The town has existed since Saxon times (see also Godalming (hundred)), and probably earlier. It is mentioned in the will of King Alfred the Great, and the name itself has Saxon origins, 'Godhelms Ingus' roughly translated as “the family of godhelm”, and probably referring to one of the first lords of the manor.
Godalming grew in size because its location is roughly half-way between Portsmouth and London, which encouraged traders to set up stalls and inns for travellers to buy from and rest in.
Godalming appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Godelminge. It was held by William the Conqueror. Its domesday assets were: 2 churches (both held by Ranulf Flambard) worth 12s, 3 mills worth £2 1s 8d, 25 ploughs, 40 acres (16 ha) of meadow, woodland worth 103 hogs. It rendered £34.[1] Its population was roughly 400 people. At the time, its manor belonged to the King, but a few hundred years later, ownership transferred to the Bishop of Salisbury, under a charter granted by King Edward I of England.
1300–1800
In the year 1300, the town was granted the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair. Its major industry at the time was woollencloth, which contributed to Godalming’s prosperity over the next few centuries, until a sudden decline in the 17th century. Instead, its people applied their skills to the latest knitting and weaving technology and began producing stockings in a variety of materials, and later to leatherwork.
A willingness to adapt, and move from one industry to another meant that Godalming continued to thrive. For example, papermaking was adopted in the 17th century, and paper was still manufactured there in the 20th century. The quarrying of Bargate stone also provided an important source of income, as did passing trade - Godalming was a popular stopping point for stagecoaches and the Mail coach between Portsmouth and London. In 1764, trade received an additional boost when early canalisation of the river took place, linking the town to Guildford, and from there to the River Thames and London on the Wey and Godalming Navigations.
In 1726 a Godalming maidservant called Mary Toft hoaxed the town into believing that she had given birth to rabbits. The foremost doctors of the day came to witness the freak event and for a brief time the story caused a national sensation. Eventually Mary was found out after a porter was caught smuggling a dead rabbit into her chamber, she confessed to inserting at least 16 rabbits into herself and faking their birth.
From 1800
So successful was Godalming, that in the early 19th century it was considerably larger than today’s county town of Guildford, and by 1851 the population had passed 6,500. Already, it was becoming a popular residence for commuters, for it was connected to London by railway two years earlier, in 1849, and to Portsmouth in 1859. Today the town is served by Godalming railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line. The first mayor of Godalming was Henry Marshall who also founded the firm of Marshalls Solicitors in 1831.
On 14 August 1818, the town was the site of the dual public hanging of George Chennell and William Chalcraft, convicted of murdering George Chennell the elder (father of one prisoner, and master of Chalcraft) and Elizabeth Wilson, his housekeeper.[2] This is considered to be the last public execution in England.
The current building dates back to 1814 and replaced the medieval "Old Market House" that had occupied the site since the early Middle Ages. It was in this Market House (and its predecessors) that the local Hundred Court met and discussed matters of local importance for more than a thousand years. The upstairs rooms continued to be used for civic gatherings until 1908. The Pepperpot later housed the town museum, and continues to be used as a public function room. The arched area beneath the building, at street level, has been used as a marketplace.[3]
Other significant buildings in the town include Edwin Lutyens's Red House, and a significant English public school, Charterhouse stands about a mile from the town, on the top of Charterhouse Hill. Charterhouse won the FA Cup as the Old Carthusians in 1880 and 1881.
Godalming came to world attention in September 1881, when it became the first town in the world to have installed a public electricity supply, which made electricity available to consumers. It was Calder & Barnet who installed a SiemensACAlternator and dynamo which were powered by a waterwheel, located at Westbrook Mill, on the river Wey. There were a number of supply cables that fed seven arc lights and 34 Swan incandescent lights, some of which were laid in the gutters. Floods in late 1881 caused problems and in the end Calder & Barnet withdrew from the contract. It was taken over by Siemens. Under Siemens the supply system grew and a number of technical problems were solved. But later on in 1884 the whole town reverted back to gas lighting as Siemens failed to tender for a contract to light the town. This was due to a survey he undertook in the town that failed to provide adequate support to make the business viable, and Siemens had lost money on the scheme in the early years, but was prepared to stay on to gain experience. Electricity returned to the town in 1904.
Godalming railway station is on the Portsmouth Direct Line between London (Waterloo) and Portsmouth, and is served by South West Trains.[4] The station has been recognised for its floral decorations including 10 hanging baskets.[5] The next stations up and down the line are at Farncombe and Milford which in many respects (for example transport and education) are effectively suburbs of Godalming. The town is also served by a bus network connecting the town centre with the main residential areas.
