Here’s a brief history of Guildford from its origins as a Saxon settlement to the thriving, commuter town that now exists. Find out how the town has developed over the past thousand years and been shaped and re-shaped. 

Guildford began as a Saxon village shortly after Roman authority had been removed from Britain. Built on a ford where the Harrow Way crossed the River Wey, the root of its name may well derive from ‘Gold’ rather than ‘Guild’ due to the golden flowers that grew at the riverside or because of the golden sands on the banks of the river (not because of the amount of gold in the region’s sedimentary rocks).

There is also an old coaching inn that lies on the outskirts of Guildford town centre on the Epsom Road nowadays that was previously known as the ‘Sanford Arms’. The names of ‘Sand’ and ‘Ford’ add extra weight to the suggestion that Guildford’s name refers to the distinctive golden sands on the banks of the River Wey where the water cuts through the sandy outcrop just south of the town.

Guildford turned from village into a town in the early 10th century when the English kings were building a network of fortified settlements across the country. These were created as bulwarks against the Danish invaders and it is highly likely that Guildford was made such a fortified settlement.

Saxon Guildford was a thriving community and was the location of the Royal Mint despite having a population of only several hundred until the reign of William the Conqueror. And around about this time in the middle of the 10th century, St Mary’s Church (which still stands proud on Quarry Street in Guildford) was built/rebuilt in stone, an unusual development as most parish churches of the time were made of wood.

Guildford had a population of around 900 at the time it appeared in the Domesday Book (1086) as Geldeford and Gildeford. That may seem a small number by today’s standards, but then settlements were very small, with a typical village having only 100-150 inhabitants.

The Normans built a wooden castle to overlook Guildford and the King officially held 75 enclosed houses where there were 175 heads of houses or homagers and the town rendered £32. Guildford Castle was then rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. As the threat of invasion and insurrection diminished, the status of the castle was demoted to simply that of a royal hunting lodge as Guildford was, at that time, at the edge of Windsor Great Park.

It is also thought, due to a discovery in 1995, that there may have been a synagogue operating in Guildford in the 12th century. The chamber was discovered on the High Street and is widely contended, but if proven, will be Western Europe’s oldest remaining synagogue. Early in the 12th century, a ‘hospital’ was also built for the poor and sick in Guildford.

In 1257, Guildford was given its first charter (a document giving the townspeople certain rights and a means to form their own government) and the right to hold a market and a fair. In the Middle Ages, a fair was similar to a market, but differed as it was only held once a year (for a few days) and would attract buyers and sellers from all over Surrey and North Hampshire. In Medieval Guildford the main industry was wool making, but there were the usual craftsmen found in any medieval town such as carpenters, blacksmiths, butchers and bakers.

From 1295, Guildford elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons (MP’s) but failed to develop as a town as its proximity to London affected its trade. From the 13th century onwards there was Dominican, or Black Friars as they were known due to the colour of their outfits present in Guildford. These friars were like monks but went out preaching instead of withdrawing from the world and are the source of inspiration for the name of the modern shopping centre, The Friary.

The population may have grown to about 1,300 in the 14th century, but it remained a small town and at approximately this time the Guildhall was constructed. It is a recognisable landmark of Guildford even today. The north end was extended in 1589 and the Council Chamber was added in 1683 when a projecting clock was also made for the front of the building, protruding and overlooking the High Street.

In 1598 there was a court case referring to a sport called kreckett being played at the Grammar School in Guildford which was built in 1509. The Oxford English Dictionary even quotes this reference as the first ever recorded instance of the game of cricket in the English language and the school later became Royal, gaining the patronage of Edward VI in 1552.

However, in the 16th century Guildford slumped in importance as Henry VIII closed the friary and the hospital in 1539. Guildford continued to be an important market town for the surrounding villages, but on the other hand, the Castle had fallen into ruins and was sold to a private owner in 1611. In 1619, George Abbot (the Archbishop of Canterbury) established some almshouses to tend to the elderly people of the town, named at the time the Hospital of the Holy Trinity, but by which we now know it as Abbot’s Hospital.

