Guildford facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Guildford
Town
Clockwise from top left: Guildford railway station; Quarry Street; Guildford Cathedral with residential housing in the foreground; the Guildhall; and the Electric Theatre by the River Wey
Guildford
Population	77,057 (2011)
OS grid reference	SU9949
• London	27.5 miles (44.3 km) NE
District	Guildford
Shire county	Surrey
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Guildford
Postcode district	GU1-4
Dialling code	01483
Police	Surrey
Fire	Surrey
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Guildford TBC
List of places UK England Surrey 51°14′11″N 0°34′13″W / 51.2365°N 0.5703°W / 51.2365; -0.5703

Guildford (ⁱ/ˈɡɪlfərd/) is a town in west Surrey, England, around 27 mi (43 km) south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around 148,998 inhabitants in 2020. The name "Guildford" is thought to derive from a crossing of the River Wey, a tributary of the River Thames that flows through the town centre.

The earliest evidence of human activity in the area is from the Mesolithic and Guildford is mentioned in the will of Alfred the Great from c. 880. The exact location of the main Anglo-Saxon settlement is unclear and the current site of the modern town centre may not have been occupied until the early 11th century. Following the Norman Conquest, a motte-and-bailey castle was constructed; which was developed into a royal residence by Henry III. During the late Middle Ages, Guildford prospered as a result of the wool trade, and the town was granted a charter of incorporation by Henry VII in 1488.

The River Wey Navigation between Guildford and the Thames was opened in 1653, facilitating the transport of produce, building materials and manufactured items to new markets in London. The arrival of the railways in the 1840s attracted further investment and the town began to grow with the construction of its first new suburb at Charlotteville in the 1860s. The town became the centre of a new Anglican diocese in 1927 and the foundation stone of the cathedral was laid in 1936. Guildford became a university town in September 1966, when the University of Surrey was established by Royal Charter.

Guildford is surrounded on three sides by the Surrey Hills National Landscape, which severely limits its potential for expansion to the east, west and south. Recent development has been focused to the north of the town in the direction of Woking. Guildford now officially forms the southwestern tip of the Greater London Built-up Area, as defined by the Office for National Statistics.

Toponymy

The oldest surviving record of Guildford is from a c. 1000 copy of the c. 880 – c. 885 will of Alfred the Great, in which the settlement appears as Gyldeforda. The name is written as Gildeford in Domesday Book and later as Gyldeford (c. 1130), Guldeford (c. 1186 – c. 1198) and Guildeford (1226). The first part of the name is thought to derive from the Old English gylde, meaning gold, possibly referring to the colour of the sand to the south of the town, or to a local concentration of yellow flowers such as the common or marsh marigold. The second part of the name (‑ford) refers to a crossing of the River Wey.

History

Etymology

The root of the first part may be the word "gold" rather than Guild, a society or meeting of tradesmen: the only known 10th-century (Saxon) record uses Guldeford and in the 11th century Geldeford; both meaning gold and ford. Local historians with an interest in toponyms cite the lack of gold in the region's sedimentary rocks and have suggested that the mention of "gold" may refer to golden flowers found by the ford itself, or the golden sand; several older sources such as Lewis's topological dictionary of 1848 prefer and give an unreferenced assertion there was a guild.

There is an old coaching inn on the Epsom Road previously called the "Sanford Arms", which may derive from "Sand Ford", adding weight to the suggestion that the first part of "Guildford" and its many historic predecessors may refer to the very distinctive golden sand showing on the banks of the River Wey where it cuts through the sandy outcrop just south of the town.

Early settlement

In Sir Thomas Malory's 1485 fictional series Le Morte d'Arthur, Guildford is identified with Astolat of Arthurian renown; however only rural Celtic Bronze Age pieces have been found in the town. Continuing the Arthurian connection, there is a local public house, the Astolat.

Some of the tiles built into Guildford Castle may be Roman, and a Roman villa has been found on Broad Street Common at the end of Roman Farm Road just west of Guildford's Park Barn neighbourhood.

The Dark and Middle Ages

It is proven by archaeology and contemporary accounts that Guildford was established as a small town by Saxon settlers shortly after Roman authority had been removed from Britain. The settlement was most likely expanded because of the Harrow Way (an ancient trackway connecting the ancient cities of Winchester and Canterbury) crosses the River Wey by a ford at this point.

Alfred the Great, the first Anglo-Saxon king of unified England, named the town in his will. Guildford was the location of the Royal Mint from 978 until part-way through the reign of William the Conqueror.

Guildford Castle is of Norman design, although there are no documents about its earliest years. Its situation overlooks the pass through the hills taken by the Pilgrims' Way, and also once overlooked the ancient ford across the Wey, thus giving a key point of military control of this long distance way across the country. .

