Cycle Route Chertyes to Brighton

Guildford is a large town in Surrey in the South East of England. It has still retained much of its historical charm. A short walk up the cobbled high street shows many buildings which are hundreds of years old. The medieval castle was used by the King of England in the 1400s and because of this Guildford is the only royal town in Surrey.

Guildford grew up into a large town because of its location at roughly the half way point between England's main naval port at Portsmouth and the admiralty in Greenwich, London . People travelling by horse-drawn carriage between the two would stop at inns in Guildford (such as The Angel and The Lion) to swap horses over and to refresh themselves. With the advent of the steam train in the 19th century, Guildford was no longer needed for this purpose, and it fell into decline. But as more and more people started to commute into work in London in the early 20th century, Guildford became more and more rich and popular.

Guildford is the county town of Surrey, but not the administrative centre (that is Kingston upon Thames, which is actually in a London borough). It is the economic and cultural centre of the whole of West Surrey.

Although under 30 miles away from Central London Guildford has its own individuality and is not similar to boroughs in London or other commuter towns in Surrey. Guildford is a large town with all the amenities of a city.

See

• ⊙Abbot's Hospital, High Street. Built in 1619 by Guildfordian Archbishop of Canterbury George Abbot as a retirement home for the local elderly.
• ⊙Chestnuts, Castle Hill. Lewis Carroll, author, mathematician and photographer, Lewis Carroll (b1832) lived in Guildford until his death in 1898. Visit Lewis Caroll's house 'Chestnuts', on Castle Hill in the centre. See Guided Tours of Guildford.
• ⊙The Guildhall, High St. A marvellous Tudor/Stuart building with its overhanging 1683 clock. (updated Feb 2017)
• ⊙Guildford Museum, Quarry St, ☎ +1483 444751.
• ⊙The Spike Heritage Centre, Warren Road, GU1 3JH, ☎ +44 1483 598420. 19th-century workhouse used to house vagrants until 1960. This site has now been fully restored and is one of two similar sites in the UK.
• ⊙Guildford Castle and Grounds, Castle Street, GU1 3TU. Gardens open all year dawn - dusk, castle closed in winter, weekends only in spring & autumn, summer: daily 10AM-5PM. Medieval castle built to protect the town in the 1400s and one of Henry III's most luxurious residences. Conservation work revealed a 12th century first floor chamber which is now open to the public. Free entry into gardens, castle Adult £3. (updated Apr 2016)
• ⊙Guildford Cathedral, Stag Hill, GU2 7UP. Daily, all year round, 8:30AM-5:30PM; guided tours daily 9:40AM-4PM. A 1930s brick cathedral which was the first to be built on a new site in the south of England since the Reformation. The inside is more impressive than the outside. The cathedral was started in the 1930s, but it wasn't until 1961 that it was consecrated due to an interruption in construction due to World War II.  
• ⊙St Catherine's Chapel. Ruined chapel a short walk along the river wey from Guildford town centre.

St Augustine's Abbey or Chilworth Abbey, formerly Chilworth Friary, is a Benedictine abbey in Chilworth, Surrey. The building is Grade II listed was built in 1892. It was formerly a Franciscan friary and a novitiate for the order.

Friary

Construction

Construction of the friary started in 1890 and it was designed by the architect Frederick Walters. It was financed by a £7,000 bequest from Mary Anne Alliott who was the aunt of the founder of the friary, Fr Arthur Wells. On 18 June 1892 the friary and church was dedicated and consecrated by the Bishop of Southwark. The friary was built to serve as a novitiate for the Franciscans in Britain.

Developments

In 1915, an organ, built by Lewis & Co was installed. It was paid for by John Courage of Derryswood, Wonersh (owner of both Lewis & Co and Courage Brewery) and was done with permission from the architect.

Parish

In 1945, the parish of Holy Ghost Church was entrusted to the friary. It expanded and the friary also served a Mass centre in Gomshall , Our Lady of the Angels.

Abbey

In 2011, it was announced that the friars would leave Chilworth. The friars were distributed amongst the other Franciscan houses in Britain and the parish church of the Holy Ghost was closed. That year, St Augustine's Abbey in Ramsgate also closed and the Benedictine monks looked for a smaller property to move into. When Chilworth Friary became available, they agreed to move to the area and it became St Augustine's Abbey.