Guildford suffered from plague outbreaks in 1645-46 at the end of the civil war when the population decreased significantly. However, later on in the century, Guildford would be changed forever with the completion of the Wey Navigation in 1653. It pre-dated any other major canal building program in Britain by more than a century and made it possible for local businesses to access the Thames at Weybridge. The town would prosper for hundreds of years to come after this breakthrough and in 1683 a new Guildhall was built in Guildford.

As the town began to expand, a theatre was built in 1789, an iron foundry was built in 1794 and a barracks was built in the town the same year but closed down in 1818 after the end of the Napoleonic wars.

In 1801, at the time of the first census, Guildford had a population of just over 2,500 which meant that it was still a small town by contemporary standards. This was to change over the course of the 19th century as most of the country did with the industrial revolution. A corn exchange (where grain could be bought and sold) was built in 1818 and in 1821 it gained a gas supply which was used to light the streets. A branch of the London and South-Western railway was also opened in May 1845 connecting Guildford to Woking which still exists today. This allowed middle class men to live in Guildford and commute to work in London and so by the 1870s Guildford had become a commuter town.

Guildford was evolving quickly. A Borough Council was formed in 1836 and paved the streets in the 1860s and bought the castle grounds in 1885 to use as a park; opening to the public in 1888. Guildford gained its first local newspaper in 1855 and 11 years later in 1866 they had the first modern hospital built. The Stoke Recreation Ground opened in 1889, the first electricity supply in Guildford followed in 1891 and the Guildford Museum opened in 1898, whilst the 1890s also saw the construction of drains and sewers. In 1895 the Dennis brothers set up a firm making bicycles which later went on to make cars, dustcarts, buses and most famously fire engines.

At the turn of the century Guildford’s population was nearly 16,000 but this rose rapidly over the century, partly due to the boundary extensions which happened in 1904, 1933 and 1974. Guildford continued along its route of development with Westborough council estate being built in the 1920s and Guildford was made a diocese in 1925 which paved the way for work to begin on building Guildford Cathedral in 1936. A bypass was built in the early 1930s and Guildford Lido was opened in 1933.

The first public library in Guildford opened in 1942 and 20 years later in 1962 the Civic Hall was built. Three years later, the prestigious Yvonne Arnaud Theatre was opened and in 1968 and The University of Surrey took its first students. Their first sports centre was built in 1971 and was replaced with the Surrey Sports Park in 2010 which lies next to the Royal Surrey County Hospital which opened in 1980, the same year as the Friary shopping centre which has also had a recent facelift to keep up with consumer trends.

Unfortunately, one of Guildford’s darkest days came on October 5 1974 when the IRA planted bombs in two pubs in Guildford as part of a terrorist plot. Despite both bombs detonating, there were only 5 subsequent deaths, but at least another 50 casualties. The four suspected terrorists that were arrested became known as the ‘Guildford Four’ and were convicted in 1975 to long sentences. However, the story does not just end there as they were released in 1989 after it became evident that police corruption and malpractice had led to their wrongful incarceration.

In more recent times, Guildford has seen a number of facilities rejuvenated and developed to enable it to compete with the draws of London. Surrey Sports Park, as mentioned, is now one of Europe’s premier sports facilities and alongside the Guildford Spectrum (built in 1993), all your fitness and sporting fancies are covered. There was a brand new Odeon built in 1996 with several large screens and The Electric Theatre has provided Guildford with a broader and less traditional selection of shows since its opening in 1997. And even more recently than this, the old Civic Hall was demolished and replaced with G Live, Guildford’s very own arts and entertainment hub which opened in 2011.

James Martin

A special thanks to Ezra Rollinson, Serra Topal and Ade Lawal for providing images.

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The Pub Bombings of October 1974
Patrons of the Horse and Groom pub and Seven Stars were used to seeing army personnel in their midst as both pubs were popular with the soldiers stationed at the barracks in nearby Pirbright and Aldershot. No one at either pub on that terrible Saturday night, could have predicted that it would end with such bloodshed after being targeting by the IRA.

