The Guildford Heritage Forum was founded in 2015 at a time when our heritage was under threat from all angles. A devastating fire had just destroyed Clandon House. Guildford Museum was facing closure. Developers were at the door wanting to build high rise buildings in the town and swallow up the Green Belt. The need…
Heritage Weekend pulls out the stops
Any fears that this year’s Heritage weekend would be a damp squib were put to rest as people across the town pulled out all the stops. Compared to previous years, very few properties opened but there were still more than enough and some new treats in store. I decided to take a bike ride around…
Guildford and the British Empire
Notes by Gavin Morgan, 17th August 2020 The “Black Lives Matters” campaign and debates on decolonisation have highlighted Britain’s imperial past. I thought it would be useful to create a page that records Guildford’s connections with the British Empire. It will be updated as more information becomes available. The British Empire brought goods, people and…
Guildford Museum Decolonisation Project
The Lib Dems on Guildford Borough Council have announced a plan to decolonise Guildford museum and search out items of colonial significance. “This project” their statement runs “shows how as a council we are constantly challenging ourselves, putting equality of opportunity at the forefront of policy and decision so that together we make sure our…
What is decolonisation?
The Guildford Lib Dem’s have announced plans to decolonise Guildford Museum. But what exactly is decolonisation? In this article I do my best to put this topic in context Summary Decolonisation is an important debate because it is all about how we present our past in a way that reflects the view point of all communities…
Immigration to Guildford
I have created this article as a starting point to explore the history of immigration in Guildford. At this stage it is just a set of notes and I will be grateful to anyone who wishes to contribute with corrections or more informatio Up until the nineteenth century Surrey was a bit of a backwater. Heavily…
Guildford Museum Latest News -July 2020
Museum re-opens July 2020 July 2020 – the Council issued a statement “Guildford Museum is looking forward to welcoming visitors back after being closed for the past twelve months for essential repairs providing another free attraction to visit in our historic town centre. The museum opens with a temporary exhibition ‘Commemoration and Celebration’ to commemorate…
Thoughts on the future of Guildford Museum
Gavin Morgan June 2020 The Council’s decision to shelve the ambitious museum project is a blow to the High Street which stood to gain a new town centre attraction. We must focus efforts on ensuring that heritage still gives the High Street all the support it can. After all, heritage is one of the town’s…
Can heritage help post Covid-19 Guildford?
By Gavin Morgan – 22nd May 2020 Plans to support the High Street with an £18 million revamped museum extension, cafe and entrance from the Castle Grounds have been halted. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has frozen lottery applications for the foreseeable future to free up resources to help existing projects through Covid-19. In these difficult…
Friends of Guildford Museum Newsletters
The newsletters published by the Friends of Guildford Museum are an invaluable resource. They tell the story of the museum since 1996 and contain information on its earlier history. There are also articles on the collections and various aspects of local history. They have been scanned in PDF format and you can look at them…
Eating-In Exhibition
18th January to 28th March The “Eating In” exhibition (https://www.guildford.gov.uk/eatingin) runs from 18th January 2020 to 28th March and is well worth a visit whether you want a ten minute diversion from shopping or want to enjoy in detail the variety of exhibits. My first impression was just how colourful the exhibition is. The bright…