Godalming ( ) is a
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...
and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in southwest
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the
Borough of Waverley
The Borough of Waverley is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. The borough contains the towns of Godalming, Farnham and Haslemere, as well as numerous villages, including the large village of Cranleigh, and s ...
, at the
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
of the
Rivers Wey and
Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settlements of
Farncombe, Binscombe and
Aaron's Hill. Much of the area lies on the
strata
In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...
of the
Lower Greensand Group and
Bargate stone was quarried locally until the Second World War.
The earliest evidence of human activity is from the
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
and land above the Wey
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
at Charterhouse was first settled in the middle
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
. The modern town is believed to have its origins in the 6th or early 7th centuries and its name is thought to derive from that of a
Saxon
The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
landowner.
Kersey, a
wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
len cloth,
dye
Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...
d blue, was produced at Godalming for much of the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, but the industry declined in the
early modern period
The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
. In the 17th century, the town began to specialise in the production of knitted
textile
Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
s and in the manufacture of
hosiery
Hosiery, (, ) also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the foot, feet and human leg, legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also ...
in particular.
Throughout its history, Godalming has benefitted from its location on the main route from London to
Portsmouth Dockyard
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...
. Local transport links were improved from the early 18th century with the opening of the
turnpike road through the town in 1749 and the construction of the
Godalming Navigation in 1764. Expansion of the settlement began in the mid-19th century, stimulated by the opening of the first
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
in 1849 and the relocation of
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...
from London in 1872. The town has a claim to be the first place in the world to have a combined public and private
electricity supply.
Several buildings in the town centre date from the 16th and 17th centuries. The distinctive
Pepperpot was built in 1814 to replace the medieval
market house and to house the
council chamber. Among the notable former residents of the civil parish were
Jack Phillips, the senior
wireless operator on the , and the
mountaineer George Mallory
George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English Mountaineering, mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and climbing partner An ...
.
James Oglethorpe
Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social refo ...
, the founder of the
Colony of Georgia, was born in Godalming in 1696 and the town maintains a friendship with
the U.S. state and the cities of
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
and
Augusta in particular.
Toponymy
The oldest surviving record of Godalming is from a copy of the
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
of
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...
, in which the settlement appears as ''Godelmingum''. The name is written as ''Godelminge'' in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086, and later as ''Godelminges'' (), ''Godhelming'' (), ''Godalminges'' () and ''Godalmyn'' (). The second part of the name is thought to derive from the
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
''ingas'' and means "people of" or "family of" and the first part may refer to an
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
individual called ''Godhelm''.
Thomas William Shore (18401905) suggested that ''Godhelm'' may be of
Gothic origin and
Robert Eugen Zachrisson (18801937) proposed that it may have been an early name for the
River Ock or another local stream.
[ Residents of Godalming are sometimes called "Godhelmians".
The first records of Binscombe and Busbridge are from the 13th century, when they appear as ''Budenscombe'' and ''Bursbrige'' respectively. Their names are thought to derive from individuals called ''Byden'' and ''Beohrtsige'', names both found in Old English. Catteshall may mean "hill of the wild cat" or "hill belonging to a person called ''Catt''".][ Farncombe appears in Domesday Book as ''Fearnecombe'' and is thought to mean "valley of the ferns". Frith Hill may derive from the ]Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...
''frith'', meaning "woodland".
Geography
Location
Godalming is a town in the Borough of Waverley
The Borough of Waverley is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. The borough contains the towns of Godalming, Farnham and Haslemere, as well as numerous villages, including the large village of Cranleigh, and s ...
in southwest Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, around from central London and from Guildford
Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
. The town is in the valley of the River Wey, which flows northwards through Guildford to join the River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
at Weybridge
Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a cro ...
.[ Godalming High Street runs roughly east to west, linking an ancient crossing point of the Wey to the road leading south over Holloway Hill. The town is almost completely surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt and the Surrey Hills National Landscape is to the north and west.]
Godalming Civil Parish has a total area of . It includes the settlements of Binscombe, Frith Hill and Charterhouse (north of the river) and Aaron's Hill, Ockford Ridge and Crownpits (to the south). The majority of the built-up area of Busbridge is also in Godalming Civil Parish. Farncombe, to the north of the town, has a strong village identity and incorporates a small cluster of local shops on Farncombe and St John's Streets. Godalming has good transport links to London and Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
via the railway line and A3 road
The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting the City of London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its length, it is classifie ...
.[
At the west end of the town, the River Wey is joined by the River Ock, which rises at Witley, to the south.] The main urban areas of Godalming and Farncombe are separated from the Wey by the floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
, which includes the water meadows known as the Lammas Lands.[ Serious flooding events occurred in the local area in 1968, 1990, 2000, 2013 and 2020; new defences, including the construction of a flood wall and two ]pumping station
Pumping stations, also called pumphouses, are public utility buildings containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are critical in a variety of infrastructure systems, such as water supply, Land reclamation, ...
s, were installed in the winter of 2018–19.
Geology
Godalming lies on the northwestern side of the Weald and primarily sits on the strata of the Lower Greensand Group, laid down in the early Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
.[ Atherfield Clay is found in the extreme north of the civil parish at Binscombe, where there was a former brickworks. Holloway Hill and much of the town centre are on the Hythe Beds, a loamy, fine-grained sandy layer that also includes some sandstone and ]chert
Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...
. Although rare elsewhere in these strata, fossils of mollusc
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
species occur in these beds in the Godalming area, including the bivalves '' Ostrea macroptera'' and '' Exogyra sinuata'', and the brachiopod
Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear e ...
s '' Rhynchonella parvirostris'' and ''Waldheimia tamarindus''.[
Frith Hill and Charterhouse are on the iron-rich Bargate Beds, a part of the more widespread lower Sandgate Formation that is only found in the Godalming area. This layer contains Bargate stone, a dark honey-coloured calcerous sandstone that was quarried until the Second World War at several sites in the civil parish.] There are also small exposures of the sandy Folkestone Beds at Busbridge and to the northwest of Charterhouse. River gravels are found in the valleys of the Wey and Ock to the west and south of the town centre, and as a terrace at Farncombe.[ ]Alluvial
Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...
deposits of sand and silt are found in the floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
of the Wey, especially between Bridge Street and Catteshall.[
]
History
Early history
The earliest evidence of human activity in the Godalming area is from the Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
. At least two Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...
hand axe
A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a Prehistory, prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history. It is made from stone, usually flint or chert that has been "reduced" and shaped from a larger ...
s as well as Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μÎσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
flint blades and flakes have been found in the civil parish. In 2017, a local schoolboy discovered a Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
barb
Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to:
People
* Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
* Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves
* The Barbs, a band
Places
* Barb, ...
ed and tanged arrowhead
An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling.