Guildford appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Geldeford and Gildeford, a holding of William the Conqueror. The King officially held the 75 hagae (houses enclosed in fences or closes) in which lived 175 homagers (heads of household) and the town rendered £32. Stoke, a suburb within today's Guildford, appears in the Book as Stoch and was also held by William. Its Domesday assets were: 1 church, 2 mills worth 5s, 16 ploughlands with two Lord's plough teams and 20 mens plough teams, 16 acres (65,000 m²) of meadow, and woodland worth 40 hogs. Stoke was listed as being in the King's park, with a rendering of £15.

William the Conqueror had the castle built in the classic Norman style; the castle keep still stands. A major purpose of Norman castle building was to overawe the conquered population. It had £26 spent on it in 1173 under the regency of the young Henry II. As the threat of invasion and insurrection declined, the castle's status was demoted to that of a royal hunting lodge: Guildford was, at that time, at the edge of Windsor Great Park. It was visited on several occasions by King John, Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry III. In 1611 the castle was granted to Francis Carter whose grandson's initials EC and the year 1699 were above the entrance way. The surviving parts of the castle were restored in Victorian times and again in 2004; the rest of the grounds became a public garden.

In 1995, a chamber was discovered in the High Street, which is considered to be the remains of the 12th century Guildford Synagogue. While this remains a matter of contention, it is likely to be the oldest remaining synagogue in Western Europe.

Guildford elected two members of the Unreformed House of Commons. From the 14th century to the 18th century the borough corporation prospered with the wool trade.

In the 14th century the Guildhall was constructed and still stands today as a noticeable landmark of Guildford. The north end was extended in 1589 and the Council Chamber was added in 1683. In 1683 a projecting clock was made for the front of the building: it can be seen throughout the High Street.

Post Renaissance/Dissolution of the Monasteries

The town's Royal Grammar School was built in 1509 and became Royal gaining the patronage of Edward VI in 1552. In the years around 1550, a pupil at the school was John Derrick who in later life became a Queen's Coroner for the county of Surrey. In 1597, Derrick made a legal deposition that contains the earliest definite reference to cricket being played anywhere in the world. This is preserved in the "Constitution Book" of Guildford. On Monday, 17 January 1597 (Julian date and thus 1598 by modern reckoning), he bore written testimony as to a parcel of land in the parish of Holy Trinity in Guildford which, originally waste, had been appropriated and enclosed by one John Parvish to serve as a timber yard.

John Derrick was then aged 59 and his testimony confirms that cricket was being played by children in Surrey c.1550 and it is perhaps significant that cricket is the only one of the "plaies" referred to by name. Derrick was a coroner and so it must be assumed his deposition was accurate.

In 1619 George Abbot founded the Hospital of the Holy Trinity, now commonly known as Abbot's Hospital, one of the finest sets of almshouses in the country. It is sited at the top end of the High Street, opposite Holy Trinity church. The brick-built, three-storey entrance tower faces the church; a grand stone archway leads into the courtyard. On each corner of the tower there is an octagonal turret rising an extra floor, with lead ogee domes.

One of the greatest boosts to Guildford's prosperity came in 1653 with the completion, after many wrangles, of the Wey Navigation. This allowed Guildford businesses to access the Thames at Weybridge by boat, and predated the major canal building program in Britain by more than a century. In 1764 the navigation was extended as far as Godalming and in 1816 to the sea near Arundel via the Wey and Arun Junction Canal and the Arun Navigation. The Basingstoke Canal also was built to connect with the Wey navigation, putting Guildford in the centre of a network of waterways.

Post Industrial Revolution

The Chilworth gunpowder works operated right through the Industrial Revolution, and transported much of its wares through Guildford and its toll paid canal network.

A six-mile (10 km) branch of the London and South-Western Railway from Woking to Guildford was opened in May 1845. In 1846, Acts were passed for making two railways from Guildford: one leading to Godalming, and the other to Farnham and Alton; and in the same year, an Act was obtained for a railway from Reading, via Guildford, to Dorking and Reigate. All of these followed in the 19th century and remain in use.

From 1820 to 1865 Guildford was the scene of severe outbursts of semi-organised lawlessness commonly known as the "Guy Riots". The Guys would mass on the edge of the town from daybreak on Guy Fawkes Night, wearing masks or bizarre disguises and armed with clubs and lighted torches. At nightfall they would enter the town and avenge themselves on those who had crossed them in the preceding year by committing assaults and damaging property, often looting the belongings of victims from their houses and burning them on bonfires in the middle of the street. In later years attempts to suppress the Guys led to the deaths of two police officers. In 1866 and 1868 the Guys were dispersed by cavalry and this seems to have brought an end to the riots. Similar disorder surrounding the St Catherine's Hill Fair, held just outside the town on the Pilgrims' Way, was suppressed around the same time. In 1906 the Guildford Union Workhouse Casuals Ward ("The Spike") was built on the grounds of the Workhouse near the castle; today The Spike is a tourist attraction.

