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…
Latest News
Latest News All new articles will be posted here so you can keep up to date by visiting this page. All articles will also be filed in other sections of the website New ideas for Guildford Museum Posted onDecember 18, 2020January 17, 2021 0 The Friends of Guildford Museum recently listed a set of ideas…
Welcome to Guildford
Guildford High Street Cathedral and University Previous Next The county town of Surrey boasts a beautiful High Street with views of the North Downs and is one of best places in the South East for shopping. Situated only 30 miles from London the town offers a perfect place to enjoy the countryside and yet be…
Guildford High Street
Guildford High Street The cobbled street with the imposing Guildhall clock is the image of Guildford that most people recognise and the feature most visitors comment upon. The street is truly unique with several fine buildings lining the roadway. Angel Hotel Coaching Inn with early 19th c. stucco front but with 17th century interiors and…
Angel Hotel
Coaching Inn with early 19th c. stucco front but with 17th century interiors and a 13th century crypt (probably a wine store). Now Guildford’s oldest hotel, this is the last remaining coaching house in the town. Others were the Red Lion and White Hart. It was once one of several serving the coaches running from…
Cathedral and University
The cathedral was consecrated in 1961 but its origins go back to the reign of Henry VIII. In 1534 Guildford was made a suffragan bishopric to assist Winchester. Population increase in the 19th and early 20th c. made it necessary to create an independent See in 1927 using Holy Trinity as a pro-cathedral. The cathedral…
St Mary’s Church (10thc.)
Saxon church, 10th c. on the site of earliest settlement in Guildford. The flint tower has been dated to the late 10th century on stylistic grounds and a local legend says people used it to watch the Norman invaders burn nearby Shalford in 1066. Most of the church was rebuilt in c1180 in the transitional…
Holy Trinity Church (1749-63)
Surrey’s only large 18th century church, it has fine brickwork as is a perfectly proportioned example of the Palladian style. It is built on the site of a medieval church which was destroyed when the tower suddenly collapsed during alterations to remove the columns in the church. Some monunments were transfered, among them the tomb…
New ideas for Guildford Museum
The Friends of Guildford Museum recently listed a set of ideas for taking Guildford Museum forward in leaner times. Ambitious plans for a new extension had to be shelved when the National Lottery Heritage Fund put all new applications on hold. In July I reported on some statements from the Council for a “scaled down…
Old Maps
The National Libraries of Scotland has scanned most of the UK Ordnace Survey Maps from the earliest ones available, Here is a link to the Guildford Maps There is also a useful tool that displays a modern satellite view against an old map making it much easier to locate modern streets on old maps from…