...
, which he subsequently donated to Godalming Museum.[ The higher ground above the River Wey floodplain at Charterhouse was occupied during the middle ]Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
and human habitation is thought to have continued into the early Roman period. There is thought to have been a small farmstead on the site in the late first century C.E. and there was also a villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
at Binscombe.
The Anglo-Saxon settlement at Godalming is thought to have been founded in the 6th or early 7th centuries, in the area surrounding the parish church.[ The oldest stonework in the church dates from and the base of the west wall of the tower is of Anglo-Saxon origin. The earliest documentary evidence for Godalming, is from the will of Alfred the Great in 880, in which the settlement and surrounding land is left to his nephew, Æthelwold ætheling.] By the end of the Anglo-Saxon period, the town was the administrative centre of the Godalming Hundred, which stretched from Puttenham in the northwest to Chiddingfold in the southeast.[
]
Governance
The town appears as ''Godelminge'' in Domesday Book; in 1086 it was held by Ranulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard ( c. 1060 – 5 September 1128) was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government official of King William Rufus of England. Ranulf was the son of a priest of Bayeux, Normandy, and his nickname Flamba ...
, who also held Tuesley and parts of Guildford. The manor had sufficient land for 25 plough teams. It included 40 acres of meadow, woodland for 103 swine, three mills, two churches, and generated an annual income of £34.[ Farncombe appears in Domesday Book as ''Fernecome'' and was held by Odo of Bayeux.
At some point in the late 11th century, the Manor of Godalming was divided into two parts. The King's Manor was held by the Crown through the 12th century. There is evidence to suggest that it was held by Stephen de Turnham in 1206, but in 1221 it was granted to the ]Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...
by Henry III. It was held by the Bishop until 1541, when it was conveyed to Thomas Paston, who returned it to the Crown the following year. It was held by the monarch through the Tudor period until 1601, when Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
sold it to George More of Loseley Park.
The second part of the Manor of Godalming, known as the Rectory Manor or Deanshold, was granted to Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...
by Henry I in the early 12th century. It remained in the custodianship of the dean and chapter until the mid-19th century. For much of its history, the manor was leased to the Castillion family, but was held by the Ogelthorpe family in the 18th century. In 1846, the Rectory Manor was transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who began to break up and sell off the estate in the early 1860s.[
The first ]charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
to be granted to Godalming was issued by Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
on 7 June 1300. In it, he authorised a weekly market and a three-day annual fair on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul in late June. The right to hold a market was confirmed by Elizabeth I in 1563[ and, in January 1575, she issued a Charter of Incorporation, enabling Godalming to become a self-governing ]borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
...
. The charter specified that a "warden" (effectively a mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
) should be elected by the town each year at Michaelmas
Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in many Western Christian liturgical calendars on 29 Se ...
. In 1620, Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
, the Lord Chancellor
The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...
under James I, issued a document entitled "Ordinances and constitutions made and established for the better and government of the Town of Godalming in the County of Surry", which specified that the administration of the town should be the responsibility of the warden and eight assistants. It also provided for the appointment of a bailiff
A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary.
Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...
and restricted the amount of time that townspeople could spend in local inns and hostelries.
The modern system of local government began to emerge in the first half of the 19th century. Under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, the town became a borough corporation under the control of a mayor and elected councillors. The following year, the Guildford Poor Law Union was formed, with responsibility for a total area of stretching from Godalming to Woking
Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...
. As a result of the Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...
, several responsibilities were transferred from the borough to the newly formed Surrey County Council. Farncombe was originally a separate civil parish, but became part of Godalming borough in 1892. The most recent change in local government took place in 1974, when the municipal boroughs of Godalming and Haslemere were merged with the Farnham Urban District and Hambledon Rural District to form Waverley District. At the same time, Godalming Town Council was constituted as the lowest tier of local government in the civil parish. The district became a borough on 21 February 1984, following the grant of a royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
by Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
.
Commerce and industry
The right to hold a market was granted to Godalming in 1300 by Edward I. It probably took place each week at the junction of Church Street and the High Street.[ The right was confirmed in the 1563 charter of Elizabeth I, which stipulated that the market should be held every Wednesday.][ In 1674, the day was changed to Friday, but had reverted to Wednesday by the start of the 19th century. The market ceased in around 1879.][ The right to hold a fair each July was also granted in the charter of 1300 and continued to be held until 1870. A second annual fair, which originally took place over three days around Candlemas each February, was granted by Elizabeth I. By the start of the 19th century, the fair had been reduced to a single day and is last recorded in 1910.][
Three watermills are recorded in the entry for Godalming in Domesday Book.][ Although their identities are uncertain, the present day Catteshall, Hatch and Westbrook Mills on the River Wey are thought to be the likely locations.] Hatch Mill, close to the parish church, may be the oldest mill site in Godalming.[ Catteshall Mill, to the northeast of the town centre, is first recorded in 1300 and was used for milling corn from until 1836. The two Westbrook Mills, also on the Wey, are around apart and are not clearly distinguished in historical records until the mid-19th century, when the upper mill became known as Salgasson Mill.][
Godalming's medieval prosperity was founded on the ]wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...
trade. The North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...
provided good grazing
In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...
land for sheep, there were local deposits of Fuller's earth in Surrey and the Wey provided a source of both water and power for fulling mills. Like Guildford, to the north, the town specialised in the manufacture of kersey, a coarse cloth, dye
Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...
d blue. Fulling took place at Catteshall Mill between 1300 and 1660, and at the Westbrook Mills in the 17th and early 18th centuries.[ Dyers are known to have been active in the town in the 17th century, but the kersey industry went into a steep decline in the middle of the century.][ Woollen cloth production ended at Guildford in the 1710s, but continued on a small scale in Godalming for around another 100 years.]