Road
Roads running through, or close to, Godalming are:[6][7]
A community transport service is provided by "Hoppa". Chaired through its difficult early days by Brian Richards,[8] Waverley Hoppa has burgeoned into a low priced provider of minibus and MPV personalised transport for the elderly, the disabled, the young and others for whom simply getting from where they are to where they want to be is a problem.
People live in the town centre and various suburbs; to the east there is Catteshall; to the west there is Aaron's Hill and Ockford Ridge; to the north there is Farncombe, Charterhouse and Frith Hill; and to the south there is Holloway Hill, Busbridge and Crownpits. Sometimes Milford is classed as a suburb of Godalming.
Education
Educational establishments in or near Godalming area include:
Charterhouse School is a famous[citation needed] public boarding school founded in 1611 and located in Godalming from 1872.[10] Although the 6th form is mixed (2:1 boys:girls), lower forms are boys only.[11]
Prior's Field School is an independent private girls boarding school founded at the beginning of the 20th century by Julia Huxley.[12] There are 333 pupils of which about 40% are boarders (weekly or termly);
St Hilary's School is an independent preparatory school for boys 2.5 - 7 (around 90) and girls 2.5 - 11 (around 200).[13]
State 6th form colleges
Godalming College is in the Holloway Hill area of Godalming. Founded in 1975 on the campus of Godalming Grammar School, it caters for sixteen to nineteen years olds.[14] Awarded Beacon status in 2006, it was the best performing state school for AS/A levels in the Surrey area in 2004; its Ofsted report for 2005 graded the college as "outstanding" in six of the seven key areas ("good" in the 7th).[15]
State secondary schools
Numbers in brackets indicate the % of pupils achieving 5 A-C GCSEs in total and then including the key subjects of maths and English.[16]
Broadwater School is in the Farncombe area of Godalming, caters for young people from 11 to 16 and has no 6th form. (42, 29)
Rodborough Technology College is in the village of Milford on the outskirts of Godalming, Rake Lane. It caters for young people from 11 to 16 and has no 6th form.(64, 59).
State primary schools (includes grant aided)
All primary schools in Godalming are coeducational. Infant schools cover the age range 4–7, junior schools cover 8–11.
The figures shown in brackets are VA value added a measure of how pupils' performance has improved, and AGG aggregate score the sum of the percentages of pupils achieving the expected levels in English, maths and science (thus the maximum possible is 300).[17]
Loseley Fields Primary School (VA 98.9, AGG 195) is in the village of Binscombe, on the outskirts of the Farncombe side of Godalming.
Busbridge C of E Aided Junior School was built over 100 years ago by members of nearby Busbridge Church and extensive links between the two have continued to this day. It admits 60 children each year with preference being given to Christians and in particular to children of Busbridge/Hambledon church members. (VA 100.9, AGG 279)
Busbridge County Infants School is in Hambledon Road Godalming. It caters for around 150 children (2007)[18]
Chandler C of E Junior School is in the Witley area and caters for around 330 children
Godalming Junior School is in the Farncombe area of Godalming.[19] It has 230 children in 8 classes (four per year). The Ofsted report for 2005 graded the school as at least satisfactory in all four of the new categories.[20] (VA 100.6, AGG 275)
Milford School is an infant school situated in the centre of the village of Milford, on the outskirts of Godalming. [23]
St Edmunds Catholic Primary School is a voluntary aided parish school covering both primary and junior age ranges (4–11); it is linked to both St Edmund's Church in Godalming and to St Joseph's Church in Milford. The 2005 Ofsted report described it as "a good school with a well deserved reputation of providing a good standard of education".[22](VA 100.1, AGG 282)
Green Oak C of E Primary School, formerly St Mark's, currently covers just the first two year groups but will expand by a year group annually, it is in the Ockford Ridge area of Godalming.[23]
Godalming Angling Society[25] founded in 1881, with fishing rights to 6 lakes and the River Wey from Lower Eashing to Guildford.
Godalming Town F. C. currently play in the Ryman Division One South, level 8 of English football.[26] They were formed in 1971 and play their home games at Wey Court, Meadrow.
Cricket has been played in Godalming since at least 1767; Godalming Cricket Club now plays at the Holloway Hill Recreation Ground.
Guildford Rugby Club (formed in 2002 following the merger of Guildford & Godalming RFC and Old Guildfordians RFC) plays in the London 2 South West league at the Broadwater Sports Club in Godalming.
Godalming Bowls Club play at the Holloway Recreation Ground.
