Nork is separated from its post town Banstead only by the A217 dual carriageway, and the built-up area is also contiguous with similar parts of Tattenham Corner and Burgh Heath.

Nork lies on chalk near the top of the gentle north-facing slope of the North Downs, 175 m (575 ft) above sea level at its highest point.

It has been suggested that the word "Nork", as well as "Nore" and "Nower", might derive from the Latin noverca, which literally means a stepmother, but which was applied to a feature which dominates, and thus weakens, a fortified camp.

[7] John Burton, author of Iter Surriense et Sussexiense, stayed at Nork House in 1752, and described at length the ingenious waterworks by which water was raised from a very deep well and distributed over the slopes of a dry down.

A Mr Richardson, returning from the Epsom cornmarket to Bletchingley, had dismounted on account of the steep climb, and was ambushed by two men whom he had considered suspicious on his outward trip that morning.

[12] Then in 1880 a large "cottage home" for children opened along the northern edge of Nork, between Fir Tree Road and the railway line.

Some fortifications were built in preparation for an invasion, and later Canadian and British soldiers were stationed in Nork Park, occupying some of the buildings remaining from the estate as well as specially constructed Nissen huts.

When one was excavated in 1972, archaeologists found late 7th, or possibly early 8th, century artefacts, including a spear, knife, shield boss, hanging bowl and textile.

Another five skeletons appeared to be centuries-later victims of the medieval gallows that gave rise to the local place name Gally Hills.

[31] It was used as a research establishment by the Distillers Company (during which time a number of important chemical processes were developed there),[32] then by British Petroleum and Beecham Pharmaceuticals, and later as offices and accommodation by Toyota, who have their UK headquarters here.

[31][35] Amongst "locally listed buildings" are two estate cottages (Driftways and Crossways) near the Driftbridge, both built about 1890,[36] and West Lodge, a flint-built gatehouse for Nork House on the Reigate Road.

[37] A pair of 19th-century stone gate piers standing incongruously at the south end of Ruden Way are also from an entrance to the Nork Park estate.

[37] The former Drift Bridge Hotel (see next section) is locally listed partly because the teak used in its 1931 construction came from HMS Ganges, the Royal Navy's last sail-powered flagship.

The shopping parade at the end of Nork Way consists of small convenience stores and local services such as newsagents (including a post office), restaurants, motor mechanics, a baker's and a pharmacy.

Nork Park lies to the south of the main residential area, bordering Tattenham Corner and Burgh Heath.

It derives from part of the 18th century park around the demolished Nork House,[35] and was bought by the local council in 1947 from the landowner David Field.

[23] There are extensive areas of playing fields, tennis and basketball courts, an exercise trail, two children's playgrounds, and a community centre.

The golf course provides a mixture of types of grassland with a rich chalk flora (including a number of locally rare plants) and areas of mixed scrub important for birds.

[46][47] Banstead Downs has been preserved as a result of a 16-year long legal battle at the end of the 19th century between the Commoners and Sir John Cradock-Hartopp, who wished to exploit the land for housing and topsoil.

[48] Near the 18th tee of the golf course is a memorial to an American pilot Lt Andrew Jackson, who bravely steered his plane away from houses, crashing here in 1944.