As cloth manufacture declined in Godalming, it was replaced by the production of knitted and woven textiles. A cottage industry
The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...
developed in the town in the 17th century, producing woollen, silk and later cotton garments. Hosiery
Hosiery, (, ) also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the foot, feet and human leg, legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also ...
was knitted using a stocking frame invented by William Lee in the 1580s.[ Until the 18th century, most garments were produced by families working at home, but thereafter the industry became increasingly centralised. George Holland set up a factory in around 1790 for the manufacture of "Fleecy and Segovia Hosiery", using specially prepared wool.][ The Pitchers company was established in the town in 1885 and produced "Charterhouse sweaters", among other woollen items. The firm, which closed in the 1960s, is credited with the invention of a machine to produce the cable stitch.
Leather production was a significant part of the local economy from the mid-15th to mid-20th centuries.] Tanneries are recorded at several sites in the town, including at Ockford Road, Meadrow and Catteshall Lock. In 1808, a "bark house" was erected in Mill Street for grinding bark[ and ]chamois leather
Chamois leather () is a type of porous leather, traditionally the skin of the chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra''), a type of European mountain goat, but today made almost exclusively from the flesh split of a sheepskin.
United Kingdom
The Bri ...
was produced at the Westbrook Mills in the 19th century. The final leather producer in Godalming closed in 1952.
The Godalming area was an important centre for papermaking
Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is Pulp and paper industry, made using industrial machinery, while handmade pape ...
and, in the early 17th century, several mills in the town produced coarse sheets of "whited brown paper".[ Papermaking took place at the Westbrook Mills in the 17th and early 18th centuries, and at Catteshall Mill from the 1660s until 1928.]
Transport and communications
A ford across the Wey at the site of the current Town Bridge was established by the 12th century. In the late-medieval period, there was also a bridge owned by the Lord of the Manor at this location, but the ford was used by townspeople except in times of flood.[ The road through Godalming between ]Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...
and Petersfield was turnpiked in 1749[ and the present Town Bridge was constructed in 1782 by the County Surveyor, George Gwilt.] The road south from the town centre through Busbridge to Hascombe was turnpiked in 1826.
The Wey has been used for navigation since ancient times and it is likely that wool, cloth and timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
were transported via the unimproved river during the medieval period. The River Wey Navigation, between the River Thames and Guildford was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1651. Although its southern terminus was four miles north of the town, the opening of the new waterway had a positive impact on the economy of Godalming.
The Wey Navigation Act 1760 authorised the construction of the Godalming Navigation. The waterway, which opened in 1764 with four locks, extended the navigable stretch of river southwards. A wharf
A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...
was constructed on the south side of the Wey, close to the town centre. The busiest period for the navigation was during the 1810s, when timber, flour, and goods made of iron were shipped from Godalming, but after the arrival of the railway in 1849, it went into sharp decline.[ After 1918, there were only two commercial barges working the river south of Guildford and the final shipments from Godalming took place in 1925. The Godalming Navigation passed to the ]National Trust
The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
in 1968.
The first railway station in Godalming opened in 1849 on the north side of the Wey. It was the southern terminus of the line built by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) from . A decade later, the line to was constructed speculatively by the engineer, Thomas Brassey. This line was initially single track and joined the branch from Guildford to the north of the first railway station. Although construction was completed in 1858, the first passenger trains south of Godalming did not run until January of the following year.[ Initially there were four services in each direction per day between Guildford and Havant, which had increased to seven (with a single short working to ) by 1890. The opening of the line necessitated the building of the current railway station, although the original station was retained until 1969 for freight. Farncombe railway station, the only intermediate station between Guildford and Godalming, opened on 1 May 1897. The line south of Godalming was doubled in 1871 and was electrified in 1937.
]
Late 19th century improvements in the local road network included the construction of Borough Road and Borough Bridge to link the newly opened Charterhouse School
Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...
to the town centre. The Guildford and Godalming bypass (now the A3) was opened in July 1934. In the 1990s, Flambard Way was built to divert through traffic around the town centre. Its construction divided Queen Street in two and severed the connections from Mill Lane and Holloway Hill to the High Street.
Residential development
The basic layout of Church Street, the High Street and Bridge Street are thought to have been established by the 13th century and may be pre- conquest in origin. The Saxon settlement was concentrated in the Church Street area and Godalming expanded along the modern High Street in the 11th and 12th centuries. The first houses may have been constructed in The Mint in the late 13th or early 14th centuries. The town does not appear to have expanded significantly in the early modern period
The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
, although the oldest surviving buildings in the centre date from the 16th century.[ The settlement at Binscombe village grew up in the medieval period around Binscombe Farm. Much of the hamlet, including the original farmhouse, is designated a Conservation Area.]
Godalming began to grow in the mid-19th century, catalysed by the opening of the first railway station in 1849 and the arrival of Charterhouse School in 1872.[ The first cottages were constructed at Crownpits in the 1880s and farmland to the south of the town centre was sold for development in the same decade. Summerhouse, Busbridge and Oakdene Roads had been laid out by the mid-1890s and most of the houses had been built by the end of the century. The area north of Home Farm Road was developed in the 1970s and the Bargate Wood estate was built in the 1980s.
