Excerpt from A Handbook for Travellers in Surrey, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight: With Maps and Plans

The most important event in the history of Surrey is of course the grant of the Great Charter at Runnymede, June 15th, 1215 (rte. Tradition has asserted that many conferences were previously held by the party of the barons in the caverns under the keep of Reigate Castle (rte. It is sufliciently clear, however, that this story is entirely without foundation: and Surre must be contented with the honour of containing within her bounds t e scene of one of the most important events not only in the history of England but in that of freedom. In the following year, 1216, Louis of France landed on the Kentish coast and after the death of King John a treaty was concluded between Louis and William the Earl Marshal, Protector of the youn King Henry III by which the French prince agreed to relinquish his 0 ims to the crown of England, and to surrender all the places which then remained in the possession of his followers. The scene of this treaty was an island in the Thames, near Staines - in all probability that now known as Charter Island.

By a remarkable chance, both the first and almost the last appearance in arms during the great Civil War occurred in the county of Surrey. Both took place at kingston-on-thames (rte. 7 On January 12, 1642, when an Open rupture between King and Parliament seemed inevitable, Lord Digby, Colonel Lunsford, and other Royalists, assembled there, with the intention, it was asserted, of proceeding to Portsmouth and seizing it for the kin Before their design could be carried into execution, however, the I'arliament called out the trained bands of Surrey and the neighbouring counties. Colonel Lunsford was committed to the Tower; and Lord Digby escaped beyond sea. The second rising at Kingston took place July 7, 1648, when the Duke of Bucking ham, and his brother Lord Francis Villiers, after some skirmishing in the neighbourhood of Reigate, withdrew to Kingston, close to which place they were attacked by the Parliamentary troops and dispersed. On this occasion Lord Francis Villiers, a youth of twenty, was killed.

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