Guilford in the olden time; side-lights on the history of a quaint old town

Preface

'T*HE following pages do not pretend to contain a **• History of Guildford, nor to afford a perfect Guide to the town.

The long-projected History of the place is not yet written ; and, although the author of this book has for many years hoped to accomplish this task, yet at present it is not possible for him to attempt a work of such large size and serious importance as a complete history of his birthplace would involve.

This book does not also compete with the popular guides to the town, and it will be found that it does not contain the items of detailed information that such a book would require, for there is nothing in it as to modern dwellings, the Post Office, the railway station, or the hotels of the place.

It may best be regarded as a series of essays on subjects concerning the town, that are but little understood by the general resident, side-lights on its history, affording, it is believed, some interesting information as to Guildford in the past, and some ideas as to the future.

To the casual visitor, as well as to the resident in the place, it is commended, inasmuch as it contains much information that can be gleaned from no other work — the result of long and patient investigation — and it will assist to a better understanding of the old town and its buildings. To the student it will, perchance, be found of some interest also, although not specially prepared for the man of high antiquarian attainments ; and its aim has been not so much to narrate the story of the sights seen by every visitor as to tell of the buildings that have now vi PREFACE

perished, of habits and worthies of past generations, and of the relics of the past that still remain to enlighten the resident as to the days of long ago.

The author desires to express his acknowledgment to the Editors of the Surrey Times and the Surrey Advertiser for the permission so kindly afforded him of reprinting certain articles (now more or less amended and modified) that have appeared in past years in their journals, and also to many friends who have greatly aided him in the compilation of these pages, notably Mr. C. J. Barlow, Dr. J. Willis Clark, Mr. G. R. Dennis, Mr. H. J. Gill, Mr. F. S. Miller, Mr. Ralph Nevill, Mr. Philip Palmer, the Rev. H. R. Ware, Mr. David Williamson, Mrs. Butler, and the Misses Russell.

NOTE AS TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS

TV/TANY of the illustrations in this book are taken **■ from water-colours of Old Guildford now in the possession of Mrs. Butler, of The Firs, Guildford. In this lady's possession there is a wonderful series of sketches made by various artists, and purchased from time to time by her ancestors. The author is indebted to her for permission to reproduce the Old Post Office, the Bridge, the Interior and Exterior of St. Nicholas' Church, the Crypt and its Details, the Coach Office, the Jolly Butcher Inn, the Friary (two views) and its Porch, the Interior of St. Mary's Church, and Mr. Martyr's House.

For the sketch of the old cottage where Abbot was born, which stood on land now occupied by Messrs. Crooke's brewery, he has to thank Mr. Heather. For the use of the drawings of the interior and exterior of St. Thomas's Hospital he expresses grateful thanks to the Misses Russell. These ladies are descendants of that ancient family whose attachment to Guildford has always been so sincere, and to whom lovers of the old town and its historians are so warmly grateful for the histories they compiled, the sketches they prepared, and the thousand and one art treasures of archaeological importance they preserved.

The view of the Grammar School is from a photograph taken by an Old Boy, and the portrait of Dr. Merriman is given at the request of many Old Boys, who unite with the author in claiming him as its greatest and best Head Master, and who are grateful for innumerable benefits they owe to his excellent instruction, and his firm but judicious training during the years in which they were his scholars.

viii NOTE AS TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS

The illustration of Guildford during the Election riots is reproduced by kind permission of Sir William Ingram, that of the High Street, with its signs, is taken from a water colour drawing by an unknown hand, and the portrait of Archbishop Abbot is from the original oil painting in the possession of the author.

The photographs of the Town Plate and of the Council Chamber are by Mr. W. Shawcross, of Guildford.

All the remaining illustrations — the views of the Town and Cock Pit, the Traders' Tokens, the Handbills, the Playing Card, the Theatre Bill, the Telegraph Form, and the Race Card — are from the author's own collection ; but to all those persons for whose assistance he is indebted he tenders a very hearty expression of his thanks.

Contents

PAGE

Chapter I. — Some Notes on the Origin and History of Guildford i

II. — The Government of the Town, the Town Hall, the Corporation Arms, Plate and Insignia of Office io

III. — Guildford Money 42

IV. — The Dominican Friary 65

V. — The Grammar School, its Chained Library, and the Earliest Mention of Cricket 90

VI. — The Town Churches i i i

VII. — The Two Ancient Crypts in the

High Street 131

VIII. — The Castle and the Caverns 140

IX. — Abbot's Hospital, and the Wool

Trade 148

X. — Guildford Books 159

XI. — The Guildford c Friends ' and their History : a Glance at the Days of Persecution 168

XII. — Elections and Riots 184 x CONTENTS

PAGE

XIII. — The Guildford Institute and its

History 200

XIV. — Guildford Fifty Years Ago 207

XV. — St. Thomas's Hospital 220

XVI. — The Guildford Sword 223

XVII. — The ( Daughter' Town of Guilford' in the United States 230

Appendix — (a) Will of Robert Beckingham, Founder of the Grammar School, (b) Will of Elizabeth Beckingham, his wife, (c) Abstract of the Will ot Thomas Polsted. (d) The original Foundation Deed of the Grammar School 241

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The High Street of Guildford, circa 1730,

from a water colour drawing The South-West Prospect of Guildford,

I73^ifrom tfie engraving by Buck The Town Bridge, 1822, from a water

colour drawing by Hassell The Interior of the Council Chamber in

the Town Hall, 1895, from a photo-

graph by W. Shawcross The Corporation Plate, from a photograph

by W. Shawcross The Borough of Guildford in ^739y from

the engraved Ichnography The Town Token The Token of Simon Crane .