Farncombe began to grow in the early ]Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
, with terraced housing, semi-detached
A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single-family Duplex (building), duplex dwelling that shares one common party wall, wall with its neighbour. The name distinguishes this style of construction from detached houses, with no sh ...
houses and larger villas being built along new streets branching from existing roads such as Hare Lane, Summers Road and Farncombe Street.[ Until the mid-19th century, Charterhouse and Furze Hill were part of Deanery Farm, although much of the latter was woodland.][ In 1865, the land was sold in lots, with being acquired for the site of Charterhouse School. Houses in Deanery and Peperharrow Roads were built in the early 1870s, but in the mid-20th century many were either divided into flats or demolished, and higher-density housing was constructed on their former gardens. In the 1960s, the school vacated its properties on Frith Hill Road and on Markenholm, and the sites were sold for residential development.][ Housing on The Brambles was constructed in the mid-1980s. The most recent major developments in Farncombe took place in the early 21st century off Furze Lane.][
The first ]council housing
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...
in the civil parish was constructed in 1920 around The Oval and Broadwater Lane in Farncombe.[ The first 168 houses on the Ockford Ridge estate, west of the town centre, were completed in 1931 and were followed by a further 32 new homes on Cliffe Road in 1935. After the Second World War, the Aaron's Hill development was built on the site of the former Ockford House. The Binscombe estate was constructed in the 1950s, to the northwest of Farncombe.][
]
Godalming in the world wars
During the First World War, soldiers were billeted at nearby Witley Camp. A canteen was set up in Croft Road for those arriving via Godalming station. Allotments were planted at the Holloway Hill Recreation Ground and villagers in Busbridge were employed to manufacture baskets for 18 lb high-explosive shells. In October 1914, the Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
opened a hospital for wounded soldiers at Charterhouse School.
During the Second World War, the defence of Godalming was the responsibility of the 4th Battalion of the Surrey Home Guard, part of South East Command. A total of 213 bombs fell on the town, including two V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...
s, although no civilians were killed. In September 1939, around 40 children were evacuated to Busbridge from Wandsworth
Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Toponymy
Wandsworth takes its name ...
and several houses in Godalming were requisitioned to provide accommodation for soldiers. St Thomas's Hospital Medical School
St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in London was one of the oldest and most prestigious medical schools in the UK. The school was absorbed to form part of GKT School of Medical Education.
History
It was part of one of the oldest hospitals in ...
was also evacuated to Godalming and used the Charterhouse School science laboratories to teach in. Many students joined local home guard. A British Restaurant was opened in Angel Yard and Branksome House, in Filmer Grove, served as a district control centre.[ The manufacturer, RFD, set up a factory in Catteshall Lane to produce barrage balloons, inflatable boats and life jackets and, by the end of the war, was employing over 1000 local people.
]
National and local government
UK parliament
The entirety of Godalming Civil Parish is in the revised (2024) parliamentary constituency of Godalming and Ash
County council
Surrey County Council, headquartered in Reigate
Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...
, is elected every four years. Godalming is represented by two councillors.[
]
Borough council
The town is divided into four wards; Binscombe and Charterhouse, Central and Ockford, Farncombe and Catteshall, and Holloway. Godalming is represented by nine councillors, elected to Waverley Borough Council:
Godalming Town Council
Godalming Town Council is the lowest tier of local government in the civil parish. A total of 20 councillors is elected every four years. Each year, one councillor is chosen as the Mayor, who represents the town on civic occasions and who is recognised as the principal citizen of Godalming. Godalming is twinned with Mayen, Germany (April 1982) and Joigny, France (May 1985). The town retains strong friendship links with the state of Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, USA, and with the cities of Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
and Augusta in particular, through the organisation, the Friends of Oglethorpe. Since 2011, the town council has held the power to confer the titles of "Honorary Freeman" and "Honorary Freewoman" on residents who have demonstrated outstanding service to or made a significant contribution to the community. As of 2022, two people (Zadie Caudle and John Young) have been recognised in this way.
Demography and housing
Public services
Utilities
For much of the town's history, residents obtained drinking water from local rivers or from wells. In the early 19th century, a hand-operated pump was installed next to the Pepperpot in the High Street. A well was dug at Charterhouse to supply the school with water. In around 1880, water mains were installed in Godalming and Farncombe, fed from a water tower
A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...
on Frith Hill.[ In 1899, the borough council purchased the water tower, becoming responsible for the drinking water supply to the town until 1974. In that year, the water tower was decommissioned and a new covered reservoir was opened at Sandy Lane.
The town ]sewerage
Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff ( stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scr ...
system was constructed in 1894 and included a sewage works at Unstead Farm, to the north of Farncombe.[ Until this point, waste water had been disposed of in ]cesspit
Cesspit, cesspool and soak pit in some contexts are terms with various meanings: they are used to describe either an underground holding tank (sealed at the bottom) or a Dry well, soak pit (not sealed at the bottom). A cesspit can be used for ...
s, resulting in the contamination of drinking water wells; outbreaks of cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
and typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...
are recorded in Godalming in the 18th and 19th centuries. The municipal tip was opened next to the sewage works in the early 1900s.[
The Godalming Gas and Coke Company was established in 1825] and purchased part of Godalming Wharf for the site of its gasworks.[ Gas was provided for street lighting between 1836 and 1881, and again from 1884 to 1900. The ]coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
required initially arrived by barge, but was delivered by train after the first railway station opened in 1849. The gasworks closed in 1957, when the town supply was linked to that of Guildford.[
Godalming has a claim to be the first town in the world to have a combined public and private electricity supply.] The price of gas had risen during the 1870s and the borough sought an alternative method of providing street lighting.[ In 1881, the London firm of Calder and Barrett installed a generator driven by two Poncelet waterwheels at Westbrook Mill. The electricity was used to power three 250 V arc lights at the mill and overhead cables were run above Mill Street to the town centre, where a further four arc lights were installed. A second, 40 V circuit supplied 34 incandescent lamps (of which seven were at the mill and the remainder were in the town centre). The scheme met with mixed success and there were criticisms that the lights in the town centre were too dim, while those at the mill were too bright.][ By the end of 1881, the generator had been moved to the rear of the White Hart pub, where it was driven by a steam engine][ and, in April 1882, ]Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
took over the operation. The electricity supply continued until 1884, when Siemens refused to bid for the renewal of its contract and the town reverted to gas lighting.[
The second power station in Godalming was opened in Borough Road in 1902.] By the end of the following year, two 90 kW and one 200 kW steam-powered generators had been installed, which were replaced in 1928 by a 200 kW diesel-driven generator.[ Under the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926, Godalming was connected to the National Grid, initially to a 33 kV supply ring, which linked the town to Guildford, Hindhead, Woking and ]Aldershot
Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
. In 1932, the ring was connected to the Wimbledon-Woking main via a 132 kV substation at West Byfleet. By the time of its closure in 1949, the Borough Road power station had an installed capacity of 600 kW.[
]
Emergency services
From the early part of the 17th century, the borough appears to have employed a "bedle" or "bellman" to apprehend troublemakers and, in 1747, there is a reference to a "cage prison" in Godalming. By 1762, a uniformed town watchman was employed with an annual salary of £10 and a "constable of Godalming" is first recorded in 1817. The borough police force was formed in 1836 and briefly became part of the county force from 1851 to 1857. By 1868, the police station was in Moss Lane and had three cells capable of holding a total of nine people. The force was led by a superintendent, assisted by a constable, a night watch and several special constables.
