Alternative Guildford: a preparatory walk

This is a picture of the ruins of St Catherine's Chapel. Its history seems unclear. At the site, a plaque indicates that it may have been associated with the travellers of the Pilgrim's Way on their way to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas-a-Beckett, but more prosaically, it seems it was actually established in the early 14th century by Richard de Wauncey as a 'chapel-of-ease' to his parish church in Guildford.

I found elsewhere the romantic story of Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the love of his life, Alice. By the time he was 18, Stephen was living in Albury, a few miles from Guildford. Here he fell in love with Alice, and legend has it that the couple were strolling in the nearby woods when they were set upon by the infamous King John and his followers. There’s a problem with the story here, since John was, I understand, at the time only about 12 months old, and didn't come to the throne for another 30 years! But it's a good story. . .

John kidnapped Alice, and took her off to his hunting lodge at Tangley, near Guildford. Stephen followed the trail and set fire to the house in an attempt to rescue his sweetheart, but the girl fainted or was overcome by smoke. Thinking her dead, Stephen went off to become a monk. By the dawn of the 13th century, we're back on firmer ground. Not without reason, the idle and self-centred King John was deeply unpopular. He refused to accept Stephen Langton as the Pope's choice of Archbishop of Canterbury, provoking six years of conflict with Rome and the threat of a French invasion. By 1214 the King had capitulated, but he now faced a baronial revolt. Langton stepped in as mediator; he was prominent in drafting the Magna Carta, and was among the signatories at Runnymede in 1215. Meanwhile, Alice recovered from her ordeal and went on to become Abbess of St Catherine's in Guildford. Some years later, the couple were reunited after Mass at St Martha's Church near Guildford. But the Abbess was so overcome with emotion that she died in Stephen’s arms.

So it seems to me that there was at least some sort of church or abbey on the site prior to de Wauncey's efforts because indeed Alice was its Abbess.

This is Braboeuf Manor, formerly part of the Manor of Artington and the Manor of Godalming. It was the property of the same family for over 700 years, apparently a rare occurrence. The first mention of the manor is c.900 AD, when the manor was a possession of King Alfred the Great. In 1171, the Crown granted the Manor to Master David of London for his services as envoy to the Pope in Rome in the negotiations that followed the murder of Thomas-a-Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1559, the Manor was held by Agnes, daughter of Joan and Robert Kemp, who married John Wight of London. The Manor remained in the the hands of the Wight family from 1559 to 1914. Samuel Pepys called on his uncle and aunt, the Wights, on August 8th 1668. The manor was purchased by The College of Law in 1964, which still own it today.

Mount Cemetery lies to the North of these buildings at the top of the next of the rolling chalk hills. Right at the entrance to the cemetery is this tall folly, called Bookers Tower. It was commissioned by the mayor of Guildford, Charles Booker, in memory of his two deceased sons and was completed in 1839.


Booker's Tower was used by a Victorian scientist, John Rand Capron, in experiments involving lightning. Capron was an amateur scientist, actually a solicitor by profession. He had a particular interest in spectroscopy and did some work on the spectroscopic analysis of auroras. He used the top of Booker's Tower to construct a "corona" of platinum wires connected to his laboratory in Guildford for his lightning experiments. Lewis Carroll, author of “Alice in Wonderland” was buried in this cemetery and we’ll return to him later in the walk.

Farnham Road Hospital was built between 1863 and 1866, with the neo-Georgian porch added early in the 20th Century. It was designed by Edward Lower with advice from Florence Nightingale. It cost £17,000 to build and was dedicated to the memory of Prince Albert. Queen Victoria became a patron and donated 100 Guineas to the cost of construction. It is now a Grade 2 listed building.

Guildford Cathedral is situated on Stag Hill directly North of the hospital. The decision was taken to build the cathedral in 1928, and Edward Maufe was appointed as architect in 1933. After initial building works had been completed, construction was stopped during the war, and little progress was made for about 10 years afterwards because of a lack of money and materials. Public subscription in the form of a “Buy a brick” campaign eventually allowed construction of the nave to begin again in earnest in 1955. The cathedral was finally consecrated in May 1961, though construction was not completed until 1966. The statues on the west front were completed in 2005, and emphasis has now shifted to the development of the surrounding land.

The cathedral is built of brick sourced initially from Stag Hill clay itself, but ultimately from Beare Green near Cranleigh.

Writing in 1932, Sir Edward Maufe said: ‘The ideal has been to produce a design, definitely of our own time, yet in the line of the great English Cathedrals; to build anew on tradition, to rely on proportion, mass, volume and line rather than on elaboration and ornament.'

Pevsner described the building as 'sweet-tempered, undramatic Curvilinear Gothic', and that the interior was 'noble and subtle.'