The first bomb to go off detonated in the Horse and Groom pub at 8.30pm where the front of the pub was destroyed and the street became filled with broken glass, as the windows of neighbouring shops shattered following the blast. The pub was packed out, as had been expected for a Saturday night and the device (consisting of six pounds of high explosive) had been stashed under a seat.

This first explosion took the lives of civilian Paul Craig, 22, two members of the Women’s Royal Army Corps and two members of the Scots Guards, with sixty five others also being injured, some severely. Following the initial blast, pubs, restaurants and the cinema were quickly closed and evacuated and so fortunately, when the second bomb went off in the Seven Stars at 9pm, no one was hurt.

What no one knew at the time was that these attacks were just the beginning. Fortunately for Guildford the town was not targeted again, but the Guildford bombings were the first attacks in a year- long campaign by an IRA Active Service Unit.

The following investigation
Following the bombings, the Metropolitan Police found itself under great pressure and scrutiny. The country and especially Guildford watched and waited for those responsible to be brought to justice. In December 1974, the police arrested three men and one woman. They would come to be known as ‘The Guildford Four’. They were soon identified as: Gerry Conlan, Paul Hill, Patrick Armstrong and Carole Richardson and they were charged with direct involvement of the IRA attacks on Guildford.

The four suspects all confessed to being responsible for the bombings during intense police interrogation, however, the police are believed to have used torture during the procedure. Though ‘The Four’ later retracted their statements, this ‘evidence’ still formed the basis of the case brought against them in court. The Guildford Four later alleged that the confessions that they had made were nothing more than the result of coercion by the police, from intimidation to torture to drug withdrawal and even included threats against their family members.

The conviction of The Guildford Four
‘The Four’ were convicted in October 1975 for charges including murder and then sentenced to life imprisonment, despite there never having been any evidence that they were involved with the Provisional IRA.

The Guildford Four did not even fit the profile in terms of lifestyle. For example, Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson (who was an Englishwoman) lived in a squat and were reportedly involved with petty crime and drugs. Conlon in fact stated in his autobiography that the IRA would not have taken him because of his past record for petty crime and because he had been kicked out of Fianna Eireann, a Republican youth organisation with strong links to the IRA. Paul Michael Hill was the child of a mixed-religion marriage and born and raised in Belfast.

As well as failing to fit the profile or having any proven links with the IRA, the Guildford Four even had alibis… Carole Richardson was in London seeing a band and witnesses even came forward to support this. Paul Michael Hill was in Southampton and a witness placed Gerry Conlon at a hostel in London. This evidence, for unknown reasons, was never presented at trial.

Despite the lack of substantial evidence and alleged coercion by the police, the Guildford Four were convicted to life imprisonment. They tried to appeal their convictions immediately and a growing number of people pushed to have the case re-examined, however, a year after the pub bombings, in October 1975, the Guildford Four began their sentences.

The Guildford Four acquitted by the Court of Appeal
In February of 1977, four IRA members instructed their lawyers to “draw attention to the fact that four totally innocent people were serving massive sentences”, referring to the Guildford Four. This took place during the trial of the Balcombe Street ASU and even though the four IRA members claimed responsibility for the attacks, they were never formerly charged. The Guildford Four remained in prison for another twelve years.

It wasn’t until 1989, when a detective looking at the case found some irregularities, that an appeal was finally granted. The detective discovered that typed notes from Paul Armstrong’s police interview had been heavily edited. Deletions had been made as well as additions, all of which suggested that the hand written notes were made after the interviews had been conducted. That would then mean that the evidence that the police presented at trial was heavily corrupted; the police having potentially manipulated the notes to fit with the case that they wanted to present.

During the appeal, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Lane, said of the police transcripts: “they were a fabrication by the police from start to finish, invented by some fertile Constabulary mind.” It was concluded that the police had lied, which rendered the entirety of the evidence given by the police as unreliable. The Guildford Four were released on October 19, 1989, after their convictions were finally quashed.

Emerging from the Appeal Court a free man, Mr Conlon (as pictured above) declared: “I have been in prison for something I did not do. I am totally innocent.” And In 2005, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a public apology to the Guildford Four for the miscarriage of justice they had suffered.