In 1889, the borough force became part of the Surrey Constabulary, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1888.[ A new police station, built on the site of the former gasworks, opened in 1969 and closed in 2012.][ In 2022, policing in the civil parish is the responsibility of ]Surrey Police
Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Counties of England, county of Surrey in South East England.
The force is currently led by Chief Constable Tim De Meyer.
The force has its headquarters at Mount Brown ...
and the nearest police station run by the force is at Guildford.
The first fire station in Godalming was constructed in Moss Lane in 1816. It housed a manual fire pump, mounted on a pushcart, that could be used by local residents when the need arose. It was not until 1870 that the town fire brigade was formally constituted, initially as a volunteer force, with the equipment funded by public subscription. Six years later, the station moved to Godalming Wharf and, in 1894, the borough took over the running of the brigade. From this point onwards, the firefighters were paid for each incident that they attended, with the cost charged to the property owners who used their services.[ In 1904, the borough purchased a horse-drawn steam pump and, in May of the same year, the force moved to a new fire station in Queen Street.] During the Second World War, it became part of the National Fire Service and, in 1948, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service was formed. The fire brigade moved to the current station in Bridge Road in 1972.[
In 2022, the local ]fire authority
In England and Wales a fire authority or fire and rescue authority is a statutory body made up of a committee of local councillors which oversees the policy and service delivery of a fire and rescue service. Prior to the Fire Services Act 2004 ma ...
is Surrey County Council and the statutory fire service is the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service. Godalming Ambulance Station, in Catteshall Lane, is run by the South East Coast Ambulance Service.
Healthcare
The Meath
The Meath Epilepsy Charity was founded in 1892 by Mary Jane Brabazon, Countess of Meath. She purchased Westbrook House and opened the "Home of Comfort for Epileptic Women and Girls". By 1920, The Meath, as it became known, was offering residential care for 87 patients. In 2020, 82 adults with epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...
were offered residential care and the charity supported an additional 30 clients. Changing Perceptions, in Godalming High Street, is The Meath's social enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners.
Social enterprises ha ...
and offers patients opportunities to work in the furniture workshop and in the café.
The nearest hospital with an A&E is the Royal Surrey County Hospital, from Godalming. As of 2022, the town has two GP practices, one at Catteshall Mill and one at Binscombe.
Transport
Bus and train
Godalming is linked by a number of bus routes to surrounding towns and villages in southwest Surrey. Operators serving the town include Compass Bus, Stagecoach
A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
and the Compo Community Bus.
South Western Railway operates all services from both and Farncombe stations. Trains run to via and to via . There is a taxi rank at Godalming station.
River navigation
The River Wey is navigable from Godalming northwards to Weybridge and the navigation authority is the National Trust
The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
. The head of navigation is at Godalming Wharf, about downstream of Town Bridge. Catteshall Lock has a fall of and is the southernmost lock on the connected inland waterways of Great Britain.
Long-distance cycleway and footpath
The Farnham Link of the Surrey Cycleway runs through the civil parish from Charterhouse via the town centre to Holloway Hill. The final stage of the Tour of Britain 2012 passed through Godalming.
The Fox Way, a footpath that encircles Guildford, follows the towpath of the Wey Navigation from Catteshall to Town Bridge, before running north of the town centre and Aaron's Hill towards Eashing.
Education
Early schools
There are thought to have been dame schools operating in Godalming in the 16th and 17th centuries, but the first surviving reference to formal education in the town is from 1715, in which a school for 50 poor boys is recorded. The National school opened in Mint Road in February 1813 and moved to the former workhouse in Moss Lane in 1843. The workhouse buildings were demolished in 1910 and new classrooms were constructed on the same site.[ The school moved to new premises on Franklyn Road in the early 1970s and was renamed to become St Mark's School.] A further change of name took place in 2008 and the school is now known as Green Oak School.
A British school opened in Hart's Yard in December 1812, but moved to Bridge Road in February the following year. It educated children between the ages of 6 and 13. The premises were rebuilt in 1872 and are now occupied by the Busy Bees nursery school. Busbridge School was founded in 1865 and three years later it became a National school. In 1868 there were 64 children on the roll, but by 1906, the school had 166 pupils.
St John's School, Farncombe opened in 1856; both the George Road and Meadrow Schools opened in 1906. Moss Lane County Primary School opened on the former workhouse site in 1975, but became an infants school in 1994.[
]
Maintained schools
Broadwater School, in the north of the civil parish, was established in 1967. It was built on part of the former Broadwater House estate. The school educates around 570 pupils aged from 11 to 16. It became part of the Greenshaw Learning Trust in September 2020.
Godalming College, to the south of the town centre, was founded in 1975 on the campus of the former Godalming Grammar School. It caters for 1619-year-olds and is state maintained. The Performing Arts Centre was opened in March 2008 and the English and Modern Foreign Languages Centre was opened in September 2016.
Independent schools
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...
was founded in 1611 in a former Carthusian monastery near Smithfield in London and relocated to Godalming in 1872. The main school buildings were designed by the architect, Philip Charles Hardwick, and the chapel, by Giles Gilbert Scott, was erected in 1927 as a memorial to former pupils who had died in the First World War. Initially the school was for boys only but, from 1971, girls were accepted into the sixth form. Girls were first admitted into Year 9 in 2021 and the school became fully coeducational in September 2023.
