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Abbots Hospital, top of Guildford High Street
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 uildford
was once described by William Cobbett (the diarist) as ‘the
prettiest and taken altogether the most agreeable and happy
looking town that I saw in my life’ in many ways it is
still so. Everything
in Guildford seems to revolve around its historic High Street which
is a perfect example of everything needed in a bright and cheerful
focal point combining unity in diversity.
This street rolls sharply downhill towards the River
Wey unlike any other Surrey town punctuated by the
striking Town Hall Clock which adds to the dramatic affect.
The High Street is full of notable and worthy architecture
giving further credibility to the wonderful historical flavour and
importance of the town. The
particularly attractive affect of the numerous narrow alleyways leading
off the High
Street also creates a
delightful atmosphere of quaint proportions. Across
on the west bank of the River the Council offices
can be found in
Millmead in a little backwater spot.
Up the hill The Mount inclines steeply towards the site of
the old Saxon cemetery where Lewis Carroll is buried (he
died nearby at his sisters home in Castle Hill) beyond is a
bridleway with stunning views which crosses the downs towards the
villages of Compton and Puttenham.
In the same area a little further south is Guildown, built up
around 1900 with fashionable houses by architects of the period.
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Royal
Grammar School
High Street |
The
centrally placed Royal Grammar School
in the High Street was founded in
1509 and given a charter by Edward VI in 1553.
This thriving traditional boys school is amongst the top of
the League in Surrey. The Guildhall
opposite Tunsgate is a C16 building of great interest,
formerly a courtroom and Council chamber. This building is
justifiably the most photographed and painted in all of
Guildford. For further information Tel: 01483 444035.
Abbots Hospital dated
1619 was built by a local boy whom became the Archbishop and
donated this building for the welfare of the poor.
Opposite is the massive Tuscan portico of the former Corn
Exchange of 1818 now a gateway to a square, bright with the new shops
of Tunsgate and where to find the Tourist Information
Centre.
Guildford Museum is housed in Quarry Street in an old cottage
built into the outworks of the Castle, it is also the
headquarters of the Surrey Archaelogical Society founded in 1845.
Yvonne
Arnaud Theatre was built in 1963 and attractively
sited by the C19 waterworks buildings on the east side of
the river. The Electric
Theatre can be found in the centre of the one way system,
so called as it was formerly the 1913 Electricity Works on Onslow
Street. This theatre is home to amateur dramatics and the many
theatre groups that flourish in and around Guildford.
St
Catherine’s Chapel is situated on the east side
of the Portsmouth Road about ¾ mile south of the
centre of Guildford on a beautiful site above the Wey water meadows.
It was built before 1308 and it is now roofless with all its decoration
gone.
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