The Aftermath
Though the bombings never resulted in legitimate convictions, they are believed to have been the result of the Balcombe Street Siege gang, who had claimed responsibility and declared the Guildford Four innocent. At the time they were serving life sentences but were then released under the Good Friday Agreement. Three British police officers were charged after the Guildford Four were released but they were each found not guilty.

Five people killed, sixty five people injured and four innocent people imprisoned. From the moment that the very first bomb exploded in the Horse and Groom, lives were shattered and left in ruins. Not just those hurt or killed by the initial blast, but their loved ones, the accused and their friends and family. Even though responsibility was never officially taken following the tragic events of October 5, 1974, Guildford and its people nonetheless rebuilt their buildings and their lives.

Charli Aisha Harris

Images sourced from: http://tinyurl.com/jwsc8fw and http://tinyurl.com/kg9r262 and http://tinyurl.com/kkfa8w9

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Over 5,000 patients were treated at Clandon during the war and 750 operations were performed by 1919. The reconstructed operating theatre is an apt memorial of this rich and important history.

Clandon Park was originally home to the Onslow family, who saw the building completed in 1730 as a symbol of their growing social prestige. It passed down through the generations of the family for over 300 years.

During World War One, the Earl and Countess of Onslow were keen to contribute to the war effort. They applied for Clandon to become a military hospital. In 1914, the War Office accepted their application. The Countess of Onslow, Lady Violet, proceeded to play a key role in nursing the wounded soldiers who arrived from Belgium, France and Turkey. She generally preferred to take in men from the lower ranks rather than the officers, whom she feared would give her a hard time.

The operating theatre was originally the Earl of Onslow’s own dressing room, chosen as such for its even north-east light and running water. Visitors to the reconstructed room may today also view replica nurses’ uniforms, original medical record books, and autograph books that the nurses encouraged their patients to use for writing and drawing. Some of the sketches have been turned into canvases in the room, and displayed alongside Medals for War Service and personal accounts of local soldiers.

Of these personal accounts, the story of Private Herbert Victor Farrow from Surrey is particularly poignant. Farrow enlisted into the Army Reserve on 22 November 1915, but because of his age, was not mobilised until 12 May 1916, when he joined the 11th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment at the age of 18 years and 1 month. Although he was wounded in 1917, he returned to duty.

More gravely, he was wounded for a second time in the Battle of the Somme in Autumn 1918. As a result, he contracted gangrene. Just before Christmas 1918, he had to have his right leg amputated to above the knee at Banbury Hospital in Oxford. He was just 21 years old. The difficulties did not stop there. While serving, Farrow was subjected to a ‘Number 1 field punishment’ for disobeying an order. This punishment took the form of being tied to a post for two hours a day in a place of danger for 21 days.

Farrow would have spent a period at Clandon Park Hospital.

‘Survivor’, an evocative poem by war poet Siegfried Sassoon, is written on the wall of the re-imagined operating theatre, and ties the collection together. It is highly significant, not only for the words themselves, which Sassoon wrote while he was recuperating from injuries in a hospital, but also because Sassoon was the second cousin to Hannah Gubbay, whose vast collection of furniture, textiles and porcelain is housed at Clandon Park.

The operating theatre is part of a five-year project observing Clandon Park’s role in the First World War.

Alice Dunn

Images provided by Alice Dunn & Genevieve Aberdeen

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Established in 2003, we are unique in portraying both the regular and volunteer battalions of one of the British Army’s oldest line regiments in the late Victorian era. For a more detailed history of our society and the West Surrey Regiment, please click HERE.

Based in Guildford, our aim is to ‘bring Victorian Surrey to life’ and we do this by attending events across the south east, setting up our living history camps to show the public just how the Victorian soldier lived. We train our soldiers regularly; one Sunday a month at Clandon Park (home of the regimental museum) using drill and training manuals from the period. After joining, each soldier is fitted out with a basic starting uniform before being trained in marching, foot, rifle and bayonet drill using the Martini-Henry rifle and socket bayonet.

We usually represent one or both of the following battalions:

• The 2nd Battalion, based in India in 1879
• The 2nd Volunteer Battalion, based in Guildford in 1883

This allows us to show the regiment both at home (as seen by the local townsfolk of the era) and the more iconic regiment on campaign, in their scarlet tunics which are instantly recognisable all across the world. We also portray other aspects of the regiment such as the soldier’s wives and sweethearts and the camp followers.