St Hilary's Preparatory School is an independent preparatory school for boys and girls aged 2–11. It was founded in Tuesley Lane in August 1927 and moved to its present site on Holloway Hill in 1936. The nursery department opened in 1946 and the school became a limited company in 1965. In November 2024, the school merged with St Edmund's School, Hindhead.
Places of worship
The oldest parts of the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul date from the 9th century. The location of the church, on a sandstone knoll above the River Wey floodplain, is thought to have been the site of the original settlement of Godalming. By the early 11th century, the church is thought to have consisted of a nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
and chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...
; transepts and a tower were added in the early Norman period. A major rebuilding took place in the 13th century, which included the addition of a spire. The church owes its present appearance to restoration and remodelling work by George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century. The interior of the building includes the font, dated to the 15th or early 16th century, the carved wooden pulpit from and the parish chest from . A daughter church, St Mark's, was opened in 1934.[
Monthly ]Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
meetings are thought to have been taking place in Binscombe by 1656, when the Dissenter George Fox
George Fox (July 1624 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 13 January 1691 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English Dissenters, English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Quakers, Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as t ...
is known to have preached there. The burial ground in the village was in use from 1659 until 1790. A lending library for Quakers was established in Godalming in 1676 and the Meeting House on Mill Lane was built in the 1710s. The building retains much of its original interior, including wooden panelling and fixed benches. The writer, Mary Waring, was an Elder of the meeting and kept a diary of her religious experiences.
Meadrow Unitarian Chapel, on the north side of the River Wey, was opened in 1789 as a General Baptist chapel. The building included a baptistry equipped with a pool suitable for immersion baptism
Immersion baptism (also known as baptism by immersion or baptism by submersion) is a method of baptism that is distinguished from baptism by affusion (pouring) and by aspersion (sprinkling), sometimes without specifying whether the immersion is ...
. In the early 19th century, the congregation began to embrace Unitarianism
Unitarianism () is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian sect of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the wikt:unitary, unitary God in Christianity, nature of God as the singular and unique Creator deity, creator of the universe, believe that ...
. Religious services moved to a new building in 1870, but returned to the original chapel in the mid-1970s.
Although John Wesley
John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...
visited the town four times, attempts in the late 18th century to establish Methodism
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
in Godalming were unsuccessful. The current congregation traces its origins to a group that began meeting in the High Street in 1826 and that later moved to the former Congregational Church in Hart Lane in 1869. A second relocation to the Bridge Road Church, named after the religious reformer Hugh Price Hughes, opened in 1903.
Busbridge Parish Church was designed by George Gilbert Scott in the Early English style and was consecrated in 1867. The windows at the west end were designed by Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter.
Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...
and the wrought-iron chancel screen was designed by Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...
.
The first Catholic church in the town was a temporary iron church, erected in Croft Road in 1899. The Godalming parish was created in 1904 and the first priest was appointed in November of that year. The foundation stone of the new church, St Edmund's, was laid in November 1905 and construction was completed in June 1906. The grade II-listed building was designed by Frederick Walters in the Early English style.
Culture
Art
Godalming Museum owns paintings by James Peel and Gertrude Jekyll as well as a sculpture of the artist, George Frederic Watts, by Louis Reid Deuchars. The collection also includes portraits of Thomas Henry Huxley and Jack Phillips by John Collier and Ellis Martin respectively. The Tate
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
holds an oil painting by J. M. W. Turner entitled ''Godalming from the South'', dated to 1805; the gallery also holds two pencil sketches of the town skyline by the same artist.
Literature, film and television
In Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
' novel '' Nicholas Nickleby'', Nicholas and Smike stay the night in Godalming, en route from London to Portsmouth: "To Godalming they came at last, and here they bargained for two humble beds, and slept soundly." Much of the action in '' Bulldog Drummond'' by Sapper
A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...
takes place in Godalming. Binscombe features as a location in '' The Hog's Back Mystery'' (1933) by the detective-fiction writer Freeman Wills Crofts.
Ian Fleming's James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
short story, '' Quantum of Solace'', referred to Godalming as a venue for retired colonial civil servants with memories of postings to places "that no one at the local golf club would have heard about or would care about." In '' The Rose of Tibet'' (1962) by thriller writer, Lionel Davidson, two characters are described as talking "for hours" of a shared link with Godalming. In a somewhat "backhanded compliment", their exotic (and perilous) Tibetan location is held to be "All a long, long way from damp, soft Godalming with its mushy autumnal leaves underfoot and its dark green trains commuting to Waterloo." The comic novel '' The Return of Reginald Perrin'', by David Nobbs, contains the following: "Note: It is believed that this book mentions Godalming more than any other book ever written, including ''A Social, Artistic and Economic History of Godalming'' by E. Phipps-Blythburgh."
The 2006 romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...
film, '' The Holiday'', and the 2022 television series, '' Inside Man'', include scenes filmed in Godalming.
Music and theatre
Godalming Band has been active in its current form since 1937, but its predecessors operated in the town from . The first performances took place to celebrate the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth
The coronation of the British monarch, coronation of George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Elizabeth, as King of the United Kingdom, king and List of British royal consorts, queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realm, ...
. The first overseas trip, to one of Godalming's twin towns, Mayen, Germany, took place in 1979. The band performs regularly at local venues, including at the Godalming Bandstand.
The Godalming Youth Orchestra was founded in 1979 and welcomes players of orchestral instruments between the ages of 8 and 17. The Godalming Theatre Group was founded as the Youth Centre Theatre Group in 1964. It typically performs three times a year - a musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
in the spring, a play in the autumn and a pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
at Christmas. Local performances generally take place at Charterhouse School, but the group has toured internationally to Augusta, Mayen and Joigny.
Sport
Leisure centre
Godalming Leisure Centre at Broadwater Park was opened in 2012, replacing the previous centre dating from the mid-1970s. It offers a 25 m pool, a teaching pool a fitness gym, a sauna and a soft play area.
