obituary: Mr G. C. Robertson VC |date=12 May 1954 |page=8 |issue=52929}}</ref>

People born in the town include:
*[[Walter Dendy Sadler]] (1854–1923), artist and painter.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Obituary: Mr Dendy Sadler |date=14 November 1923 |page=10 |issue=43498}}</ref>
*[[Laurence Olivier]] (1907–1989), actor and director. A [[blue plaque]] marking his birthplace can be found in Wathen Road.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Obituary: Lord Olivier |date=12 July 1989 |page=16 |issue=63444}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/places/surrey/mole_valley/dorking/olivier/ |title=Dorking: 26 Wathen Road and Laurence Olivier |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=31 January 2014 |publisher=Exploring Surrey's Past |access-date=19 January 2021}}</ref>
*[[Jamie Mackie]] (born 1985) former [[Scotland national football team|Scotland international]] [[association football|football player]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Bean |first=Graham |date=21 July 2020 |title=Former Scotland striker announces his retirement from football |url=https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/international/former-scotland-striker-announces-his-retirement-football-2920093 |work=The Scotsman |access-date=28 January 2021}}</ref>
*[[Peter George (businessman)|Peter George]] (1943–2007) former chairman and chief executive of [[Ladbrokes Coral|Hilton Group PLC]].<ref>{{Cite web |title='Without Peter George in the post-Stein era, Ladbrokes would not have survived' Chris Bell leads tribute to 'boss, mentor and close friend', who has died aged 63. - Free Online Library |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/'Without+Peter+George+in+the+post-Stein+era,+Ladbrokes+would+not+have...-a0156917228 |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=www.thefreelibrary.com}}</ref>