On the day I was there, the Surrey University Symphony Orchestra was setting up to play Brahms' Requiem. Students dressed in tea-shirts and jeans were carrying these enormous instruments into the cathedral. Such a wonderful space for such magnificent music. I had to leave before the performance started.

Conscience money? Or just the location of Guildford as feeder town for commuters to the City!

The campus of the University of Surrey is situated adjacent to the cathedral grounds, on one side of Stag Hill. The university originated as Battersea Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1891, with a view to providing further education to the “poorer inhabitants” of London. It focussed mainly on technical subjects and was among the first to be designated a “College of Advanced Technology”. The college had outgrown its existing accommodation and acquired the Stag Hill green field site in 1965. The following year, the University of Surrey was established by Royal Charter and the move to Guildford was completed by 1970. It is now well recognised as one of the better universities in England, rising as high as 9th in the country in the Guardian ranking list, though in the rather strange world of English academia, its status is rather lower.

This is a statue of the famous mathematician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist, Alan Turing. It is in a prominent location at the university and one of the buildings of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences is named after him.

In particular, the university is well renowned in the world of space research.

Futuristic architecture in the Duke of Kent Building, home of the faculty of Health and Medical Science

Away from the university and down toward the town, but not before encountering the surrealistic world of artist Richard Farrington. At the entrance to a car park next to the Wey Navigation, he has displayed this locomotive on a height barrier. It is a reproduction of the Drummond 7, used extensively in the Southern network before the coming of diesel and electric trains. But on the train are all manner of animals, and these exist as wood carvings from dead trees along the flanks of the canal!

For instance, here is an antelope looking at a bird, or is it a rabbit? There was also a dragon-fly and a giant mostly buried underground with just his head, hands and arms sticking out!

Farrington celebrates his collection as "Tree Pirates 2008" and says that one of his aims is to make people smile. He believes that this work is no exception, "having a high level of 'grin factor' embedded into it."

Further along the Wey Navigation, as I approach Guildford town centre, so the canal facing warehouses become almost continuous. Once, as warehouses, they focussed on the canal, but now they have been gentrified and are filled with lawyers and accountants.

Meanwhile, Guildford High Street is completely overrun with shoppers. If this is the middle of a lethal recession, what will it be like in the next boom? Even the chain restaurants had queues out into the street, despite freezing temperatures!

 At last, some respite; Guildford Castle! It is thought to have been built by William the Conqueror, perhaps after 1086, because it doesn't appear in the Domesday Book. It was built as both a royal residence and a fortress, and has a colourful history, though it was never attacked.

King John raises his ugly head again, nevertheless, because in 1216 Prince Louis took possession of the castle during the first Barons' War against King John. Louis, who later became Louis VIII of France, also captured Winchester and soon controlled half of the English Kingdom, but just when it seemed he might accede to the English throne, King John died and the rebellious barons deserted Louis in favour of John's 9 year-old son, Henry III. Off went Louis back to France, never to trust the English again!

From Guildford Castle, the cathedral is clearly visible, dominating the horizon on Stag Hill

And to the South East, only just visible on the hill centre-right is St Catherine's Chapel, dragging together the features of this walk

Back at the castle, this is what remains of the King's Great Chamber, part of one of the most luxurious royal residences in England. Henry III lavished huge amounts of money on buildings and decorations here, and he stayed here often. Exchequer records show that the chamber was panelled in wood, there was glass in the windows and the ceiling was decorated with moons and stars. Henry's wife, Eleanor of Provence, was apparently a highly cultured woman with expensive tastes. I know the feeling. Perhaps that's why we live near here!

This narrow passage leads from the castle gate down to the Wey River below. It was apparently once an open sewer for detritus from the castle. It now leads shoppers away from the High Street to the car park!

From the sublime to the technical, this panel proudly displays the electricity being generated in a small hydro-electric generation plant associated with the Old Mill on the River Wey, next to a lock. It was generating 35kW as I passed by, enough to boil 35 mid-sized kettles simultaneously, but sadly not enough to prevent our looming energy crisis!

And so, back to Lewis Carroll, who, as I mentioned earlier, was buried up in Mount Cemetery. Down on the banks of the Wey, this statue, by Edwin Russell depicts the opening scene of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." That's Alice, reading a book and there goes the white rabbit up ahead!

On the Wey Navigation, heading for home. I was unsurprised to see, in the lee of the Olympics, a huge number of enthusiastic rowers on the water. What was surprising is that with a single exception in one boat, every single rower on the river was female!

In truth, a sign of the times....

After my right, royal day, I was suddenly greeted by the royalty of English breeds, a bull-dog. He is being admired by his Mum, and he doesn't look as if he is all that pleased at my incursion.

Moments later he was on his feet, rumbling towards me, only to place two very wet and muddy paws all over my lower extremities. He wasn't popular, but I suppose it was better than his teeth

And so, to end, a wintry still life on the canal, before heading back to the warmth and comfort of my car.....