Association football
Godalming Town F.C. was founded as Godalming United F.C. in 1950 by former pupils of Godalming Grammar School. Originally, the team played its home games at the Holloway Hill Recreation Ground, but moved to Meadrow in Farncombe in 1970. The current stadium is named in memory of Bill Kyte, a former president and longstanding supporter of the club.
Old Carthusians F.C. was founded in 1876 by a group of former pupils of Charterhouse School. The team won the FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
in 1881 and the FA Amateur Cup three times in the 1890s. In 2022, the club is a member of the Arthurian League and the first team plays its home games at the school playing fields.
Cricket
Cricket is known to have been well established in Godalming by 1767 and the first definite reference to a Godalming team is from 1786. By 1883, the town team had begun playing at Holloway Hill Recreation Ground, then known as Whitehart Field. The present Godalming Cricket Club was constituted in 1926.
The first recorded cricket match at Broadwater Park took place in 1850 and a Surrey v Nottinghamshire county match took place there in 1854. Farncombe Cricket Club was founded on 6 April 1938 and played its first match on the 30th of the same month. The club has leased its home ground at Broadwater Park from the borough council from the outset. The first pavilion, a wooden building previously the staff living quarters of the Bramley Grange Hotel, was erected in 1949. It was replaced in the first half of 1972 and the new building was extended twice in the following decade to provide a larger social space.
Other sports
Guildford R.F.C. was formed in 2002, following a merger between Guildford & Godalming and Old Guildfordians rugby clubs. The first match as a single, combined team took place in September 2003 and the inaugural season was played in the then, London Division 3SW. The club plays its home games at the Broadwater Sports Club.
The Godalming Angling Society was formed in 1882. The club has rights to fish the Broadwater lake and an stretch of the River Wey from Eashing to Guildford. Members can also fish at five other sites outside of the civil parish.
There are two flat green lawn bowls clubs in the civil parish. Holloway Hill Bowls Club plays at Holloway Hill Recreation Ground and Godalming and Farncombe Bowling Club plays at The Burys. The Godalming and Farncombe club was founded in 1867 and is the second oldest bowling club in Surrey.
Notable buildings and landmarks
Community centres
Godalming Youth Centre was opened by Wilfrid Noyce, a mountaineer and Charterhouse teacher and former pupil on 6 June 1962. He died in a climbing accident on 24 July of the same year and the centre was renamed in his memory. The centre was renovated between June 2015 and March 2016 to provide new catering facilities and tiered seating.
The Denningberg Centre was opened by Danny Denningberg, then Mayor of Godalming, in October 1974. It is the headquarters of the Godalming Old People's Welfare Association and functions as a day centre for the over-55s. It has been run by volunteers from the outset and houses a chiropody clinic and cafe.
The Old Mill, to the north of the High Street, is a day centre run by the National Autistic Society. It offers a range of activities and educational courses to those with autism
Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...
.
Town halls and Godalming Museum
The former town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
, nicknamed The Pepperpot due to its cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout.
The word derives, via Ital ...
, is a distinctive octagonal building in the High Street. Located on the site of the medieval market house, its construction was funded by public donations.[ It was built in 1814, although the central stair tower was not added until in the 1890s. The ground floor is open and takes the form of a round-arched arcade.][ The upstairs rooms were used for borough council meetings until 1908.][
Godalming Borough Hall, on Bridge Street, was built as a public hall in 1861. It was extended and rebuilt into the present borough hall in 1906 and the council began meeting in the purpose-built chamber in 1908.
Godalming Museum opened in 1921 on the upper floor of The Pepperpot. It moved in November 1987 to 107109 High Street, a timber-framed Wealden house dating from the 1440s.] The museum houses numerous artefacts relating to the history of the local area and the Arts and Crafts movement
The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America.
Initiat ...
in southwest Surrey.
Memorials
The chief radio operator of , Jack Phillips, was born and lived in Farncombe. After the ship struck an iceberg on the night of 14–15 April 1912, he remained at his post, sending repeated distress calls until the ship sank. Phillips was honoured by his home town through the construction of a memorial cloister
A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...
, designed by Hugh Thackeray Turner and a garden by Gertrude Jekyll. A brass plaque was also installed in Farncombe church. The cloister was restored in time for the 100th anniversary of the sinking in 2012.
Godalming War Memorial, dedicated in 1921, was designed by the architect, Albert Powys. It takes the form of a Latin cross, set on top of the northern retaining wall
Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...
of the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul parish church. The names of the 109 local residents who died in the Second World War are recorded beneath the cross. Those who died in the First World War are remembered on plaques inside the church.
Busbridge War Memorial, in the churchyard of the Church of St John the Baptist, was designed by Edwin Lutyens. It is constructed of Portland stone and takes the form of a cross. It was dedicated in July 1922 and the names of those who died in the First and Second World Wars are recorded on plaques inside the church.
Other notable buildings
The King's Arms and Royal Hotel, in the High Street, is a former coaching inn and is first recorded in the 17th century. In 1698, Peter the Great
Peter I (, ;
– ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
stayed at the inn with his entourage, while travelling from Portsmouth to London. A contemporary account, held by the Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...
, records the vast amount of food and drink consumed. A plaque was unveiled in 1998 by the Russian Ambassador to the UK, to mark the 300th anniversary of the Czar's visit. Much of the hotel dates from the mid-18th century, including the brick Georgian frontage, constructed in 1753. Some of the interior panelling
Panelling (or paneling in the United States) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity ...
is from the 17th century, although it is thought to have been refitted in a later refurbishment.[
The Red House, on Frith Hill, was built in 1899 by the architect, Edwin Lutyens, for a retired housemaster of Charterhouse School. It is constructed of red brick in a ]Flemish bond
Flemish bond is a pattern of brickwork that is a common feature in Georgian architecture. The pattern features bricks laid lengthwise (''stretchers'') alternating with bricks laid with their shorter ends exposed (''headers'') within the same cou ...
with a plain tile roof and leaded-light windows. Its position, on a sloping hillside, required the front of the building to have two storeys, but the rear has four. The principal internal feature is the central, open-well staircase and the original decoration on the handrail is still visible. The Red House has been described as "an early seminal work by Lutyens".
