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Exposing
buildings
of the past
 Surrey’s early
poverty is confirmed in history by the absence of many great
buildings and by just a short entry in the Domesday Book of 1086.
Fortunes only turned
with the rise of its medieval industries, agricultural improvement,
proximity to the capital and above all its royal favour which
reflected in a raised standard of living. Hampton Court
Palace still stands magnificent on the north bank of the River
Thames near Kingston and is probably the best preserved and renowned
of all buildings in the proximity of the county.
Most
of Surrey's towns and villages have their origins in medieval times, the
surviving 13th century undercrofts in Guildford are an example.
However, inevitably many of Surrey's historical buildings have been
lost with time. One example is Guildford's Friary which was only revealed
recently when  new shopping centre
there of the same name.
Other
great buildings have been lost too such as Nonsuch Palace at Cheam,
although the ruins of Waverley Abbey (1128) - the first Cistercian house in
England - and Newark Priory still exist.
The
buildings of the early monastic settlements were simple in design
and build such as the great Abbey at Chertsey founded in 666,
Merton Abbey, early parish churches and the Kings’
castle at Guildford. By the C15 however Surrey did not lag
behind the national standard as demonstrated by the finer buildings
of the bishops’ palaces at Farnham and Croydon and
the many yeomen’s houses in the Weald. Of the few castles ever built in Surrey, those at Farnham
and at
Guildford have fortunately survived and at Farnham remarkably well.
The coming of the Reformation was a mixed blessing.
All the important monasteries were closed and their
employment and education dissipated into new grammar schools
founded on ex-monastic revenues.
Their materials were quarried for royal rebuilding at
Hampton Court, Richmond, Oatlands, Nonsuch and large
private houses such as Loseley and Sutton Place.
Surrey was mostly peaceful during its times of change so the
by the end of the C16 large houses such as Sutton Place were even
built with no further thought for defence!
Photos:
Top: Quintessential Surrey building style still apparent
Middle: Hampton Court Palace near Kingston upon Thames Crown
Crown Copyright Historic Royal Palaces 1998
Bottom: Newark Priory, Pyrford
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Surrey
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