History and Heritage
To visit Dorking and not to have some knowledge of the history of the people and places that have made this a unique and individual town is to miss something special. No town as old as Dorking, with its origins dating from Roman times, can exit without its share of momentous and unusual events and without providing a home for the famous and infamous.
Much of the architecture and street pattern, and even what lies underneath the streets, is testament to the rich pattern of life in this English country town. To know that the great composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was inspired by the same surroundings that we enjoy today or that Charles Dickens used local places and characters when writing The Pickwick Papers is to add a new dimension to a visit to the town. Dorking is proud of its long and varied history and of the continuity of past and present.