Wyatt's Almshouses were built in 1622 for Richard Wyatt, the Master Carpenter of the Carpenters' Company in London. Wyatt stipulated that accommodation should be offered to ten poor men of the parishes of Godalming, Puttenham, Hambledon, Compton and Dunsfold. A chapel was also provided for the use of residents. The ten dwellings were converted into eight apartments in 1959 and new bungalows surrounding the original building were added in the 1960s.[
]
Parks and open spaces
Broadwater Park
The Broadwater Park is a mixed-use recreation ground to the northeast of Farncombe. For much of its history, the area was owned by the More Molyneux family of Loseley House and the first record of cricket being played there is from 1827. The estate, including the cricket ground, was sold in 1836 to the timber merchant, George Marshall, for the site of Broadwater House. The property remained in the Marshall family until the early 20th century, when it was bought by George Edward Price, a director of the Canadian firm, Price Brothers Ltd. During the First World War, the house was used to accommodate Belgian refugees[ and the lake was used as an ]ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...
by Canadian soldiers, who were billeted at Witley Camp.[
In 1936, the estate was purchased by Mr W. Hoptroff, a local builder, who in turn offered some of the land to the borough for use as a recreation area. In November of that year, an area of , including the cricket ground, were bought by P. C. Fletcher, the Mayor of Godalming, and presented to the town.][ In December 1938, an area of was designated a King George's Field. In 2022, the park is owned by the borough council and includes areas of woodland and grassland, a multi-use games area, football pitches and tennis courts.
]
Other open spaces
The Lammas Lands are a area of floodplain on the north bank of the River Wey between the town centre and Farncombe. From medieval times until the early 19th century, the area was managed as a hay meadow and, once the grass had been cut around Lammas Day (1 August), local residents were permitted to graze their cattle until Candlemas (1 February) the following year. These rights of common were extinguished in with the 1808 Act of Inclosure, but at least two of the dole stones, which formerly denoted individual plots of land, survive.[ Today the Lammas Lands are designated a Site of Nature Conservation Interest and are mostly owned by the borough council. A 1994 survey noted the presence of over 108 species of ]flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s, including black knapweed, meadow saxifrage, marsh marigold and water mint. Some 227 types of invertebrate were recorded in 2001, including populations of reed beetle on the banks of the Wey, whirligig beetle in Hell Ditch and click beetle
Elateridae or click beetles (or "typical click beetles" to distinguish them from the related families Cerophytidae and Eucnemidae, which are also capable of clicking) are a family (biology), family of beetles. Other names include elaters, sna ...
in areas with taller grasses.[
Holloway Hill Recreation Ground, originally known as Whitehart Field, was purchased by the Godalming Recreation Club Company in 1896. It has been used as a cricket field since before 1883 and, in 1885, sports being played there include football, quoits and tennis.][ During the First World War, the ground was dug up for allotments][ and in 1921 the town council bought the land from the company. Since June 2015, the ground has been protected by the charity Fields in Trust under their Queen Elizabeth II Fields scheme.
]
Notable people
:''See also alumni of Godalming Grammar School and List of notable Old Carthusians''
* Jonas Moore (16171679) mathematician, surveyor and ordnance officer died at Godalming
* John Balchen (16701744) Admiral of the White, Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
was born and lived in Godalming until he joined the navy at the age of 15
* James Oglethorpe
Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social refo ...
(16961785) army officer and founder of the Colony of Georgia was born in Godalming and lived at Westbrook Place
* Mary Toft (1763) convinced medical professionals that she had given birth to rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
s born, lived and died in Godalming
* Owen Manning (17211801) clergyman and historian of Surrey was vicar of Godalming from 1763 until his death
* George Barrett (17521821) actuary
An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require investment management, asset management, ...
lived in Godalming from 1816 until his death
* James Inskipp (17901868) artist lived for the latter part of his life in Catteshall Lane
* Joseph Dando (18061894) violinist and viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
player lived at Attwell Cottage, Peperharow Road from 1875 until his death
* Alfred Russel Wallace (18231913) biologist and critic lived in Godalming from 1881 to 1889
* Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
(18301878) cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er born, lived and died in Godalming
* Thomas Page (18501936) classicist and schoolmaster served for 30 years on Godalming Town Council, was a founder of Godalming Grammar School, died at his home on Frith Hill
* Philip Cardew (18511910) army officer in the Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
and pioneer of electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
died at Crownpits House, Godalming
* Ernest Irving (18781953) musical director and composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
born and lived in Godalming as a child
* George Mallory
George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English Mountaineering, mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and climbing partner An ...
(18861924) teacher and mountaineer lived at Frith Hill from 1910 until his death
* Jack Phillips (18871912) senior wireless operator on the was born in Godalming and lived in the town as a child[
* W. H. C. Romanis (18891972) surgeon and medical author was born in Godalming and spent his childhood in the town
* ]Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the ...
(18941963) writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
and philosopher
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
was born at Laleham, Peperharow Road and spent his childhood in Godalming
* Milicent Bagot (19072006) British intelligence officer lived at Jubilee Nursing Home from 2001 until her death
* Nick Clarke (19482006) broadcaster was born in the town
* Mick Mills (b. 1949) England football team captain at the 1982 World Cup born in Godalming
* Elspeth Beard (b. 1959) architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and motorcyclist lives and works in Godalming
* Matt Parker
Matthew Thomas Parker (born 22 December 1980) is an Australian recreational mathematics, recreational mathematician, author, comedian, YouTube personality and Science communication, science communicator based in the United Kingdom. His book ''H ...
(b. 1980) mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
, author
In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
and comedian
A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...
Notes
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External links
Godalming Town Council
Godalming Museum
www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Godalming and surrounding area
Godalming Weather Observations and Records
{{Authority control
Godalming
Towns in Surrey
Market towns in Surrey