Busbridge Duplicate Bridge Club [24] meets at the Busbridge Village Hall on three evenings a week
Godalming Bridge Club meets on Monday afternoons at the Milford Village Hall
Waverley Bridge Partnership (owned by Brian Richards and Rosemary Bayley) has two clubs:
Holloway Hill Bridge Club meets on Tuesday afternoons at the Holloway Hill Recreation Ground pavilion
Chapel Lane Bridge Club meets at the Clocktower, Milford on three evenings a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays for duplicate and Wednesdays as a workshop
Bridge lessons, on behalf of the partnership, are given by Iain Ure at the Holloway Hill pavilion on Mondays
Theatre
Godalming Theatre Group is an amateur theatre company in Godalming. It performs three productions a year at the Ben Travers Theatre, Charterhouse School, Godalming: a spring musical, autumn drama or comedy, and a Christmas pantomime or show. It also runs a youth theatre group.[27]
Community centres
The "Denningberg Centre for the Elderly" is named after Danny Denningberg (b.1923) a local politician recently honoured with the Honorary Freedom of the Borough of [[Waverley|Waverley Borough Council. Denningberg was a community activist and fund raiser who served as a councillor on Godalming Borough Council in 1954 and then again from 1963 continuously through the formation of Waverley until 2003 when he retired. Denningberg had also been Mayor of Godalming and Mayor of Waverley.
The "Wilfrid Noyce Community Centre" in Godalming is named after Wilfrid Noyce (1917–1962), a master at Charterhouse and a mountaineer who was on the expedition that made the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953.[28]
The Clocktower, or Milford and Villages Day Centre, is a day centre for people over 50. The money to build it in 1997 was raised entirely from charitable donations and local fundraising.[29]
Godalming is also home to the The National Autistic Society resource centre for the south east.
And also NAS horizons day centre.
Town lottery
The Godalming Town Lottery "GOLO" was launched in Godalming on the 1st November 2008, by the Go-Godalming Association, a member of the Lotteries Council. Tickets, sold at local shops and pubs, cost £1 and the draw takes place on the last Saturday of every month. The first one was on Godalming Town Day, 29 November 2008, at the Pepperpot. It is considered to be the first town lottery of its kind. There are 17 prizes, ranging from £500 to £10. Profits are donated to local causes, beginning with the Bandstand roof fund. GOLO is a community lottery for the Godalming Community.[30]
Shopping
In a charter dated 7 June 1300, King Edward I granted the Bishop of Salisbury the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair in the town.[citation needed] Godalming remains a typical English market town, with a market every Friday and a selection of independent and national retailers selling clothing for all ages, shoes, watches, jewellery, fine art, books, gifts, stationery, music, guitars, computers, photography, pine furniture, antiques, flowers, hardware, food of all sorts, and household goods. In addition there are the ubiquitous banks, building societies, estate agents, travel agents, solicitors, accountants, employment agencies and charity shops. There are several pubs, restaurants and cafes, occasional visiting French and Italian markets, and an annual Godalming Food Festival.
Media
The comic novel The Return of Reginald Perrin, by David Nobbs, contains the following footnote: "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 novel was the second in a trilogy, adapted to become a hit TV series: The Return of Reginald Perrin.
Due to its typically English appearance, attractive shop fronts and cobbled streets, the town has often been used as a backdrop for the shooting of various films and television programmes. In February 2006, High Street and Church Street, which runs from the Pepperpot to the parish church, was used in the production of The Holiday.
Numerous notable people were born in the town including: James Oglethorpe (born 1696) founder of the colony of Georgia; Julius Caesar (born 1830), cricketer; Aldous Huxley (born 1894), writer; Nick Clarke (born 1948), radio journalist and presenter; and Mick Mills (born 1949), footballer.
The radio operator of RMS Titanic, Jack Phillips, was born and lived in Godalming. He is famed for remaining at his post, sending a distress call, until the ship sank completely.[31] There are several articles of remembrance around the town, including a section of Godalming Museum, a memorial fountain, cloister and garden walk near the church (the largest Titanic memorial in the world), and a Wetherspoons pub named in his honour.
The architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, began work in 1896 on a house at Munstead Wood, Godalming for the garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll. She died in 1932 and is buried in the churchyard of St. John the Baptist, Busbridge, Godalming next to her brother.
In the 1900s George Mallory,The man who almost went to the peak of everest lived here after marriage ,before the fatal accident on the everest during his third expedition to the mountain.
Actor Sam Worthington was born in Godalming in the late 1970s, before moving to Australia at a young age.
Significant people currently living in the town include the actress Rachel Hurd-Wood, Chelsea footballer Ashley Cole and former wife Cheryl Cole and football pundit Alan Hansen.
Paul Merrett, a famous chef who has appeared several times on British TV, was a pupil at Rodborough.[32]