After the death of their father in 1882, brothers Charles Arthur and Leonard Gates took over the running of his shop, which held the local distribution franchise for Gilbey's wines and spirits, and also sold beer. However, in 1885, the brothers were persuaded to join the temperance movement, and they poured their entire stock into the gutters of the High Street. Left with no livelihood, they converted their now empty shop into a dairy. Using a milk separator, they bought milk from local farmers, and after extracting the cream and whey, sold the skim back to the farmers for pig feed. In 1888 three more of the Gates brothers and their sons joined the business, which led to the formal registration of the company under the name of the West Surrey Central Dairy Company, which after development of its dried milk baby formula in 1906 became Cow & Gate.

20th century

During World War II, the Borough Council built 18 communal air raid shelters. One of these shelters, known as the Foxenden Quarry deep shelter, was built into the side of a disused chalk quarry. Taking a year to build, it comprised two main tunnels with interconnecting tunnels for the sleeping bunks. It could accommodate 1000 people and provided sanitation and first aid facilities. Having been sealed since decommissioning in 1944, it has survived fairly intact. The quarry itself is now the site of the York Road car park, but the shelter is preserved and opened once a year to the public.

In May 1968 students at Guildford School of Art began a "sit-in" at the School in Stoke Park which lasted until mid-summer.

On 5 October 1974, bombs planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army went off in two Guildford pubs, killing four off-duty soldiers and a civilian. The pubs were targeted because soldiers from the barracks at Pirbright were known to frequent them. The subsequently arrested suspects, who became known as the Guildford Four, were convicted and sentenced to long prison sentences in October 1975. They claimed to have been tortured by the police and denied involvement in the bombing. In 1989 after a long legal battle, their convictions were overturned and they were released.

Geography

Neighbouring areas of Surrey

	Worplesdon	across part of Worplesdon Woking	across Burpham Send
	Flexford, Wanborough		across Merrow West Clandon
		Guildford
	across Loseley ParkComptonacross ArtingtonGodalming	Shalford	Chilworth

Demography and housing

In the 2011 census, the population of Guildford was 79,185. 87.3% of the inhabitants were white, 7.1% were of Asian descent and 2.2% were mixed race.

2011 Census Households

Area	Population	Households	Owned outright	Owned with a loan	Social rented	Private rented
Guildford	79,185	31,328	29.5%	33.6%	14.4%	19.6%
South East Region	8,634,750	3,555,463	35.1%	32.5%	13.7%	16.3%

2011 Census Homes

Area	Detached	Semi-detached	Terraced	Flats and apartments
Guildford	25.9%	33.3%	14.2%	26.7%
South East Region	28.0%	27.6%	22.4%	21.2%

Business

The 2011 Financial Times annual list of Top 500 Global Companies listed five major businesses with a significant presence in the town; Philips, Ericsson, Colgate-Palmolive, Allianz and Sanofi.

Media Molecule, Lionhead Studios, Hello Games, Criterion Games, Ghost Games and Bullfrog Productions have helped the town become a centre for video game production. The electronic components business, discoverIE Group, with some 4,400 employees, is based at Surrey Research Park.

Military vehicle builders Automotive Technik have a factory in the town. The Surrey Research Park contains a number of world leading companies including satellite manufacturers Surrey Satellite Technology and BOC.

Public services

Utilities

Until the start of the 18th century, residents of Guildford obtained their water from wells or from the Wey. In 1701, William Yarnold received a grant from the borough corporation to erect a waterwheel and pumps to raise river water to a reservoir at the foot of Pewley Down. A network of pipes, formed from the hollow trunks of elm trees, was installed to distribute water through the town. A new well was sunk in the town in 1865, but contamination by sewage resulted in an outbreak of typhoid fever. By 1898, the mains water infrastructure in the town was well-developed and included both gas- and coal-powered pumps. In 1952, the Guildford Corporation sold the town's water supply infrastructure to the Guildford, Godalming and District Water Board.

The town sewerage system, including the wastewater treatment works at Bellfields, was constructed between 1889 and 1895. The current sewage works date from the 1960s, but will be relocated to a site 1.5 km (0.93 mi) to the north, as part of the Slyfield Area Regeneration Project. The move will release land for up to 1500 new homes. The new works are expected to open in 2026.

