Distant Day Out - Guildford

The largest town in Surrey, Guildford has a long and well-storied history, having been mentioned in Alfred the Great's will, and has over time developed into a major town with royal connections. Currently home to nearly 80,000 people, Guildford may also look like a regular commuter town, home to workers travelling in and out of London daily, yet it is far more interesting than merely that. I visited various different sites on a trip to Guildford, as a break from studying:

• Guildford Cathedral

It's commonly assumed that all cities in the UK must have cathedrals, and that's not true - there are even places with cathedrals that aren't cities. There are six of these, and Guildford is the second largest of these, behind Blackburn. This might change in the future, though, considering Guildford is also large enough to become a city - it's already larger than twenty of them.

One of only three cathedrals built in the UK in the last century, Guildford Cathedral was finalised in 1961. It's the centre of the Diocese of Guildford, which is led by the Bishop of Guildford, both of which were created in 1927. The cathedral itself is a rather austere brick structure, standing on a hill and overseeing the rest of Surrey - indeed, the walk up to the cathedral from the station is a rather exhausting one, though the view from the top is worth it.

 

Architecturally, it doesn't appeal to me as much as the older, more medieval stone cathedrals do, though the structure itself is now Grade II* listed, so what would I know. I didn't hang around to see the cathedral indoors, mainly because there were several children inside for what looked like a church event - as such, I also have no photographs. It does look rather pleasant inside, though, as befits a cathedral.

 

The hill itself is Stag Hill, once the site of a royal deer park which was created by King Henry II in 1154. The park encompassed over 1,600 acres, and Stag Hill was its highest point, with the whole area open for royak hunting. By the 1600s, the site became used for agricultural purposes, and in 1927 land around Stag Hill was acquired for the construction of the cathedral. By 1966, however, a university had opened on the site to join the cathedral atop this peak.

• University of Surrey

Once the Battersea College of Technology, centred in Battersea Park, the University of Surrey was upgraded to a fully fledged university following the 1963 Robbins Report, which advised that all colleges of advanced technologies became upgraded to universities. Consequently, they left Battersea and upped sticks in Guildford, the current site of the Stag Hill campus. The entrance to the campus is rather obvious, marked by a lovely metallic sculpture of a stag, which doubles as the uni's logo. Here, you'll also find the Guildford School of Acting, which moved to the site in 2010.

 

The campus itself is located right next to the A3, midway through its routing down to Portsmouth, so the site feels rather cut off from the rest of Guildford. The site is rather pleasant, with various students milling about together or walking down the road, likely between buildings. There's also a rather lovely lake, along with other art dotted about the site, and I think that if I were a student, I might enjoy my stay here.

 

• Town Centre 

Around the perimeter road aptly named Perimeter Road, the railway snakes its way down to the mainline Guildford station. The River Wey lies not too far away from here as well, and as I walked down towards the station, and the town centre, it became visible, and I walked for a while by the river bank. Here is the Crown Court, and an Odeon, as well as the Electric Theatre, still marked as "1913 ELECTRICITY WORKS" on its side. Opening as an electricity works, it became a theatre in 1997 after being unused for thirty years. 

    

The town centre is much like every other town centre - its shopping centre, the Friary, is rather ordinary, though it did help me realise how expensive CDs are getting when I nipped into the HMV there. Arguably the main appeal is the cobbled high street, with its ornate Guildhall clock outside the Guildford Guildhall a photogenic highlight - otherwise, look forward to shops you'd expect anywhere, such as Waterstones and M&S, if you're looking for a discount experience. Outside said Waterstones is the Surrey Scholar statue - a man running with books flying - which was commissioned by the University of Surrey for the Golden Jubilee. The sculptor, Alan Sly, was also the man who created the metallic stag from earlier.

    

Otherwise, you can spot the Abbot's Hospital. Founded by the Archbishop of Canterbury George Abbot in 1619 as an almshouse to shelter the elderly poor, it initially housed twenty residents - now, it's still open to housing. Albeit, there is certain criteria (at least sixty, of "modest financial means", able to live independently), so not everyone will be able to live in this rather wonderful building. Outside the hospital, a statue of Abbot stands, who was born and buried in Guildford as well. 

      

Perhaps surprisingly, Guildford was also one of the key places which started the UK's automotive industry. Where a pub now stands, the Dennis Bros Cycle and Motor Factory opened here as the first purpose-built motor vehicle factory in England, back in 1901. The factory soon expanded into making buses, fire engines, and lorries, and it was the latter which became the focus of the company. The factory was closed in 1912, with the business continuing to operate in the Guildford outskirts, and many workers moved to live in Dennisville, an estate by Stag Hill. The site was later taken over by the Rodboro Boot and Shoe Company, which lends the name "Rodboro Buildings" to this site, as seen by the pub's entrance. 

 

• Guildford Castle

Just after the Norman Invasion in 1066, William the Conqueror ordered the construction of this castle, which I didn't know about before I arrived. The castle's been a royal palace, prison, and residence, along with the charming gardens around its perimeter, since it opened, and you can visit the castle today, so long as you pay the admissions cost. 

     

An adult ticket is £5, and enables you to access a panoramic view of the Guildford town centre, as well as the castle's keep, but otherwise there isn't much else to see in the castle, so I'm not entirely convinced it's worth it - the whole visit can be quickly completed, and the gardens are likely more of a highlight. Admittedly I did manage to watch a short documentary about the geological formation of Surrey on a TV by the main entrance to the castle, and I got a postcard out of it, so it was somewhat worth it. I also managed to hit my head on a low ceiling, nothing particularly serious though, so best to read the signage as well.

       

• Guildford station

Guildford has two stations, with the larger one opening in 1845, and serving as a terminus for South Western Railway. It also used to be part of the (often mentioned on this blog) London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, albeit the line used by the railway (the Cranleigh line, down to Horsham) was a victim of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s. 

 

I happened to turn up in Guildford in the week of SWR being nationalised by the government, though I didn't turn up when anything interesting was going on - this is why I'm assuming there was a British Rail flag flying from the station roof. 

Otherwise, there isn't much to say about the station - I bought a paper ticket to make my way back to London, with the train passing through the second Guildford station on the way. London Road (Guildford) is the name, serving only 800,000 passengers compared to its sister station's 5.8 million. Alas, I have nothing to report on this side of Guildford - I'd bought a direct ticket to London, and wasn't planning to chalk out more money on a fare. 

Guildford is in a rather curious location - distant enough from London to feel cut off from the capital, but close enough that you can travel from one to the other in under an hour by train. It's also surprisingly historic considering most will know it as merely a commuter town, and I reckon it also represents Surrey rather well, with its affluence surrounded by lovely woods and hills. Guildford is certainly worth an afternoon visit.

Footnote: the River Wey in Guildford also gives its name to Weybridge, which is upstream to the river. However, the Wey has nothing to do with Weymouth - there is a different River Wey responsible in this case. Why there are two River Weys, both in southern England, is unknown to me, though I reckon it's due to an etymological quirk.