Surrey Hills National Landscape is the body that looks after one of England's protected landscapes, an area of countryside covering roughly a quarter of the county and taking in the chalk ridge of the North Downs, the greensand hills around Leith Hill, and well-known spots such as Box Hill, Newlands Corner and Frensham Ponds. The area was first designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1958, and the National Landscape name was adopted across the country in 2023 to replace the older AONB label, though the legal protection and purpose are the same. This business directory entry links to the official website, which is the proper source for visitor information, conservation work and the management of the area, rather than a generic tourism page.

The protected area stretches across parts of several Surrey boroughs and districts, from the Hampshire border in the west near Farnham through the hills around Guildford and Dorking to the edge of the county in the east. It includes a mix of chalk downland, heathland, ancient woodland and farmed countryside, and it is criss-crossed by footpaths and bridleways, including stretches of the North Downs Way and the Greensand Way long-distance trails. Box Hill, owned by the National Trust, is probably the most famous single point, well known to walkers, cyclists who tackle the Zig Zag Road, and as a venue used during the 2012 Olympic road race, and it draws large numbers of visitors from London and the wider South East.

The team behind the National Landscape is not a single landowner but a partnership and a small staff unit, hosted in arrangements involving Surrey County Council and the district councils, working alongside landowners, farmers, the National Trust, the Forestry Commission, wildlife groups and parish councils. Its job is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area, which in practice means coordinating habitat management, advising on planning and development that could affect the landscape, running grant schemes for farmers and landowners, supporting volunteering, and helping people enjoy the countryside without damaging it. The office is at Warren Farm Barns on Headley Lane in Mickleham, near Dorking, which sits right among the hills.

For visitors, the website is a useful planning tool. It carries suggested walks and routes, information on the main access points and car parks, guidance on the country code and how to behave responsibly around livestock and ground-nesting birds, and details of events and guided activities run by the team and partner organisations. The Surrey Hills are an unusually accessible piece of protected countryside, close to London and well served by railway stations at places like Dorking, Box Hill and Westhumble, Gomshall and Guildford, which makes them popular for day trips. That accessibility is a strength and a pressure at the same time, and honest visitor information about parking and busy periods is part of what the site provides.

Conservation is the core purpose, and a good deal of the work is unglamorous and long-term. Chalk grassland, one of the richest habitats in Britain for wild flowers, orchids and butterflies, needs active management through grazing and scrub control to survive, and the team supports landowners in keeping it. Heathland, found on the greensand around Thursley and Frensham, is another internationally important habitat that requires careful management and is vulnerable to wildfire in dry summers. Ancient woodland, veteran trees and the chalk streams that rise in the hills all form part of what the National Landscape designation is meant to protect, and the website explains these habitats and the threats they face in plain terms.

The planning role is one of the more significant and less visible functions. Because the area has statutory protection, development proposals that might affect it carry extra weight in the planning system, and the National Landscape team is consulted on applications and on local plans. Surrey is a county under constant development pressure given its position next to London, and the tension between protecting the countryside and meeting housing need is a live and sometimes contentious issue. The team's advice does not override the planning authorities, the boroughs and districts that decide applications, but it feeds into decisions, and this is an honest example of the limits of what the body can do on its own.

Farming and land management matter because most of the protected area is privately owned and worked, not public parkland. The relationship with farmers and estates is therefore central, and the team runs and signposts grant schemes that reward management benefiting wildlife, soil and water, alongside national environmental land management funding. The Surrey Hills also support a local food and drink economy, including vineyards that have grown in number as English sparkling wine has taken off on the chalk slopes, and the website highlights producers and businesses working with the grain of the landscape rather than against it. Local enterprises listed in this business directory that operate in the area often have a direct interest in how the countryside is looked after.

Volunteering and community involvement run through much of the work. Practical conservation tasks, footpath maintenance, surveys of wildlife and educational activities all rely heavily on volunteers, and the associated Surrey Hills Society, a membership charity, organises walks, talks and events for people who want to get more involved. The website carries information on how to volunteer, join in events or support the area, and it works closely with the National Trust, which owns several of the best-known sites, and with other partners who manage land for public access. For schools, community groups and individuals, this is the route into engaging with the countryside on their doorstep.

The office can be reached on 01372 220653, and the website is the best place for current event listings, walking routes, conservation news and details of how the partnership is run, including its management plan and the board that oversees it. The team also produces guidance for visitors at busy times and during periods of high fire risk in summer, when heathland in particular is vulnerable, and it asks people to follow simple rules around barbecues, dogs and litter. These are reasonable requests rather than heavy restrictions, and they reflect the everyday reality of looking after a heavily visited landscape close to a major city.

The protected area covers roughly 422 square kilometres, about 163 square miles, which is where the description of it taking in around a quarter of Surrey comes from. Its highest point is Leith Hill near Coldharbour, at about 294 metres, which is also the highest ground in south-east England. On the summit stands an eighteenth-century Gothic tower, built by Richard Hull of nearby Leith Hill Place and now cared for by the National Trust, with steps to a viewing platform that on a clear day looks south towards the coast and north across London. Other well-known points within the boundary include the Devil's Punch Bowl, a deep natural hollow near Hindhead, and the narrow chalk ridge of the Hog's Back west of Guildford. The website maps these places with notes on access, opening times for the tower and the nearest car parks, which is useful given how spread out the main viewpoints are.

Surrey Hills National Landscape represents one of the most attractive and well-used pieces of protected countryside in the South East, valued by walkers, cyclists, riders, families and Londoners looking for a quick escape into the hills, as well as by the farmers and residents who live and work there. The main caveats for visitors are practical: popular sites such as Box Hill get very busy on fine weekends, parking fills early, and visitors are asked to tread carefully through what is a working and living landscape rather than a managed park. The official website linked from this business directory is the authoritative source for planning a visit, understanding the conservation work and getting involved, and it is the right place to start.

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