Holmesdale, also known as the Vale of Holmesdale, is a valley in South-East England that falls between the hill ranges of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge of the Weald, in the counties of Kent and Surrey. [1] It stretches from Folkestone [2] on the Kent coast, through Ashford, Harrietsham, Maidstone, Riverhead/Sevenoaks, Westerham, Oxted, Godstone, Redhill, Reigate, Dorking, Gomshall, and Guildford – west of which it is also called by the local name of "Puttenham Vale" – as it continues through the village of Puttenham, to the market town of Farnham.
Holmesdale is part of the Weald Basin and Weald-Artois Anticline. The valley is bordered on its north side by the chalk escarpment of the North Downs, and on its south side by the dip slope of the Greensand Ridge.
The valley's composition is primarily Gault Clay and Upper Greensand, with Lower Chalk wash at the foot of the Downs along its north edge and eroded Lower Greensand at its south edge also forming part of the valley floor in places. [1] The vale gently ascends and descends several times along its length, with higher elevations near Lenham and Westerham (in Kent), and Wotton (in Surrey) [2] acting as drainage divides for the valley's several drainage basins and rivers.
The valley is part of the drainage basins of the rivers Stour and Medway; and the Thames tributaries the Darent and Mole.
The M25 motorway runs westward along Holmesdale after descending through the North Downs near Sevenoaks (Junction 5), before ascending up the downs again at Reigate (Junction 8). The A25 road connects the towns and villages in Holmesdale from Wrotham Heath to Shere, alternating between running in the valley and running along the Greensand Ridge. At Shere the A25 ascends the downs, passing over the top at Newlands Corner, to run north of the downs to Guildford.
The North Downs railway line runs along the valley from Redhill to Gomshall.
Local businesses, schools, and clubs use the valley's name, for example the Holmesdale Building Society in Reigate; The Holmesdale School in Snodland; and the Holmesdale Natural History Club, founded in 1857, which runs a museum of the same name in Reigate. [3]
Surrey is a county in South East England which borders Kent to the east, East Sussex to the southeast, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west, Berkshire to the northwest, and Greater London to the northeast. With about 1.2 million people, Surrey is the 12th-most populous English county, the third-most populous home county, after Kent and Essex, and the third-most populous in the Southeast, after Hampshire and Kent.
Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in east Surrey, England. It includes the towns of Reigate, Redhill, Horley and Banstead. The borough borders the Borough of Crawley to the south, the Borough of Epsom and Ewell and District of Mole Valley to the west, Tandridge District to the east and the London Boroughs of Sutton and Croydon to the north.
The Weald is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre; the clay "Low Weald" periphery; and the Greensand Ridge, which stretches around the north and west of the Weald and includes its highest points. The Weald once was covered with forest, and its name, Old English in origin, signifies "woodland". The term is still used today, as scattered farms and villages sometimes refer to the Weald in their names.
Redhill is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead within the county of Surrey, England. The town, which adjoins the town of Reigate to the west, is due south of Croydon in Greater London, and is part of the London commuter belt. The town is also the post town, entertainment and commercial area of three adjoining communities : Merstham, Earlswood and Whitebushes, as well as of two small rural villages to the east in the Tandridge District, Bletchingley and Nutfield.
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs. The North Downs Way National Trail runs along the North Downs from Farnham to Dover.
The A25 road is an east–west main road in the South-East of England. Its carries traffic east from Guildford, Surrey, eastward through Surrey and into mid-west Kent, to the town of Sevenoaks, and then on to Wrotham Heath where it connects with the A20.
The Kent Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Kent, England. They are the eastern half of the North Downs and stretch from the London/Surrey borders to the White Cliffs of Dover, including a small section of the London Borough of Bromley. The AONB also includes the Greensand Ridge, a prominent sandstone escarpment which lies south of the chalk escarpment of the North Downs.
The North Downs Line is a passenger-train line connecting Reading, on the Great Western Main Line, to Redhill and Gatwick Airport, along the Brighton Main Line, linking many centres of population in that part of the North Downs which it traverses en route.
The Greensand Way is a long-distance path of 108 miles (174 km) in southeast England, from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent. It follows the Greensand Ridge along the Surrey Hills and Chart Hills. The route is mostly rural, passing through woods, and alongside fruit orchards and hop farms in Kent and links with the Stour Valley Walk near Pluckley in Kent. The trail was opened on 15 June 1980 and is jointly managed by Surrey and Kent Councils who fully updated it in 2012.
Shere is a village in the Guildford district of Surrey, England 4.8 miles (7.7 km) east south-east of Guildford and 5.4 miles (8.7 km) west of Dorking, centrally bypassed by the A25. It is a small still partly agricultural village chiefly set in the wooded 'Vale of Holmesdale' between the North Downs and Greensand Ridge with many traditional English features. It has a central cluster of old village houses, shops including a blacksmith and trekking shop, tea house, art gallery, two pubs and a Norman church. Shere has a CofE infant and nursery school with 'outstanding academic results' catering for 2- to 7-year-old children which serves the village and surrounding villages and towns, and a museum which opens most afternoons at weekends.
Gomshall railway station serves the village of Gomshall in Surrey, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Great Western Railway. It is on the North Downs Line, 35 miles 21 chains measured from London Charing Cross via Redhill.
Puttenham is a village in Surrey, England, located just south of the Hog's Back which is the narrowest stretch of the North Downs. Puttenham is about midway between the towns of Guildford and Farnham, and can be accessed from the A31 trunk road which runs along the spine of the Hog's Back. Villages nearby include Wanborough, Shackleford and Compton.
The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand is an extensive, prominent, often wooded, mixed greensand/sandstone escarpment in south-east England. Forming part of the Weald, a former dense forest in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, it runs to and from the East Sussex coast, wrapping around the High Weald and Low Weald. It reaches its highest elevation, 294 metres (965 ft), at Leith Hill in Surrey—the second highest point in south-east England, while another hill in its range, Blackdown, is the highest point in Sussex at 280 metres (919 ft). The eastern end of the ridge forms the northern boundary of Romney Marsh.
Kent is the south-easternmost county in England. It is bounded on the north by the River Thames and the North Sea, and on the south by the Straits of Dover and the English Channel. The continent of Europe is 21 miles across the straits.
The London Basin is an elongated, roughly triangular sedimentary basin approximately 250 kilometres (160 mi) long which underlies London and a large area of south east England, south eastern East Anglia and the adjacent North Sea. The basin formed as a result of compressional tectonics related to the Alpine orogeny during the Palaeogene period and was mainly active between 40 and 60 million years ago.
The Law Brook or Postford Brook is a stream in the Surrey Hills AONB which feeds the Tillingbourne which in turn feeds the River Wey. It is notable in its own right chiefly for its industrial vestiges and records.
The geology of Kent in southeast England largely consists of a succession of northward dipping late Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks overlain by a suite of unconsolidated deposits of more recent origin.
The geology of Surrey is dominated by sedimentary strata from the Cretaceous, overlaid by clay and superficial deposits from the Cenozoic.