[Illustration: LEITH HILL.]
[Illustration: THE OLD DOVECOTE, HOLMWOOD PARK, SURREY.]
Proceeding eastward along the chalk-hills for about twelve miles, we
come to the breach made in them by the valley of the Mole for the
passage of that strange little river. Here, however, appears a second
and parallel range of hills, distant about four miles, the long and
generally flat-topped ridge culminating in the commanding summit of
Leith Hill. This is the highest ground in this part of England, rising
nearly one thousand feet, a broad summit sloping gradually down towards
the north, but presenting to the south a steep and, in places, a
precipitous ascent. At its foot is the residence known as Leith Hill
Place, where Mr. Hull lived in the last century, and built the tower for
an outlook that crowns its summit, leaving orders in his will that he
should be buried there. The tower was partially burned in 1877, but has
been restored. The view from the top of Leith Hill is grand, although it
takes some exertion to get there, and it discloses a panorama of typical
English scenery over the white chalk-downs, dappled with green and the
darker woodland, with the Thames lowlands far away to the north, while
to the southward the land falls abruptly to the great valley of the
Weald, a plain of rich red earth, with woods and grainfields and
hedgerows stretching away to the dim line of the South Downs at the
horizon. Pleasant little villas and old-time comfortable farm-houses are
dotted all about with their dovecotes and outbuildings. To the eastward
is the Redlands Wood, crowned by a tall silver fir, and just beyond is
Holmwood Common, whereon donkeys graze and flocks of geese patiently
await the September plucking. Here, at Holmwood Park, is one of those
ancient yet still populous dovecotes that contribute so much to enhance
the beauties of English rural scenery.
[Illustration: THE WHITE HORSE INN, DORKING.]
Dorking lies in the valley of the Mole, just south of the high
chalk-ranges, at the foot of wooded hills, and with its bordering
meadows stretching out to the river-bank. It is an ancient town,
appearing in the Domesday Book under the name of Dorchinges, and
standing on the route which Julius Caesar took through these hills on his
invasion of Britain. After the Norman Conquest the manor became the
property of Earl Warrenne, and as a favorite halting-place on the road
between London and the south coast in the Middle Ages it throve greatly
and was noted for the number of its inns. Its chief street--High
Street--runs parallel with the chalk-hills, and presents a picturesque
variety of old-time houses, though none are of great pretensions. Among
them is the long, low structure, with a quaint entrance-gate in the
middle, suggestive of the days before railroads, and known as the "White
Horse Inn." The ancient "Cardinal's Cap" has been transformed into the
"Red Lion Inn," and the "Old King's Head," the most famous of these
hostelries, has been removed to make room for the post-office. This
latter inn was the original of "The Marquis of Granby, Dorking," where
that substantial person, Mr. Weller, Senior, lived, and under the sway
of Mrs. Weller the veteran coachman smoked his pipe and practised
patience, while the "shepherd" imbibed hot pineapple rum and water and
dispensed spiritual consolation to the flock. An old stage-coachman who
lived years ago at Dorking is said to have been Dickens's original for
this celebrated character, and the townsfolk still talk of the venerable
horse-trough that stood in front of the inn wherein the bereaved
landlord immersed Mr. Stiggins's head after kicking him out of the bar.
