The town of Godalming is situated among some of the finest countryside
in southern England. Its narrow attractive streets, lined with many
ancient and historic buildings, lie on well drained land above the
meadows of the River Wey. Beautiful wooded hills rise steeply all
around, forming a backcloth, which greatly enhances the rural setting
of the town.
The Saxon settlement of Godalming, the name meaning “of the
family or clan of Godhelm”, was first recorded in the will
of King Alfred the Great of Wessex, who died in AD 899. Godhelm
and his people had undoubtedly selected this ideal site some two
hundred years before Alfred’s time yet even today, twelve
hundred years later, the inhabitants of the town are called “Godhelmians”.
William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book of 1086 records a thriving
community with three watermills. Later the number of mills in the
area increased to eight and they played an important part in the
industrial growth and prosperity of the town.
In the thirteenth century Godalming became the property of the See
of Salisbury. In a charter dated the 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. The market had developed into a small but
active cattle market by the late seventeenth century and later a
good trade was also conducted in corn. However, it was not as a
traditional agricultural market town that Godalming found prosperity.
In that role it was always overshadowed by Guildford to the north
and Farnham to the west and for many centuries the town’s
economy was based on a variety of industries.
From medieval times Godalming developed as a centre for the manufacture
of woollen cloth. The prosperity of the industry reached its peak
during the reign of Elizabeth I and, on the 25 January 1575, the
Queen granted the town borough status. The Arms of Godalming, granted
in 1893, incorporate the woolsack to indicate that this was a major
cloth town. Godalming remained an independent borough until April
1974, when it became part of the newly created Waverley District.
Today Waverley Borough Council’s main offices are situated
at The Burys to the rear of Bridge Street.
When the cloth industry declined in the 17th century the town switched
to the knitting of stockings in wool, silk and later also cotton,
on knitting frames invented by William Lee in the late 16th century.
Later a great variety of other knitted goods were produced, especially
following the opening of the “Fleecy and Segovia Hosiery Manufactory”
in the town in 1788. For generations the town has been famous for
the quality of its knitted garments.
Tanning, leatherworking and related industries had early beginnings
in Godalming and continued here on a substantial scale until the
1950s. There were several large tanneries and leatherworks particularly
in Mill Lane and at Westbrook. It was a dynamo at Westbrook Mills,
which supplied the power for the world’s first public electricity
supply system, which was established at Godalming in 1881.
The town was also famous for the manufacture of paper but the last
paper mill, at Catteshall, ceased production in 1928. Until the
Second World War Godalming was the centre for the quarrying of vast
amounts of Bargate Stone from the surrounding hills. The stone was
used extensively in the construction of many of the town’s
buildings, including the Parish Church.
It was also much-used in adjacent towns and villages and even transported
as far afield as the Midlands. Charterhouse, which stands prominently
to the north of the town, was built mainly of Bargate Stone in 1872,
when the famous school moved here from London. During the present
century much of the stone was crushed into chippings for use as
road metalling, but the industry has ceased and there are now no
quarries open.
Godalming’s position on the main route to Portsmouth also
brought wealth to many of its inhabitants. In the heyday of coaching
many of the town’s inns, such as The King’s Arms and
The Red Lion were recognised as among the best along the Portsmouth
Road.
Trade in Godalming was greatly enhanced when, in the spring of 1764,
the Godalming Navigation was opened, connecting the town to the
already existing Wey Navigation at Guildford. The Wharf became a
hive of activity as bulk goods such as timber were loaded on to
barges there. Although this commercial trade has now ended, Godalming
Town Bridge is today the most southerly navigable point on the main
canal and river network of England and is very popular with users
of pleasure craft.
The railway reached Godalming in 1849 and in 1859 the line through
to Havant was opened. This gave a direct route from London to Portsmouth
and soon attracted the first “commuters”. As a result,
many pleasant residential areas have been developed around Godalming
during the last 155 years. However, the town has lost none of its
rare character, now further improved by the opening of the Relief
Road, which has removed most of the traffic from its narrow streets.
The recently completed town centre enhancement scheme has also done
much to emphasise the attractiveness of this ancient town.
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