page_title: Box Hill, Surrey
section_title: George Meredith
hierarchical_section_title: Box Hill, Surrey / Notable former residents / George Meredith
caption_attribution_description: English: Flint Cottage, Box Hill, George Meredith's home after 1867.
context_page_description: Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs in Surrey, approximately 31 km south-west of London. The hill gets its name from the ancient box woodland found on the steepest west-facing chalk slopes overlooking the River Mole. The western part of the hill is owned and managed by the National Trust, whilst the village of Box Hill lies on higher ground to the east. The highest point is Betchworth Clump at 224 m above OD, although the Salomons Memorial overlooking the town of Dorking is the most popular viewpoint.
  Box Hill lies within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and forms part of the Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest. The north- and south-facing slopes support an area of chalk downland, noted for its orchids and other rare plant species. The hill provides a habitat for 40 species of butterfly, and has given its name to a species of squash bug, now found throughout south-east England.
  An estimated 850,000 people visit Box Hill each year.
context_section_description: The author George Meredith (1828-1909) lived in Flint Cottage from 1868 until his death. He built a chalet in the garden in which he wrote. Today the house is protected by a Grade II listing and is not accessible to the public.
  Among several works written at Box Hill, his poem The Lark Ascending, published in 1881, inspired Ralph Vaughan Williams to compose the musical work of the same name.
  The part of the hill immediately opposite the cottage is known as Barrie's Bank, supposedly because the author J. M. Barrie waited there, while summoning the courage to introduce himself to Meredith.
caption: George Meredith and family members, photographed in the rear garden of Flint Cottage, Box Hill.
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