GUILDFORD, a borough and market-town, having separate jurisdiction,
locally in the first division of the hundred of Wolring, county of
SURREY, 30 miles (S. W.) from London, containing, exclusively
of that part of the parish of St-Nicholas which is in the hundred
of Godalming, 3161 inhabitants. This place, of which there
is no mention either in the British or the Roman
annals, is supposed to be of Saxon origin, and to have
derived its name from Guild, a fraternity, and Ford, the
passage over a stream. It was held in royal demesne
and, by Speed, is said to have been the residence of
some of the Saxon kings. About, the year 900, Alfred
the Great bequeathed it to his nephew Ethelwald; and
in 1036 it became memorable for the perfidious
cruelty of Godwin, Earl of Kent, who, when Alfred, the
son of Ethelred II., had reached Guildford, on his
arrival from Normandy, by invitation of Harold Harefoot,
then King of England, inhumanly massacred his
retinue of six hundred Normans, and delivered him up to
Harold, by whose order his eyes were put out, and he was
detained prisoner at the monastery of Ely, where he died.
The castle is supposed to have been erected subsequently
to the Conquest, but by whom, or at what precise time,
has not been ascertained; the remains consist chiefly of
thekeep, which occupies the summit of a mound now
forming part of a private pleasure ground, and some
traces of the outer walls in the High-street and other
parts of the town, which serve to mark out its former
extent. Henry II. built a palace here, in which he frequently
held his court, and emparked a considerable
tract of land on the north side of Guildford down. It
was also the occasional residence of several of his successors.
Eleanor, queen of Henry III., founded here
a house of Friars Preachers, which Edward II. ineffectually
attempted to convert into a nunnery of the
order of St. Dominic; and, according to Speed, there
was also a house of Crouched friars, but of this there
are not any remains.
The town is romantically situated on the declivities
of two chalk hills sloping to the river Wey, which flows
in a narrow channel between them, and consists principally
of one spacious street, containing several handsome
well-built houses. It is well paved, lighted with
gas, and well supplied with water by a company. Near
the site of the friary are very extensive barracks. The
theatre, a neat aiid well-arranged edifice, is opened occasionally;
and not far from the town is a good course,
where races take place annually in Whitsun-week, when
a king's plate of one hundred guineas, and several subscription
stakes, are run for. The trade is principally
in timber, corn, malt, and beer, which are sent to the
metropolis by the Wey, that river having been made navigable,
to the town in 1650, principally by the exertions of
Sir Richard Weston, Bart. There is also an iron-foundry;
and on the banks of the river are several corn-mills.
The Wey and Arun canal passes through the town. The
market days are Wednesday and Saturday, the latter
for corn, of which there is an ample supply; the fairs,
during which all persons attending them are free from
arrest, are on May 4th and November 22d, for horses
and cattle. A large quantity of poultry is sent to London
on the market days; and a fair for lambs is held on
the Tuesday preceding Easter, and on every succeeding
Tuesday till after Whitsuntide. The corn market is
held in a building erected, in 1818, by subscription
among the inhabitants and farmers residing in the
neighbourhood: the portico is a fine specimen of the
Tuscan order. The market for vegetables is kept in a
noble lofty room, built in 1798, by Lords Onslow and
Grantley, originally for the transaction of public business;,
and the holding of convivial meetings.
Though Guildford was doubtless a corporate town in the time
of Alfred, the first regular charter of incorporation
on record is that of Henry III., subsequently confirmed
by Henry VI. and Henry VIII., the latter monarch
having changed the designation of the chief magistrate
from seneschal to that of mayor; and by James II.,
under whose charter the government is vested in a mayor,
high steward, recorder, seven aldermen, and an indefinite
number of bailiffs, "or approved men, 'seldom exceeding
treaty-four, assisted by a town clerk and other officers.
The mayor is elected annually on the Saturday after
Michaelmas-day,, from among the seven aldermen, unless
there be a vacancy in that body, in which case one of
the apprpved men is chosen, who, after having served
the office of mayor, becomes alderman. The mayor, recorder,
and three of the aldermen, are justices of the
peace; and the late mayor and town clerk are generally
chosen as coroners for the borough, though the office is
elective. The freedom of the borough is obtained by servitude
of seven years to a freeman; and among the privileges
which it conveys is that of exemption from serving
on juries at the assizes or sessions for the county, on the
payment of one penny by each person, called "Head
pence." The corporation hold quarterly courts of session
for determining on all offences within the borough; and
have power to hold a court of record every third Monday,
for the recovery of debts to any amount; but this latter
court has fallen into disuse. The town-hall, erected in
1683, is a neat edifice surmounted by a turret, in which
is a clock, having an illuminated dial for shewing the
hour at night: the-interior is decorated with portraits
of some of the sovereigns, and with other paintings.