Our uniforms and equipment are carefully researched and a basic starting uniform can be purchased for under £50, allowing our new members to begin their training and start attending public events while they complete their full uniform (plus we do have some spare kit to lend out to get you started). Parts of our uniforms are hand made by our group members, other parts are replicas or even original artefacts that are over 130 years old. Once your training and uniform is complete, you will be able to take part in our firing displays, recreating those moments made famous by popular films such as Zulu.

“First rank, fire! Second rank, fire! Fix Bayonets!”

We eat the food the Victorian soldier ate, cooked using original army recipes and at longer events we live and sleep for several days in our Victorian camp. Alongside our military portrayals, we also have several accompanying ladies, resplendent in their colourful bustle dresses.

As well as our regular training weekends, each year we take part in several public events across the South East, both large and small. From living history camps, where we put our equipment and artefacts on public display, to joining up with other groups at larger events to put on a big arena display. Or providing an honour guard to Queen Victoria on an authentic Victorian steam railway and doing a 5 mile charity march in full kit- you can be sure that in joining us you will have a wide range of new experiences. Whilst we do focus on our training and historical accuracy when the public are around, there is also a great social atmosphere within our group and we can often be found gathered around the campfire at the end of the day once the public have gone home.

Although we are based in Guildford, we have members all across the country, even as far away as Staffordshire. This can sometimes make it difficult to get everyone together and so we are currently looking for more Guildford/Surrey based members to join us for the start of the 2014 re-enactment season. Everyone is welcome, so if you have a passion for history, want to try something different, or just make some new friends then why not get in touch? You can contact us through our WEBSITE, send us a message on FACEBOOK, email us at [email protected] or even come and meet us at one of our training days.

James Dix

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There are a number of buildings in Guildford which formed part of the regiment’s history, including Cardwell’s Keep in Stoughton, which was the regimental depot, and Henley Fort on The Mount, which was built in the 1890’s as part of a protective chain of forts south of London to defend against an expected French invasion. We feel that it is vitally important to keep such history alive and so back in 2003 our society was set up to give a small display at Henley Fort for the Surrey Heritage weekend held each September. The display was a great success and over the following 10 years the society has developed and evolved into its current form, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment Re-enactment Society.

We represent the regiment in the late Victorian era and are unique in portraying both the regular and volunteer battalions of one of the British Army’s oldest line regiments. Based in Guildford, our aim is to ‘bring Victorian Surrey to life’, so we train our soldiers regularly at Clandon Park (home of the regimental museum) using authentic uniforms and equipment, based on drill and training manuals from the period. Alongside our military portrayals, we also have several accompanying ladies, resplendent in their colourful bustle dresses.

Both of the battalions we represent have interesting histories, though for very different reasons. The 2nd Volunteer Battalion was one of four rifle battalions of the Queen’s, formed in 1883 by amalgamating a number of the Surrey & London Rifle Volunteer companies. They wore a dark blue uniform, keeping in fashion with the dark green uniform made popular by famous regiments such as the 95th Rifles– as portrayed in the ‘Sharpe’ books & TV series. Predecessors of the Territorial Army, the rifle volunteer movement began in 1859, as the threat of a possible French invasion grew. Local townspeople all across the country began to form rifle clubs, with the aim of defending themselves. By 1859 the government decided to keep an eye on this by authorising these clubs officially, and making them follow military regulations, and by the mid 1880’s there were over 250,000 rifle volunteers in the UK. Most regiments had only one or two volunteer battalions, but both the West Surrey and the East Surrey regiments had four– clearly we are a very patriotic county!

By 1908 the British and the French had made their peace and signed the Entente Cordiale and so the rifle volunteer’s were then reorganised and formed into what we now recognise as the Territorial Army. The regular battalions of the Queen’s that we represent are easily recognisable as the classic Victorian soldier; scarlet tunic, white pith helmet and Martini Henry rifle – made famous by that popular 1964 film Zulu. By the late Victorian era the British Empire stretched across a quarter of the globe, and to defend it, the British soldier found himself in all sorts of strange and unfamiliar lands. Whether in Canada, New Zealand, India or South Africa, the only thing in common was the ‘thin red line’ – the British ‘Tommy’ soldier.

