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9
PHYSICAL FEATURES AND GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE DISTRICT.
Area of District.—This is officially given as
4,711 acres. The shape is practically a square with
a long protruding tongue, and consists of the Civil
Parishes of Surbiton, Tolworth, Hook and
Chessington.
Boundaries.—On the North by the Borough of
Kingston-upon-Thames, on the North-West by the
River Thames, which has a length within the district
of 940 yards and includes within our area the Island
known as Ravens Eyot, on the West and partly
South-West by the territory of Eslier, on the East
by the Hogsmill River, otherwise locally known as
the Maiden River, and by the Maidens and Coombe
Urban District, and on the South-East by the Epsom
Urban District, and on the South by the Leatherhead
Urban District.
Physical Features.—The area of the district is
roughly divided into Northern and Southern parts
by the Southern Railway which runs in a deep cutting
through the district from North-East to SoutliWest,
and by the rising ground known as Surbiton
Hill, towards which on the Northern aspect the
ground slopes upward from the level of the Rivers
Thames and Hogsmill, forming a ridge which extends
from Minniedale and the parts known as Clay
Hill (now re-christened Villier's Avenue) overlooking
Kingston, to just outside the boundary at Cock
Crow Hill within the Parish of Long Ditton. The
highest part of this ridge within our area is 118.6
feet.
Geology.—The greater part of the district is of
the Tertiary period embracing the Eocene strata of
London Clay. In the portion nearer the river there
are post-tertiary deposits of gravel and sand, described
in the geological survey as " Valley Brick