The elective franchise was conferred in the 23d of Edward
I., since which time the borough has returned two
members to parliament. The right of election is vested
in the resident freemen and freeholders paying scot and
lot, the number of whom is about one hundred and
fifty: the mayor is the returning officer. The election
of the members for the county takes place in this town.
The summer assizes for the county are held alternately
here and at Croydon, and the quarter sessions for the
same once in the year. The petty sessions for the division
are also held at Guildford. The house of correction
for the county is a commodious building of red brick,
completed in 1823, and adapted to the classification
of prisoners; it has seven wards, seven, airing-yards,
seven day-rooms, and four rooms for tread-wheels.
The borough comprises the parishes of the Holy
Trinity, St. Mary the Virgin, and part of that of St.
Nicholas, all in the archdeaconry of Surrey, and diocese
of Winchester. The living of the Holy Trinity parish
is a rectory, with that of St. Mary united, rated in the
king's books, the former at £11. 11. 0., and the latter
at £12. 5. 5., with an endowment of £300 private benefaction,
and £300 parliamentary grant, and in the
patronage of the Crown. The church is a handsome
brick edifice, rebuilt in 1763, after the damage it sustained
from the fall of the tower in 1740. St. Mary's
is an ancient structure of flint and chalk, intermixed
with pebbles, situated on the slope of a hill, and
-supposed to have been erected in the time of the Saxons;
it consists of a nave, aisles, and chancel, with a
chapel on each side, circular at the eastern extremity,
having a small embattled tower: it has been recently
repaired under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr.
Buls.e, many of its most interesting features having
been judiciously restored. The living of St. Nicholas is
a rectory, rated in the king's books at £21. 0. 10., and
in the patronage of the Dean of Salisbury. The church
is a very ancient structure, of similar materials with
those of St. Mary's, situated on the. western bank of
the river: it has a nave and-aisles, and at the west end a
tower of modern erection, and contains several interest-
ing monuments, of which the most ancient is that of a
priest, whose effigy, in a recumbent posture under a
niche, is clothed in a white surplice and a scarlet robe,
with an embroidered gold border, fastened on the breast
by a black velvet belt with a gold knot, with the inscription
"Arnold Brocas, Rector, died 1395." There are
places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends,
Independents, andWesleyan Methodists. The free grammar
school was originally founded in 1509, by Mr. Robert
Beckingham, of London, who endowed it with lands
and tenements at Bromley, in Kent, and at Newington,
in Surrey, producing £20 per annum; and by letters
patent of Edward VI. it was further endowed with property
belonging to suppressed chantries, which was augmented
by the corporation, who purchased some land,
and, with the assistance of various benefactions, erected
a school-house in Trinity parish, in which are apartments
for the masters, and a good library. In 1671, Joseph
Nettle/Esq. devised land, producing £57. 15. per ann.
for an exhibition from this school to the University of
Oxford, or Cambridge. A school for clothing and educating
thirty boys was founded in the reign of Elizabeth,
by Mr. Thomas Baiter, clothier, and endowed with the
rent, of a market-house, which being taken down, the
school has, since 1762, been supported by voluntary
contributions. There are a National and a Lancasterian
school, supported by subscription, and a Sunday school,
entirely supported by William Haydon, Esq. The hospital,
for twelve aged men and eight unmarried women, was
founded by Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, and incorporated
by letters patent of James I., in 1622, under
the title of " The Master and Brethren of the Hospital
of the Blessed Trinity." Any person having served the
office of mayor is eligible to the mastership; and the
rector of Trinity parish may, at his option, take that
office on a vacancy occurring. This institution is under
the inspection of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The
buildings occupy a quadrangular area, on the north side
of which is a small chapel, containing some good specimens
of painted glass, with the portraits of the founder
and other benefactors. Four almshouses have been
erected and endowed for the aged poor of the parish of
St. Nicholas, and provision made for a master to teach
poor children, by Caleb Lovejoy, Esq. The Poyle charity,
from a bequest by Henry Smith, Esq., amounting
to £600 per annum, is distributed by the mayor and
aldermen, and there are several other charitable benefactions
for the relief of the poor. On St. Catherine's
hill are the ruins of St. Catherine's chapel. Archbishop
Abbot was a native of this parish; and the Hon. Arthur
Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons, and Bishop
Parkhurst, were buried in the church of the Holy Trinity.
Guildford gives the title of earl to the family of
North.