Whichever of the above battalions we are portraying; The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment Re-enactment Society can be found at events across the South East. Whether we are displaying a military camp in India, providing a military escort for a VIP or even an honour guard for Queen Victoria herself, when you meet us or walk into one of our living history camps it is like stepping back in time to the 1880’s, right down to the food we eat. Typically the public will be able to see our Victorian style tents, with the soldiers on sentry duty guarding key areas, whilst those off duty can usually be found cleaning their rifles, helping the cook prepare lunch, or even having a crafty game of cards whilst the sergeant isn’t looking! We attend a mix of both small and larger events, from local summer fetes to Detling’s huge Military Odyssey or Portsmouth’s Victorian Festival of Christmas, which had over 30,000 visitors this year.

Everyone is welcome, so if you have a passion for history, wish to try your hand at something different and make some new friends, why not get in touch? You can email us at [email protected] with your queries or visit our website HERE or the Facebook group HERE.

James Dix

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Guildford started off as a tiny Saxon settlement, and these original few settlers chose the banks of the River Wey as the place to build their new homes. They named it Guilden (golden) Ford. Whether it was named so for the golden wildflowers blossoming along the riverside or the golden sands along its banks we will never know. But what is known is that the name of Guildford has lasted millennia.

Guildford grew and prospered along the shores of the River Wey, despite its waters being almost impassable as a waterway. And although it was connected to the Thames, its usefulness was severely hampered by the inability to travel through its waters. So, while picturesque and a great provider of both fish and fowl, it was far from reaching its full potential.

Before the early Industrial Revolution brought with it the canal builders that would forever change the face of our country, Sir Richard Weston led the way with Wey Navigation in 1651. This wealthy landowner saw in the impassable River Wey a fantastic opportunity to expand the commerce of Guildford and he took it. Work began, but sadly Sir Weston did not live to see its completion in 1653. It is because of him that twelve locks were placed along the river, the very first in Britain, with Stoke lock being the oldest. Though Sir Weston never got to see the huge impact that his actions had, his legacy still stands in the River Wey as testament to his innovation.

This wonderful new ability to ship goods to and from London and the South meant that Guildford boomed. With horse drawn barges and sailboats it could quickly and efficiently export the wool that had been Guildford’s trademark for centuries. With the construction of two mills in Chilworth that produced grain and gunpowder, Guildford experienced an influx of wealth and established itself as a great market town.

Wey Navigation was a roaring success from the 1650’s right up until the 19th century, when the arrival of the railway would once again change Britain forever. Though Wey Navigation was fading in its importance, Guildford remained centred around the twisting and turning body of water, despite the destruction that it wreaked over the years.

Routine flooding throughout the 20th century did nothing to dissuade businesses from setting up along the banks of the river, even after floodwater destroyed Moon’s Timber Yard in 1902, and sent planks and debris smashing into the wooden bridge, destroying it. Some residents still remember when, in 1968, the river broke its banks once again, rising to record levels. There is still a plaque on St. Nicholas’s church, opposite Debenhams, that marks the level that the floodwater rose to. Thankfully we have been fortunate enough not to experience this in recent years!

Now the River Wey remains, having grown and evolved with the town, a monument and memorial of the growth of our town, from the very first Saxon settlers to the present day. Instead of horse drawn barges and sailboats we have house boats and kayaks, plus traditional British pubs dotted along its banks, offering stunning views from their gardens.

There is a multitude of scenic walks ideal for anyone seeking a little peace and quiet away from busy town life. Take a seat on the balcony of Debenhams or the Yvonne Arnaud terrace and watch excitable children race to feed the ducks. Or behold Guildford’s ancient locks still in use today, and gaze across at one of the few remaining mills which may not still be operational, but it is not forgotten as the Mill Studio represents.