The first gasworks in Guildford was opened in 1824 and street lighting was installed in May of that year. The construction of a larger facility was authorised by parliament in 1857. The gasworks closed in the late 1960s and the area was cleared for the construction of the Bedford Road Sports Centre and the associated car park. Since 2000, part of the site has been occupied by the Odeon Cinema complex.

The first electricity-generating station was opened in 1896 in Onslow Street with an installed capacity of 60 kW. It was rebuilt and extended in 1913 and was replaced in May 1928 by a new plant in Woodbridge Road. Under the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926, Guildford was connected to the National Grid, initially to a 33 kV supply ring, which linked the town to Woking, Godalming, Farnham, Hindhead and Aldershot. The electricity industry was nationalised in 1948 and ownership of the Woodbridge Road station passed to the British Electricity Authority and then to the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). In 1966 the power station had a generating capacity of 11.25 megawatts (MW) and delivered 9,090 MWh of electricity. The CEGB closed the station in 1968 and it was subsequently demolished.

There have been small-scale renewable electricity installations in Guildford since the start of the 20th century. In around 1907, the inventor, E. Lancaster Burne, erected one of the first wind turbines on Pewley Hill to generate electricity for his house. A hydroelectric project to harness power from the River Wey opened in the former Toll House, part of the Town Mill on Millmead, in 2006. The building, first constructed in 1897, originally housed turbines to pump river water to a reservoir on Pewley Hill. Over its first ten years of operation, the installation generated over 1.5 GWh of electricity, which was supplied direct to the national grid.

Emergency services and justice

The first police force in Guildford was established by the Guildford Watch Committee in 1836, which appointed nine constables, led by a part-time superintendent. In 1851, it briefly merged with the Surrey Constabulary, responsible for much of the rest of the county, but the two were separated again three years later. By 1866, the Guilford force had sixteen officers, one of whom had a salary paid by the LSWR. Five additional officers were employed in 1932, when the borough was enlarged.

Between 1840 and 1864, severe outbursts of semi-organised lawlessness, commonly known as the "Guy Riots", occurred in Guildford. The violence was focused on celebrations for the Fifth of November, but was amplified by local political issues. The rioters would rampage through the town after nightfall, damaging property and assaulting local residents. Following severe lawlessness in March and September 1863, 200 soldiers were dispatched to the town in anticipation of further violence that November. The army was able to disperse the rioters and four ringleaders were arrested. They were sentenced to hard labour the following April and there was no repeat of the violence in subsequent years.

In 1941, the Guildford police force was amalgamated again with the Surrey Constabulary as a wartime efficiency measure and the merger became permanent in 1947. The following year, the combined force moved its headquarters to Mount Browne in Sandy Lane. As of 2022, the local police force is Surrey Police and Guildford Police Station is on Walnut Tree Close, on the site of the former market.

Guildford Fire Brigade was founded in 1863 as a volunteer force. Initially the horse-drawn fire engine was housed in a shed in North Street, but a brick building (now the public toilets) was built in the same road in 1872 The Guildford Brigade merged with others in Surrey in 1947, when the service became the responsibility of the county council. In 2022, the fire authority for Guildford is Surrey County Council and the town fire station is at Ladymead.

The ambulance service in Guildford was provided by St John Ambulance until 1966, when the county council set up its own service. In 2022, local ambulance services are run by the South East Coast Ambulance Service and the ambulance station is on London Road.

Healthcare

The first medical facility in the town, the Guildford Dispensary, opened in Quarry Street in January 1860. Supported by private donations, it provided free medical care to the poor, including a home visiting service and an out-patients clinic. During its first year of operation over a thousand patients were treated, highlighting the urgent need for a public hospital in the area. The dispensary closed in 1866, when the Royal Surrey County Hospital opened on Farnham Road.

The land for Farnham Road Hospital was donated by Lord Onslow and was built as a memorial to Prince Albert, who had died in 1861. It opened in 1866 with the name Royal Surrey County Hospital with two wards and 60 beds. In 1948, it became part of the NHS. It acquired its current name in 1980. In 2022, Farnham Road Hospital is a specialist mental health hospital.

The Guildford Infirmary was built in the grounds of the workhouse in 1896 and was initially run by the Guildford Guardians of the Poor. It was renamed the Warren Road Hospital in 1930, when it was taken over by Surrey County Council. Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, an annexe was built to treat both military and civilian casualties and the hospital became part of the Emergency Hospital Service. In 1945, it became St Luke's Hospital and three years later it was incorporated into the NHS. It ceased to be a general hospital in January 1980, when much of its operations were transferred to the Royal Surrey County Hospital. St Luke's continued to house a nurses' training facility and to offer outpatients services until 1991. The site finally closed in 1999 and had been redeveloped by 2003.

