page_title: Box Hill, Surrey
section_title: Notes
hierarchical_section_title: Box Hill, Surrey / Notes
caption_attribution_description: English: TQ2018153628 from TQ 20165 53633
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 tree marks the boundary between two parishes: Mickleham (to the north) and Dorking (to the south).
  In March 1879 the coach left Piccadilly at 10:30am every day, arriving at the Burford Bridge Hotel at 1pm. The return journey left Box Hill at 4pm, arriving back in London at 6:30pm.
  Salomons died in September 1915, just over a year after donating the land on Box Hill to the National Trust. His widow opened the Memorial at the viewpoint in 1920.
  In 1946 Mr and Mrs Crookenden gave 195 hectares (480 acres) of Headley Heath (and the Lordship of the Manor of Headley) to the National Trust. The family of Lady Warburg donated the 9-hectare (22-acre) Heath Plantation following her death in 1952.
  A common misconception is that the forts were built to protect against invasion by the French Emperor Napoleon, however he had died in 1821, almost 80 years before construction began. 
  The aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 (which led to the unification of Germany), the reform of the Russian Army following the Crimean War and colonial disputes with France, prompted British fears of a war against an alliance of the main European powers. Lobbying by Sir Edward Hamley MP resulted in the Secretary of State for War, Edward Stanhope,  presenting the bill for construction of the London Defence Positions to Parliament in 1889.
  The bridle path that leads from the bottom of the Burford Spur to the National Trust café, is generally known as the ‘Old Military Road’. Although it is mistakenly believed to have been constructed at the same time as Box Hill Fort, it is visible on the 1869 Ordnance survey map and may pre-date the Zig Zag Road.
  Note the transmitter mast in the top-left corner of the photograph which, together with the adjacent water tower (not visible in the picture), marks the true summit of Box Hill at 224 m (735 ft) above OD.
  Unlike much of Great Britain, Surrey was never covered by permanent ice sheets. During the Last Glacial Maximum (corresponding to Marine Isotope Stage 5 - 130,000 to 80,000 years ago), the ice sheets reached as far south as St Albans, approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of Box Hill.
  Although its spread is often considered undesirable, scrub provides valuable habitat for a range of invertebrates on Box Hill, including the Roman snail, rufous grasshopper and the dark green fritillary.
  The cliff above the River Mole is so steep and the soil is so shallow that the bare chalk rock is exposed in several places.
  A common misconception is that the Salomons Memorial (at 172 m (564 ft) above OD) marks the highest point of the hill, however the land continues to rise to the east. The true summit of the hill is at Betchworth Clump at 224 m (735 ft) above OD and is currently occupied by a water tower and transmitter mast. 
  In February 2017 the Sunday Times newspaper identified Box Hill as one of the top six rural cycling accident blackspots in the UK, stating that seven accidents on the Zig Zag Road had been reported to the Police in 2015.
  On 15 August 2014 Ciaran O'Hara and Roger Barr cycled up the hill 73 times to complete a challenge known as Everesting, in which cyclists repeatedly climb a hill to gain the same vertical elevation (8848 m) as Mount Everest.
  There are six ponds on Headley Heath: Aspen Pond, Bellamoss Pond, Brimmer Pond, Browns Pond, Heath House Pond and Hopeful Pond. Only Brimmer Pond is of significant age.
caption: Bellamoss Pond, Headley Heath.[note 14]
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