THE BOROUGH OF GUILDFORD 



Guldeford (x cent.) ; Geldeford (xi cent.) ; Gelde- 

 fort, Geldesfort, Gildeforda, Gildeforde (xii cent.) ; 

 Geldeford, Guldeford (xiii and xiv cents.) ; Gylford 

 and Guldeford (xv and xvi cents.) ; Guildeford, Gild- 

 ford, Gilford, and Gillford (xvi and xviii cents.). 



Guildford is the old county town of Surrey, 30 

 miles from London, lying on the banks of the Wey, 

 where the river breaks through the line of chalk hills. 

 On the west side the ridge of the Hog's Back is called 

 Guildown (Geldesdone by Geoffrey Gaimar, izth 

 century; Geldedone in the Pipe Roll of 1192-3). 

 On the east the hill is known as Pewley Hill, from 

 the manor of Poyle or Puille. 



The town consisted formerly of a steep street, the 

 High Street, running west and east, from the bridge, 

 by the side of which there existed a ford, up to the 

 hill above Abbot's Hospital, with a parallel street to 

 the north, latterly known as North Street, before that 

 as Lower Back Side, earlier still the North Ditch. 

 A curving street, Chertsey Street, connects North 

 Street and High Street at the east end. A similar 

 parallel road, South Street, runs on the other side of 

 High Street, formerly known as Upper Back Side and 

 the South Ditch. This communicated with the 

 Castle Ditch, now Castle Street, on the south-west of 

 the High Street. Quarry Street runs from the High 

 Street, through what was the outer ward of the castle, 

 southwards ; and Friary Street connects the High 

 Street, northwards, with the old liberty of the Friars. 

 The lanes running north and south from High Street 

 were known as Gates. On the west side of the river 

 a small group of houses clustered round the foot of the 

 Mount, the ascent to Guildown, and on the Little 

 Mount the ascent to the Portsmouth road ran 

 south-westward past St. Nicholas's Church and up 

 by the present Wiclyffe Buildings. On this side of the 

 river lay the Town Fields, Bury Fields as they were 

 called. 1 The continuation of High Street, outside the 

 old town limits, was called Spital Street, from St. 

 Thomas's Hospital at the junction of the London and 

 Epsom roads. The part of the street from Trinity 

 Church to the grammar school and beyond was called 

 in the i8th century Duke Street, from a house of the 

 Duke of Somerset's on the south side, which is still 

 standing, but converted into two houses. 



The old defensible town ditch ran, as the names 

 indicate, from the Dominican Friary near the river 

 along North Street (the North Ditch) and round to 

 South Street (the South Ditch). It has been traced at 

 the corner of Chertsey Street and right across Trinity 

 Churchyard between these two lines. When Trinity 



Church was enlarged in 1888, and graves were removed 

 in consequence, the ditch was traced, with much 

 mediaeval pottery in it. 



It is possible that the oldest town was walled, and 

 of yet smaller dimensions. A very thick ancient 

 clunch wall, with a well on the south side of it, 

 showing that to be the inside, ran about 30 yds. 

 south of the High Street, nearly parallel to it. It has 

 been laid bare under the late Mr. Mason's iron- 

 mongery shop in High Street, and elsewhere. It 

 would have included St. Mary's Church and a small 

 town, clustered under the castle mound. If this was 

 so the High Street itself was originally a surburban 

 extension, later included by the ditch. 



The town has been extended by residential building 

 along the London and Epsom roads to the east and 

 north-east, along the Portsmouth road and on Guil- 

 down to the south-west beyond the river, on South 

 Hill to the south, and northwards and north-west- 

 wards by business streets and small houses near the 

 Guildford Junction and London Road railway stations. 

 A great part of these latter extensions, and those on 

 the Epsom and London roads, are in Stoke parish. 



The railway is now the chief industrial feature of 

 Guildford, though breweries, an iron foundry, printing 

 works, and motor works also exist, besides minor 

 industries, including the sale of old furniture. The 

 London and South Western Railway came to Guild- 

 ford in 184;, and the extension to Godalming was 

 sanctioned by Parliament the same year. In 1849 

 the South Eastern Railway came to Guildford, and 

 in 1865 the London, Brighton, and South Coast 

 Railway's Guildford to Horsham line was opened. In 

 1884 London Road station and the Guildford, Cob- 

 ham, and Letherhead lines were opened. 



Guildford probably began its history as a centre 

 of traffic. The great way across the south of England 

 by the chalk downs passed through it, and across the 

 ford of the Wey. It is possible that a Roman road 

 from the Sussex coast to Staines, traced farther south 

 in Ewhurst, passed through the gap in the downs, 

 and also a road from the Portsmouth direction. 

 Some recent sewage works have revealed an ancient 

 flint pavement in St. Catherine's on this line. The 

 London and Portsmouth road of later times ran 

 through it. The east and west road appears in many 

 deeds as Via regia, and in the Pipe Roll of 1 192-3 ' 

 as Strata regia de Geldedone. 



There is no certain trace of Roman occupation of 

 Guildford, though some of the tiles built into the 

 castle may be Roman, and a Roman villa has been 



' The theory that the town originally 

 stood on this side of the river is without 

 foundation, and is contradicted by the 

 name Bury Fields, by old maps marking 

 the fields, and by the size of St. Nicholas's 

 parish, a country not a town parish. 

 Part of this parish, including the church 



of St. Nicholas, lies in Guildford, but that 

 portion of it which is outside the old 

 borough is in Godalming Hundred, and 

 the general description of the parish has 

 been treated there. 



' Pipe R. 4 Ric. I, m. 8 d. This is the 

 so-called Pilgrim's Way ; though there is 



547 



no historical ground for applying the name 

 in West Surrey. The road from village to 

 village south of the downs was probably 

 only a local road, not used for through 

 traffic, and has even less right to the 

 name. 



