Guildford was a small town in the Middle Ages. It is unlikely that the population ever rose above a thousand, and was probably nearer five hundred for most of the period. While this is small for a medieval county town - which might perhaps have two or three thousand inhabitants - it is perhaps about average for a medieval market town. At that time, only 5% of the population lived in towns. Although not incorporated until the end of the Middle Ages, Guildford was a borough by 1130 and enjoyed direct privileges from the king, like other boroughs. Henry III confirmed Guildford's status as the county town of Surrey in 1257, but the closeness of London probably did much to prevent the town from developing into a large regional centre, like other county towns. The original Saxon settlement was probably along Quarry Street. A planned town was laid out in the 10th century, to develop Guildford as a commercial and defensive centre.
The new plan used the important route from the south and west to London as the central street of the town, now the High Street. A bank and ditch enclosed land on either side of the street and continued over the river to include the ford (and probably a wooden bridge) within the defences. The earliest map of the borough in 1739 shows the boundary running south on the south side. It looks like a later extension, but may in fact be the original Saxon boundary. The land either side of the High Street was divided into long, narrow plots or tenements. This enabled a house to be built on each plot on the High Street itself - which was important if a shop was required - with a long strip of land running down to the ditch at the rear. Typically, a path or passageway would have run from the street to the ditch along one boundary of the plot. These passages were known locally as gates and those that belonged to taverns and inns in particular became public thoroughfares. Many survive today as features of the High Street: Angel Gate is perhaps the one that preserves the typical features best: the archway leading to a yard with a lane down to North Street beyond. (The boundary ditch soon came to be used as a thoroughfare itself.) Other now-vanished inns are commemorated in Swan Lane and Tunsgate. Milkhouse Gate is an example of a domestic gate.
One curious feature of the town plan is the absence of a market place as such. Until 1865 the weekly markets were held in the High Street, but this shows how old the plan is: it was developed before market places were deliberately created. In the Middle Ages the markets may have been held on the town waste between Quarry Street and the river. In the later Middle Ages a market cross was built in the middle of the street near the Angel. This sheltered the fish-sellers, and probably looked very much like those that survive at Winchester and Chichester. However, the Fish Cross was an obstacle to traffic and was pulled down at the end of the 16th century.
The borough consisted of three parishes: Holy Trinity and St.Mary's dividing up the main part around the High Street, and part of St.Nicholas parish across the river. (The part of St.Nicholas outside the borough is known as Artington.) The three churches could easily accommodate the entire population of the town and probably did so at Easter and other important festivals. Sadly, only St.Mary's survives much as it was in the Middle Ages: Holy Trinity and St.Nicholas have been rebuilt, although the family chapels at each preserve some medieval work. The Dominican Friary was founded in about 1275, on the site of a different friary founded in 1260. This is rather late for the first religious house in a county town, but indicates the small size of Guildford. There was a leper hospital dedicated to St.Thomas at the junction of London and Epsom roads: such hospitals were run on religious lines.
The houses in Guildford would have been timber-framed and tiled, because there was plenty of wood and clay nearby, though many of the High Street properties had chalk undercrofts in the late 13th century. A particularly fine one survives beneath 72, High Street, with vaulting springing from corbels carved in the shape of human faces. It is open to the public during the summer months. It is arranged as it may have been c.1300, and also has displays on medieval Guildford. A plainer undercroft, wrongly called The Crypt, exists under the Angel Hotel opposite. Both date from around 1300 and were built as shops. The owner would live above, or there may have been a separate shop on the ground floor above: undercrofts were a way of getting extra commercial space in a restricted town centre. They show that some Guildford merchants were wealthy enough to afford high-quality stone building.
There are references to Jews living in Guildford in the 13th century, before they were expelled in 1290. This also shows that Guildford must have been a prosperous trading centre, with a need for the banking services which Jews provided. The remains of a stone chamber below 54, High Street has been linked with the Jews. There is no definite evidence for this, but it is proof of wealth in 12th century Guildford. The town must have had a role in distributing the products of the Surrey glass, iron and pottery industries in the Middle Ages, and was certainly involved in the wool trade. The undercrofts also imply involvement in import and export trade.
Most of the burgesses (the inhabitants of the borough) came from local families. However, trade attracted some from much further afield. Towns were unhealthy places, and in the Black Death of 1348-9 perhaps a third or even a half of the population would have perished.
Towns were the allies of the king, islands of royal influence among the manorial estates of the lords. However, in Surrey the noble families had little impact. The Warennes and the Clares had property in the east of the county, but their main estates were outside Surrey. Both families died out in the early 14th century. The Warenne earls were entitled to a third of the profits of Guildford market tolls, but the local families who supplied the sheriffs probably had more influence in Guildford.
Guildford Museum, Castle Arch, Guildford, Surrey
(01483) 444750
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