The River Wey represents the true heart of Guildford; an amazing combination of the old and the new coexisting in peace; charming and unique. Take a walk along the riverside and relish the River Wey and everything that it has to offer, past, present and future.

Charli Aisha Harris

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Guildford is often referred to as a city as traditionally the establishment of a diocesan cathedral in a town conferred city status. However, it is simply a town and has applied for city status several times, with Guildford’s last application to be granted the status of a city in 2002 proving unsuccessful again, losing out to Preston, the only English town that was formally recognised as a city as part of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Guildford is the county town for Surrey, a county with no city in it whatsoever. The administrative base of the council is peculiarly in Kingston Upon Thames which, although formerly in Surrey, is now in Greater London. But there are many large public sector organisations that have headquarters in Guildford such as the Surrey Police, the South East England Development Agency and the Government Office for the South East.

The constituency of Guildford is thought of as a Conservative stronghold with them traditionally winning the seat. However in 2001, the general election returned a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, (Sue Doughty) for the first time in over ninety years. The 2003 Borough Elections returned a majority council for the Conservative party, replacing the Liberal Democrat controlled council. And then in the 2005 general election Guildford returned a Conservative Party MP, Anne Milton by a narrow margin (0.7% of the voting electorate, or 347 votes). The Conservatives also held the council majority in the local elections of 2007.

James Martin

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Born in Guildford, Surrey, Abbot was taught at The Royal Grammar School which is situated towards the top of Guildford High Street. He studied at Balliol College in Oxford where later he also taught and was chosen as Master of University College in 1597 and appointed Dean of Winchester in 1600. He attained the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University three times and took a leading role in the preparation of the authorised version of the New Testament. His efforts pleased King James VI, thusly resulting in him being made Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry in 1609.

He was then raised to the position of Archbishop of Canterbury on 4 March 1611, where he defended the Apostolic Succession of the Anglican Archbishops and Bishops regarding the validity of the church’s priesthood in 1614.

Despite Abbot’s defence of the Catholic nature of the priesthood, his Puritan instincts regularly led him to treat the Roman Catholics with a level of severity (Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries). He also found himself resisting the royal will on occasion like when he opposed the scandalous divorce of the Lady Frances Howard and the Earl of Essex and when he forbade the reading of the Declaration of Sports in 1618 which listed the permitted Sunday recreations.

Abbot was a strong willed individual, a man of robust principles, but perhaps with a narrow outlook. When he felt strongly about an issue, he would act with great firmness, however, at times he was unwilling to allow other’s their liberty of conscience by suppressing opinions which he disliked by measures of excessive harshness.

In 1621, he shot a game keeper by accident during a hunting party at Bramshill Park in Hampshire. Although he was not at all to blame and the accident was unintentional, he took the blame upon himself and descended into a settled state of melancholia. He had initially aimed his cross-bow at a deer but struck the keeper who unfortunately died within the hour.

It was the occurrence of this fatal accident which had him disqualified from office, with his opposition maintaining that a clerical person should not voluntarily indulge in the sport of hunting especially if the result was a ‘homicide’. The matter was referred by the King to a commission of ten where the vote was equally divided, leaving the King to give the casting vote in the Archbishop’s favour. George Abbot still remains the only Archbishop of Canterbury to have ever killed a human being.

Although Abbot received a full royal pardon, the affair could not be forgotten and his increasing disagreements with the King saw his influence dwindle at court as he was not allowed to play a full part in leading the Church. After the incident the Archbishop seldom appeared in the council, however he did visit the King constantly whilst he was ill in the lead up to his death. After King James VI passed, Archbishop Abbot performed the ceremony of Coronation for King Charles I.

His presence became unwelcome at court and was later put in commission, leaving nominal restoration of his powers as Archbishop. From then on he lived in retirement, died at Croydon on 5 August 1633 and was buried in his native town of Guildford.

Abbot wrote a series of works, his most read being his discursive Exposition on the Prophet Jonah (1600) reprinted in 1845 and numerous editions thereafter. Guildford remembers him with the George Abbot Hospital, his statue on Guildford High Street (as pictured above), a pub and a school named after him (George Abbot School). His tomb can be seen in Holy Trinity Church.

Ade Lawal

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