The parish church is the only public building of any pretension in
Dorking, and it is quite new, replacing another structure whose
registers go back to the sixteenth century, containing, among other
curious entries, the christening in 1562 of a child whose fate is
recorded in these words: "Who, scoffing at thunder, standing under a
beech, was stroke to death, his clothes stinking with a sulphurous
stench, being about the age of twenty years or thereabouts, at Mereden
House." The Dorking fowls all have the peculiarity of an extra claw on
each foot, being white and speckled, and a Roman origin being claimed
for the breed, which is most delicate in flavor and commands a high
price. On the southern outskirts of the town is Deepdene, a mansion
surrounded by magnificent trees and standing on the slope of a hill. It
was the home of the Hopes, its late owner, H. T. Hope, having been the
author of the novel _Anastasius_. He was a zealous patron of art, and
first brought Thorwaldsen into public notice by commissioning him to
execute his "Jason" in marble. The house contains many rare gems of
sculpture, including Canova's "Venus Rising from the Bath," with
paintings by Raphael, Paul Veronese, and others. It was here that
Disraeli wrote the greater part of _Coningsby_. A _dene_ or glade
opening near the house gives the place its name, the grounds being
extensive and displaying gardens and fine woods. The scenery of this
glade is beautiful, while from the terrace at the summit of the hill,
where there is a Doric temple, a magnificent view can be had far away
over the lowlands. Deepdene is attractive both within and without, for
its grand collection of art-treasures vies with Nature in affording
delight to the visitor. The ruins of Betchworth Castle, built four
hundred years ago, are alongside the Mole. "The soft windings of the
silent Mole" around Betchworth furnished a theme for Thomson, while
Milton calls it "the sullen Mole that runneth underneath," and Pope,
"the sullen Mole that hides his diving flood." Spenser has something to
say of the
"----Mole, that like a nousling mole doth make
His way still underground till Thames he overtake."
This peculiarity comes from the river hiding itself under Box Hill,
where, after disappearing for about two miles, it comes bubbling up out
of the ground again. This disappearance of streams in hilly regions is
not unusual. Box Hill, beneath whose slopes the Mole passes, is part of
the great chalk-range rising steeply on the eastern side of the gap
where the river-valley breaks through. Its summit is elevated four
hundred feet, the hill being densely wooded and containing large
plantations of box, whence its name. One of these box-groves covers two
hundred and thirty acres. On the brow of Box Hill, Major Labilliere, a
singular character, was buried in 1800. He lived in Dorking, and,
becoming convinced that the world had been turned topsy-turvy, selected
his grave, and gave instructions that he should be buried head downward,
so that at the final setting right of mundane affairs he would rise
correctly. In the Mole Valley, at the base of Box Hill, at a pretty
little house called the "Fox and Hounds," Keats finished his poem of
_Endymion_, and here Lord Nelson spent his last days in England before
leaving on the expedition that closed with his greatest victory and
death at Trafalgar.
Upon the hill on the western side of the gap is the Denbies, from which
there is a view all the way to London. At the back of this high hill is
Ranmore Common. The Denbies are the scene of the "Battle of Dorking,"
having been held by the English defensive army in that imaginary and
disastrous conflict wherein German invaders land upon the southern
coasts, destroy the British fleets by torpedoes, triumphantly march to
the base of the chalk-ranges, fight a terrific battle, force their way
through the gaps in the hills, capture London, and dethrone England from
her high place among the great powers of Europe. This was a summer-time
magazine article, written to call English attention to the necessity of
looking after the national defences; and it had a powerful effect.
Westward of Dorking there is fine scenery, amid which is the little
house known as the "Rookery," where Malthus the political economist was
born in 1766. Wotton Church stands alongside the road near by, almost
hid by aged trees--a building of various dates, with a porch and stunted
tower. Here John Evelyn was taught when a child, and the graves of his
family are in a chapel opening from the north aisle. Wotton House, where
Evelyn lived, is in the adjacent valley and at the foot of the famous
Leith Hill. His favorite pastime was climbing up the hill to see over
the dozen counties the view discloses, with the sea far away to the
southward on the Sussex coast. The house is an irregular brick building
of various dates, the earliest parts built in Elizabethan days, and it
contains many interesting relics of Evelyn, whose diary has contributed
so much to English history from the reign of Charles I. to Queen Anne.
He was a great botanist, and has left a prominent and valuable work in
_Sylva_, his treatise on trees. It was to the north-west of Wotton, on
a tract of common known as Evershed Rough, that Bishop Samuel
Wilberforce, while riding with Earl Granville in 1873, was thrown from
the saddle by his stumbling horse, and striking the ground with his head
was almost immediately killed. A cross marks the sad and lonely spot.