The current Royal Surrey County Hospital, at Park Barn, opened in stages from January 1980, inheriting its name from its predecessor, which continues to operate as the Farnham Road Hospital. The St Luke's Wing opened in February 1997, following the closure of St Luke's Hospital. The Royal Surrey County Hospital is the nearest hospital to Guildford town centre with an Accident and Emergency Department.

Transport

Buses

Guildford is linked by a number of bus routes to surrounding towns and villages in west Surrey. The network is centred on the Friary bus station. Services are operated predominantly by Stagecoach South, but also by Carlone Buses, Compass Bus, Falcon Coaches, Safeguard Coaches and White Bus Services. There are four park & ride car parks surrounding Guildford, which are served by buses to the town centre. A RailAir coach service runs from the railway station to Heathrow Airport. Route 030, operated by National Express, links the town to London and Portsmouth.

Railway

Guildford railway station is located to the north-west of the town centre. It is managed by South Western Railway, which operates most services; their routes run to London Waterloo via Clapham Junction, to Portsmouth Harbour via Godalming and Haslemere, and to Alton via Farnham. Great Western Railway operates services to Gatwick Airport via Redhill and to Reading via Wokingham.

South Western Railway runs all services from London Road station, which is located to the north-east of the town centre. Trains run to London Waterloo, via Epsom or Oxshott.

River navigations

The River Wey is navigable from Weybridge to Godalming and the navigation authority is the National Trust.

Cycling

National Cycle Network Route 22, which will connect London to Portsmouth, and Route 223, which connects Chertsey to Shoreham-by-Sea, pass through Guildford. A bike-sharing scheme launched on the University of Surrey campus in August 2018.

Long-distance footpaths

The North Downs Way, which runs between Farnham and Dover, passes through the outskirts of Guildford, around 0.6 mi (0.97 km) to the south of the town centre. The E2 European long distance path runs along the towpath of the River Wey through Guildford. The Fox Way is a 39 mi (63 km) footpath that circles the town.

Education

State-funded schools

As in the rest of Surrey, Guildford's state schools operate a two/three age group system. Primary schools in the town include Holy Trinity (which merged with Pewley Down in 1995), Burpham, St Thomas of Canterbury (Catholic), Sandfield Primary School, Boxgrove Primary School and Guildford Grove Primary School. Amongst the junior schools are Bushy Hill, Northmead Junior and Queen Eleanor's C of E. Secondary schools include George Abbot, Guildford County School, St Peter's, King's College and Christ's College.

Independent schools

The Royal Grammar School was established in 1509. The old school building, which was constructed over the turn of the Tudor and Elizabethan periods and houses a chained library, lies towards the top of High Street. In 1552, the school received the patronage of Edward VI. The surviving parts of the castle were restored in Victorian times and again in 2004; the rest of the grounds became a public garden. Nearby is the Royal Grammar preparatory school which is the choir school for Guildford Cathedral.

Other independent schools in the town include Guildford High School (founded 1876), Tormead School (founded 1905), Priors Field School and Rydes Hill Preparatory School.

Higher education

The campus of the University of Surrey is in Guildford. Battersea College of Technology (previously the Battersea Polytechnic Institute) moved to the town in 1966, gaining a Royal Charter in order to award its own degrees and changing its name to its current title.

The town is home to the inaugural campus of the University of Law and to the Guildford School of Acting. Other institutions in Guildford include Guildford College of Further and Higher Education (which also occupies the site of the former Guildford School of Art), Academy of Contemporary Music and the Italia Conti Arts Centre.

Places of worship

Anglican churches

The Church of England churches in the town belong to the Guildford Deanery, part of the Diocese of Guildford. All six of the churches are listed, including two that are Grade I listed.

St Mary's Church, on Quarry Street, is the oldest place of worship in the town. The tower is thought to have been built before the Norman Conquest and the transepts were constructed in c. 1100. Many structural features have survived from the medieval period, although much of today's church dates from a restoration in 1882. The oldest part of Holy Trinity Church, at the east end of the High Street, is the Weston Chapel, which dates from c. 1540. The original building is thought to have been constructed in the early medieval period, but it was rebuilt between 1749 and 1763. The windows in the nave were altered by Henry Woodyer in 1869 and the transepts were added by Arthur Blomfield in 1888. The original St Nicolas Church, at the western end of the Town Bridge, is also thought to have been constructed in the early medieval period. The Loseley Chapel dates from the 15th century, but the rest of the building was rebuilt in the 1870 by the Gothic Revival architect, Samuel Sanders Teulon.

The oldest parts of the Church of St John the Evangelist at Stoke-next-Guildford were built in the early 14th century. The tower was added in the 15th century and the north chapel in the 16th, when the north aisle was widened. The church includes stained glass designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and a monument by John Flaxman. Christ Church, in Waterden Road, was designed by Ewan Christian in 1868 in the 13th-century English Gothic style. The Church of St Saviour, in Woodbridge Road, was consecrated in 1899 and was built in the 14th-century Gothic style.

