Surrey, one of England's smallest counties, has for centuries embodied contrasts in style and appearance. In the north where its boundary is the Thames, there is industrial and, more recently, suburban London, and further South, are the more rural areas of the Downs and Weald, which were the playground for 'Londoners' for centuries.

This in-depth study exposes the tensions and conflicts at a local level between Gypsies and travellers and the host community in pre-First World War Surrey.

Over one hundred and fifty of the best photographic images from the turn of the twentieth century are reproduced here together with contemporary descriptions of Sussex folk and their lives.