 In the 1880s there was a proposal to supply seawater to the town from a conduit between Lancing and London.Dorking was an urban district from 1894 to 1974.In 1911 it was described in the Victoria County History, compiled for the county that year and the next, as "almost entirely residential and agricultural, with some lime works on the chalk, though not so extensive as those in neighbouring parishes, a little brick-making, water-mills (corn) at Pixham Mill, and timber and saw-mills."