Other Christian churches

There are three Roman Catholic churches in Guildford, St Joseph's near the town centre, St Mary's in Rydes Hill, and St Pius X in Merrow. The Catholic Parish of Guildford also includes the Church of St Edmund the Confessor at Sutton Place. There are two United Reformed Churches, two Baptist Churches a New Life Baptist Church, a Christadelphian meeting hall, two Methodist Churches, the Salvation Army, Bethel Chapel, Brethren Assembly, Church in a Club Stoughton, Elim Penecostal Church, Chinese Christian Fellowship, and five Independent Churches

Quaker meeting house

The first Quaker meetings in Guildford are thought to have taken place in 1668 and a burial ground was purchased five years later in North Street. The current meeting house, in Ward Street, was built in 1804-8 and retains its original, panelled meeting room.

Jewish synagogues

In 1995, a chamber was discovered in the High Street, which is considered to be the remains of the 12th-century Guildford Synagogue. While this remains a matter of contention, it is likely to be the oldest surviving former synagogue in Western Europe. The modern-day synagogue, in York Road, was opened in December 1978.

Culture

Guildford House Gallery, in the High Street, is run by Guildford Borough Council. Its art collection includes works of Guildford and the surrounding area, and works by Guildford artists, most notably John Russell.

In Sir Thomas Malory's 1470 version of the Arthurian romances, Le Morte d'Arthur, Guildford is identified with Astolat of Arthurian renown. Continuing the Arthurian connection, there is a local public house, the Astolat. Guildford has been associated with the 1863 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland because of its importance in the life of its author, Lewis Carroll. There are several reminders of this connection throughout the town. Guildford Museum has a collection of items belonging to Carroll, see above. In addition to this, sculptor Jean Argent created two full-size bronze sculptures of Alice passing through the Looking-Glass and Alice and the White Rabbit, which can be found in the Castle Grounds and by the River Wey at Millmead respectively. In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the character Ford Prefect, actually an alien from Betelgeuse, claims to be an out-of-work actor from Guildford. Crime at Guildford (1935), a novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, is set in the town.

Guildford has been captured on film in Carry On Sergeant, which was filmed at the former Queens Barracks, and The Omen, a scene from which was filmed at Guildford Cathedral.

The town's principal commercial theatre is the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, which often shows productions after they have spent time in London's West End. The Electric Theatre opened in 1997 to host performances by musicians and amateur drama groups. It also hosts regular film, family and music festivals as well as comedy, and has a Riverside Cafe Bar and Terrace.

Guildford Shakespeare Company performs in the town, using the bandstand in the castle grounds as the stage in the summer and several churches close to the High Street through the winter.

Guildford has an Odeon cinema multiplex, which in June 2007 was the first cinema in the world to show digital 4K films to the public. Guildford Civic Hall was the town's main arts and entertainment venue until it closed in January 2004. The Civic Hall was replaced by a new venue, G Live, which opened on the same site in September 2011. In 2009 the Mill Studio in Guildford featured the English premiere of the one-woman musical, Estelle Bright, starring actress/singer Sarah Tullamore.

The Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, founded as the Guildford Municipal Orchestra, received full council funding from 1945 until it was withdrawn in 2012. The orchestra was disbanded in March 2013, with Guildford Borough Council providing a classical music grant to other organisations instead. Singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock has sung about the town in "No, I Don't Remember Guildford", a song from his 1999 album Jewels for Sophia.

Stoke Park, Guildford's largest park, was the venue for the now-defunct GuilFest music festival during the summer but still hosts the Surrey County Show – agricultural and general – on the last bank holiday Monday in May. Prior to 2007, the Ambient Picnic was held in Shalford Park, by the River Wey.

Guildford has a model railway club, the Astolat Model Railway Circle, which meets at the National Trust's Dapdune Wharf. They host an annual model railway exhibition at the Sports Park in January.

Local media

Radio stations Kane 103.7 FM, Greatest Hits Radio Surrey & East Hampshire, GU2 Radio, and BBC Radio Surrey are based in Guildford.

The Surrey Advertiser is the local newspaper, a Reach plc publication, which also publishes the online Surrey Live. The offices are in the former Stoke Mill. There is also an independent "online newspaper" The Guildford Dragon NEWS which was founded in 2012.

Sport

Sports venues

The Spectrum Leisure Centre opened in 1993 and replaced the Bedford Road Sports Centre, which closed at the same time. Located on the northern side of Stoke Park, it offers four swimming pools, including a 25-metre lane pool and a leisure pool with eight water slides. The facility also houses an Olympic-sized ice rink and a ten-pin bowling alley.