People who have lived in the town include:
*[[Daniel Defoe]] (c.1660–1731), who attended Rev. James Fisher's boarding school in Pixham Lane, and later mentioned Dorking in his ''[[Tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain]]''.<ref name=SAC_Defoe/>
*[[Peter Labilliere]] (1725–1800), a former Army Major and political agitator lived in a cottage on Butter Hill from 1789.<ref>{{harvnb|Lander|2000|pp=7–8}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Lander|2000|pp=20–21}}</ref> In accordance with his wishes he was [[Burial#Inverted burial|buried head downwards]] 11 June 1800 on the western side of Box Hill.<ref name=Timbs_1866_pp176-178>{{harvnb|Timbs|1866|pp=176–178}}</ref>
*The composer [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] (1872–1958) lived in Dorking from 1929 to 1951.<ref>{{harvnb|Vaughan Williams|1965|pp=171–179}}</ref> One of his most famous works, ''[[The Lark Ascending (Vaughan Williams)|The Lark Ascending]]'', was inspired by a [[The Lark Ascending|poem of the same name]] published in 1881 by the author [[George Meredith]], who lived at Box Hill.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/vaughan-williams-the-lark-ascending |title=Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=British Library |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102103127/https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/vaughan-williams-the-lark-ascending |url-status=live}}</ref>
*Composer [[David Moule-Evans]] (1905–1988)<ref>{{Who's Who |id=U167426 |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U167426 |title=Moule-Evans, David }}</ref> collaborated with Vaughan Williams on the pageant play ''England's Pleasant Land'', written by [[E.M. Forster]], which was first performed in Dorking in 1938.<ref name=Frogley_Thomson>{{harvnb|Frogley|Thomson|2013|p=177}}</ref>
*[[Absolute Radio]] DJ [[Christian O'Connell]] lived in Dorking for several years until 2018.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Thomas |date=18 May 2018 |title=Absolute Radio DJ Christian O'Connell's best on-air moments as he moves out of Dorking |url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/absolute-radio-dj-christian-oconnells-14650960 |work=Surrey Live |access-date=28 January 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of places of worship in Mole Valley]]
*[[List of public art in Surrey]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
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*{{cite book |last=Corke |first=Shirley |year=2005 |title=Music won the cause : 100 years of Leith Hill Musical Festival, 1905–2005 |location=Dorking |publisher=Leith Hill Musical Festival}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Cotton |editor1-first=Jonathan |editor2-last=Crocker |editor2-first=Glenys |editor3-last=Graham |editor3-first=Audrey |year=2004 |title=Aspects of archaeology and history in Surrey |location=Guildford |publisher=Surrey Archaeological Society |isbn=978-0-95-414603-0}}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Course |editor-first=Edwin |year=1987 |title=Minutes of the Board of Directors of the Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway Company |publisher=Surrey Record Society |location=Guildford |isbn=978-0-90-297808-9}}
*{{cite book |last=Crocker |first=Glenys |year=1990 |title=A guide to the industrial archaeology of Surrey |publisher=Association for Industrial Archaeology |location=Ironbridge |isbn=978-0-95-084484-8}}
*{{cite book |last=Crocker |first=Glenys |year=1999 |title=Surrey's Industrial Past |publisher=Surrey Industrial History Group |location=Guildford |url=http://www.sihg.org.uk/books/SurreyIndPast.pdf |isbn=978-0-95-239188-3}}
*{{cite book |title=North Downs Way |last1=Curtis |first1=Neil |last2=Walker |first2=Jim |publisher=Aurum Press Ltd |year=2007 |series=National Trail Guides |location=London |isbn=978-1-84-513272-9}}
*{{Cite book |last=Dendy Marshall |first=CF |year=1968 |title=History of the Southern Railway |publisher=Ian Allan |isbn=978-0-71-100059-9}}
*{{cite book |last=Dennis |first=John |year=1855 |title=A handbook of Dorking |location=Dorking |publisher=John Rowe}}
*{{cite book |last1=Dines |first1=HG |last2=Edmunds |first2=FH |last3=Chatwin |first3=CP |last4=Stubblefield |first4=CJ |author-link4=Cyril James Stubblefield |year=1933 |title=The geology of the country around Reigate and Dorking : Explanation of one-inch geological sheet 286, new series |url=http://pubs.bgs.ac.uk/publications.html?pubID=B01673 |location=London |publisher=British Geological Survey |access-date=25 July 2020 |archive-date=2 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102103131/http://pubs.bgs.ac.uk/publications.html?pubID=B01673 |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last=Docking |first=Jim |year=2015 |title=Pippbrook House |location=Dorking |publisher=Dorking Local History Group |isbn=978-1-87-091240-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Ekwall |first=Eilert |author-link=Eilert Ekwall |year=1940 |edition=2nd |title=The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press}}
*{{cite book |last1=Ettinger |first1=Vivien |last2=Jackson |first2=Alan |last3=Overell |first3=Brian |year=1991 |editor-last=Jackson |editor-first=Alan |title=Dorking: A Surrey market town through twenty centuries |location=Dorking, Surrey |publisher=Dorking Local History Group |isbn=1-870912-03-9}}
*{{cite book |last=Evelyn |first=John |author-link=John Evelyn |year=1879 |title=Diary of John Evelyn |location=London |publisher=Frederick Warne & Co. |editor-first=William |editor-last=Bray |editor-link=William Bray (antiquary)}}
*{{cite book |last=Faulks |first=Sebastian |year=1992 |title=A Fool's Alphabet |location=London |publisher=Hutchinson |isbn=978-0-09-177299-4}}
*{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |editor1-last=Frogley |editor1-first=Alain |editor2-last=Thomson |editor2-first=Aiden J |title=The Cambridge Companion to Vaughan Williams |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-52-116290-6}}
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*{{cite book |last1=Gover |first1=J.E.B |last2=Mawer |first2=A. |author-link2=Allen Mawer |last3=Stenton |first3=F.M. |author-link3=Frank Stenton |year=1934 |title=The place-names of Surrey |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
*{{cite book |last=Horne |first=Susannah |year=2016 |title=Early medieval Dorking, 600 to 1200 AD |location=Dorking |publisher=Cockerel Press |isbn=978-1-90-987106-9}}
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*{{cite book |last=Margary |first=Ivan D |author-link=Ivan Margary |year=1948 |title=Roman Ways in the Weald |publisher=Phoenix House |location=London}}
*{{cite book |last=Mercer |first=Doris |year=1983 |title=A corner of West Street, Dorking: Six centuries of change |location=Newdigate |publisher=The Local History Group, Dorking and Leith Hill District Preservation Society}}
*{{cite book |last1=Nairn |first1=Ian |author-link1=Ian Nairn |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5b6dCBlfCLUC&pg=PA198 |title=The Buildings of England: Surrey |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=Harmondsworth |year=1971 |orig-year=1962 |edition=2nd |isbn=0-300-09675-5}}
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*{{cite book |title=Box Hill |last=Tuson |first=Dan |year=2013 |publisher=The National Trust |location=London |isbn=978-1-84-359367-6}}
*{{cite book |last=Vaughan Williams |first=Ursula |author-link=Ursula Vaughan Williams |title=RVW: A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams |orig-year=1964 |year=1965 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-315411-7}}
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*{{cite book |title=A History of St Paul's: The story of a primary school in Dorking |last=Wharmby |first=Helen |publisher=Cockerel Press |year=2013 |location=Dorking |isbn=978-1-90-987101-4}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Dorking}}
*[https://dorkingmuseum.org.uk Dorking Museum]
*[https://www.visitdorking.com Discover Dorking tourism website]
*[http://www.molevalley.gov.uk/ Mole Valley District Council]

{{Geographic Location
|title='''Neighbouring areas of Surrey'''
|Northwest=[[Great Bookham]]
|North=[[Westhumble]]
|Northeast=[[Pixham]], [[Box Hill, Surrey|Box Hill]]
|East=[[Brockham]]
|Centre=Dorking
|West=[[Westcott, Surrey|Westcott]]
|Southwest=[[Coldharbour, Surrey|Coldharbour]]
|South=[[North Holmwood]]
|Southeast=[[Newdigate]]
}}
{{Surrey}}
{{Mole Valley|state=collapsed}}
{{London commuter belt|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dorking| ]]
[[Category:Market towns in Surrey]]
[[Category:Mole Valley]]
[[Category:Unparished areas in Surrey]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Surrey]]
[[Category:Towns in Surrey]]