Guildford Lido, also in Stoke Park, is an Olympic-size, 50-metre outdoor, heated swimming pool. It opened in 1933, and was built as part of a scheme to provide jobs for local workers during the Great Depression. It was rebuilt in 1989 and relined in 2002.

The Surrey Sports Park, owned by the University of Surrey, opened in 2010 and on the Manor Park campus to the west of the town. It has a 50-metre swimming pool, a 12 m (39 ft) climbing wall, as well as squash courts and artificial sports pitches.

Professional sports teams

The Guildford Flames ice hockey team is based at the Spectrum Leisure Centre and played its first competitive games in the 1992–93 season. Between 2005 and 2016, the team won the English Premier League four times and, in the 2018–19 season, were Patton Conference champions.

The Surrey Scorchers is a professional basketball club, formed in 2015, following the takeover of the Surrey British Basketball League, by the Surrey Sports Park. Also based at the Surrey Sports Park are the Surrey Storm Netball team. Founded in 2001 as the London Hurricanes, the club moved to Guildford and adopted their current name in 2009.

Cricket

Cricket is thought to have evolved from bat and ball games, played by children in southeast England during the Middle Ages. The first written record of the sport is from a witness statement by the Guildford resident and former Royal Grammar School pupil, John Derrick. In 1597 (old style, 1598 modern style), Derrick testified in a court case over the disputed enclosure of wasteland that, as a child, "hee and his fellowes did runne and play there at Creckett and other plaies".

Guildford Cricket Club was founded in 1866. They play their home matches at the Woodbridge Road ground. Surrey County Cricket Club also play one or two matches a season there. Former players include the England cricketers Martin Bicknell, Rikki Clarke, Ashley Giles, Phil Salt and Ollie Pope.

Other sports

The current incarnation of Guildford City Football Club was founded in 1996, when the former Burpham F.C. relocated to the Spectrum Leisure Centre and changed its name to A.F.C. Guildford. Nine years later, it was renamed to Guildford United, but soon afterwards became Guildford City F.C.

Guildford International Volleyball Club has won the fourth division of the National Volleyball League.

Guildford Hockey Club is based at Broadwater School in Godalming, and the men's 1st XI compete in the England Hockey League. Surrey Spartans Hockey Club is based in Guildford at the University of Surrey Sports Park.

Charlotteville Cycling Club, founded in 1903, is based in Guildford. The club promotes the Guildford Town Centre Cycle Races that take place on the cobbled High Street each July.

Guildford City Boxing Club, (formerly Guildford City ABC), headed by coach, John Edwards is based in Cabell Road in Park Barn. Founded in the 1920s and originally called the Onslow Lions, the boxing club is considered one of the oldest in Surrey. Guildford Crows Aussie Rules FC was founded in 2009 and competes in the AFLGB Southern Division. The club trains at Stoke Park and plays home matches at Effingham and Leatherhead Rugby Club.

Guildford Rowing Club is based in the town and has won at Henley Women's Regatta.

Notable buildings and landmarks

Abbot's Hospital

The Hospital of the Holy Trinity, more commonly known as Abbot's Hospital, was founded in 1622 by George Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a former pupil of the Royal Grammar School. It was not intended as a place for healing the sick, but instead provided accommodation for single people (initially 12 male and eight female), who had either been born in Guildford or who had lived there at least 20 years. The hospital also included a "manufacture" or workshop for the production of cloth, which was subsidised by the foundation's endowments. Initially linen was woven, but from 1638 wool was produced instead. In 1656, the trustees successfully applied to the Court of Chancery to close the workshop and the funds were redirected to grants for the poor.

The hospital is constructed of dark red brick and is built around a central, rectangular courtyard. The four-storey gatehouse, on the High Street, faces Holy Trinity Church. Many of the rooms have panelling dating from the early 17th century and the chapel, in the northwest corner, retains its original wooden seating. The building was extended and refurbished in the 1980s, to improve the standard of the living accommodation.

Dapdune Wharf

Dapdune Wharf has been the main boatyard for the River Wey Navigation since the waterway was completed in 1653. Over the summer months, the National Trust runs a variety of trips on the Wey Navigation, starting from here, where there is a visitor centre.

Guildford Institute

The Guildford Institute was founded in March 1834 as the Guildford Mechanics' Institute to promote "useful knowledge among the working classes". Its current premises, on North Street, were opened in 1892 and its activities were funded by a membership subscription. Following the Second World War, the Institute entered a period of decline, but its fortunes revived in the 1970s with a new management team and, from 1982, a 26-year partnership with the University of Surrey. A redevelopment project was launched in 2012 and was completed the following year. In 2022, the institute offers a wide range of courses, a lending library and archive, a vegan restaurant and aims to provide an educational, cultural and social hub for the local community.

Guildford Museum

The Guildford Museum was founded by the Surrey Archaeological Society, which relocated to Castle Arch House from Southwark in 1898. The building, thought to have been constructed c. 1630, incorporates part of the 13th-century castle gateway. Although the public had been allowed limited access to the Society's collections since its relocation to Guildford, the museum was not formally opened until 1907.

A new gallery, constructed in the Arts and Crafts style, was opened in 1911 to house objects donated by the horticulturalist, Gertrude Jekyll. In 1927–28, the adjacent early 19th century townhouse, 48 Quarry Street was acquired and was converted to house the Muniment Room. The borough council took over the running of the museum in 1933. In 2021, the collection numbers around 75,000 items and includes archaeological finds, textiles and clothing, and artefacts illustrating the social and industrial history of the town.

The Guildhall

The guild in Guildford was formed in the late 14th century shortly after 1366, when Edward III issued the fee farm grant, enabling the town to become self-governing in exchange for a yearly rent of £10. The first mention of a guildhall is from later in Edward's reign, when repairs were carried out at some point before the king's death in 1377. The current building is thought to have been constructed c. 1550 and was extended northwards in 1589. The council chamber and the exterior façade, facing the High Street, were created in 1683, funded by public subscription. The clock case dates from the same year, but the mechanism inside may be up to a century older. The original bell, which now stands in the entrance hall, was replaced in 1931 and may have previously been installed in St Martha's Church.

The Spike

The building now known as The Spike, was constructed in 1906 as the Guildford Union Workhouse Casuals Ward. It was used to house any vagrants found on the streets of the town, who were to be detained for two nights and compelled to undertake hard labour. Four of the original thirteen stone breaking cells survive. Following the repeal of the Poor Laws in 1929, the building continued to be used as a hostel for the homeless. In the mid-1960s, it became the archive and document store for St Luke's Hospital, which had been built on the rest of the former workhouse site. Since 2008, the building has functioned as joint community and heritage centre.

The Undercroft

The Undercroft, beneath 72–74 High Street, is one of six cellars in the town centre that survive from the late-Medieval period. It is open twice a week.

Parks and open spaces

Stoke Park

Stoke Park is a large park on the edge of the town centre, with sports facilities and play areas. It was donated to the town in 1925 by Lord Onslow.

Allen House Grounds

Allen House, to the north of the Upper High Street, was built in the 17th century and took its name from Anthony Allen, who owned the property in the early 18th century. The house and its grounds were given to the Royal Grammar School in 1914 and the site was used to train local volunteer soldiers during the First World War. The building was used as a teaching annex by the school until 1964, when it was demolished to make way for a new classroom complex. The rest of the site was purchased by the borough council and is known today as the Allen House Grounds. Following a refurbishment in 2009, the site includes a formal garden, inspired by the poem Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll, a multi-sports court and a putting green.

Pewley Down

Pewley Down, located on a hill southeast of the town centre, is a Local Nature Reserve owned and managed by the borough council. The 9.5-hectare (23-acre) area of chalk grassland provides a habitat for six species of orchid, and 26 species of butterfly were recorded there in 2010.

Notable people

• George Abbot (1562–1633) Archbishop of Canterbury – was born in Guildford and lived in the town until 1580, when he became a student at Balliol College, Oxford University. He founded Abbot's Hospital in 1619.
• John Russell (1745–1806) portrait artist – was born in Guildford and lived in the town until 1760.
• Thomas Moore (1821–1887) botanist – was born in Stoke-next-Guildford and lived in the town until 1839
• Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) author (notably of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), mathematician and photographer – died in Guildford at the home of his sisters. He had bought the house for them in 1868 and spent Christmas there annually.
• Edward Carpenter (1844–1934) poet and philosopher – moved to Guildford after the First World War and lived in the town until his death.
• Roger Fry (1866–1934) artist and art critic – lived in Chantry View Road from 1909 to 1919
• Mildred Cable (1878–1952) Protestant missionary – was born in Sydenham Road, Guildford and was educated at Guildford High School
• Leonard Colebrook (1883–1967) bacteriologist – was born in Guildford and was educated at the Royal Grammar School until 1896
• Alan Turing (1912–1954) mathematician and computer scientist – his parents bought a house in Ennismore Avenue and between 1927 and 1931, he stayed there during the school holidays.
• Stuart Wilson (b. 1946) actor – was born in Guildford
• Mike Rutherford (b. 1950) musician – was born in Guildford
• Kazuo Ishiguro (b. 1954) novelist – lived in Guildford as a child, having moved to the town at the age of six.

See also

In Spanish: Guildford para niños