The Tokens of Charles Hanby, John

King, Edward Lee .

The Tokens of Henry Lee, Nicholas

Lintott

The Token of John May

The Token of Abdiah Martin

The Token of Joseph Netles

The Token of John Remnant

The Token of Daniell Sarlle .

The Token of John Smallpeece

The Token of James Snelling

The Token of Thomas Wilmot

The Postman's Token .

The Friary, circa iJ0$y from a water colou

drawing said to have been done for the Colwall Family .

Facing 4

„ 18 22

>j

24 40

47 48

59 61

Facing 84 xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

TAGt

The Porch of the Friary, 1816, from a

water colour drawing . . . Facing 86

The Friary in 1816, when used as Cavalry

Barracks, from a water colour drawing „ 88

The Back of the Grammar School, before Restoration, from a photograph taken in the Garden in 1880 „ 102

The Great Head Master, Rev. H. G.

Merriman, D.D., 1 823-1 887, Head Master of the Grammar School, 1859- 1874 ....... 104

The North-West Prospect of Guildford, 1759, from the engraving by John Russell . . . . . . ,,114

Exterior of St. Nicholas' Church, 1834,

from a water colour drawing . . „ 120

Interior of St. Nicholas' Church, 1827, from

a water colour drawing by Hassell . „ 122

Interior of St. Mary's Church, 1827, from

a water colour drawing by Hassell . ,,126

The North Crypt under the Angel Inn, circa 1 840, from a water colour drawing by H. Prosser . . . . . ,,132

Details of the South Crypt under the Savings' Bank, 1838, from a water colour drawing by H. Prosser . . „ 136

Ancient Monastic Key found on the site of the ' Friary Fyshe Crosse,' opposite to the two Crypts, and believed to belong to one of them .

Quaint Old Playing Card found in the Castle ......

General View of Guildford, circa 1690, from an engraving in the c Royal Magazine '......

5>

Facing

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xm

The Cottage where Archbishop Abbot

was born, from a water colour drawing,

circa 1834 ....

George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury

from the original painting, circa 1 6 1 8

by Cornells Janssens .

Guildford High Street in an Election Riot

from an old print The Stage-Coach Office, North Street

IjSOyfrom a water colour drawing The Post Office, corner of Swan Lane

1840, from a water colour drawing by

H. Prosser .

Receipt for the First Telegram sent from

Guildford ....

Old Theatre Bill ....

The Cock Pit, from a sketch .

One of the last Race Cards issued at

Guildford ....

A Guildford Handbill .

Trade Card of the noted Gingerbread

The Jolly Butcher Inn, Black Horse Lane

(now Chapel Street), 1839, from a

water colour drawing Mr. Martyr's House, now 25, High Street,

from a water colour drawing by H.

Prosser, 1789 Exterior of the Hospital of St. Thomas,

showing also the Maypole, March

15, Ijqi, from a water colour drawing by J, Russell, R.J.

Interior of the Hospital of St. Thomas,

March 15, ljqi, from a water colour

drawing by J. Russell, R.J.

TAGl

Facing 148

„ 212

Facing 2 I 8

II II

»! 224.

Chapter I

SOME NOTES ON THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF GUILDFORD

' I *HERE has been a good deal of discussion as to the -*■ meaning of the word Guildford, and the usual explanation that has been given connects it with the existence of an ancient trade guild governing the place, and with a ford over the river Wey running at the foot of the High Street.

There have been other explanations of the meaning Df the word, and one writer has suggested that it was Driginally Gavelford, and that it took its name from a little island or heap of sand dividing the stream of the river Wey into two branches here. It is probable, however, that neither of these explanations is the accurate 3ne, and it is more likely that the town has derived its lame from an ancient name for the river.

It seems to be possible that the river was at one time :alled the Gil or the Guilou, and that the town took its lame from that. Mr. Ralph Nevill, the latest writer >vrio has considered this somewhat difficult question, has :arefully worked out in volume xvii. of the Surrey Archaeological Society's proceedings his theory as to the origin of the name, and it is probable that this theory s the correct one. He points out that there was a 'iver Guilou now called the Wiley in the time of King Alfred, and it seems possible that our river may have Dome the same name, and that the change of the place lame from Gil or Guilou to Wey may have taken place n connection with the existence of the well-known road which passes over the river, and which was known as the Ancient Way, and later on as the Pilgrims' Way.

The town must have had a name long before it had a guild, but, as we shall see later on, the story of its guild is very closely interwoven with its history. The earliest reference to the town occurs in the will of King Alfred, a.d. 900, and he bequeathed it to Ethelwald his nephew, on whose rebellion or death, which happened about five years afterwards, it reverted to the Crown. It was royal demesne at the time of the Norman Con-' quest, and is mentioned in Domesday Book, but, although , there must certainly have been a church in Gildeford at that time, no such building is referred to in the record.

Previous to the time of Ethelwald, it would seem, probable that the town was part of the personal estate of the Anglo-Saxon monarch, for, had it belonged to the j Crown, it could hardly have been the object of a j testamentary gift.

The only important historical event connected with the town in Anglo-Saxon times is the massacre of the Danes by Godwin Earl of Kent, which is said to have taken place at Gild Down, near Gildeford, in th< eleventh century.

It would seem probable that the original hamlet con stituting the town was clustered round the banks of th< J river, especially on the west side of it, and part of tha ' which is now known as St. Nicholas' parish probabl represents the original Gildeford.

On the other side of the river were the Castle and a! its outlying buildings, and the town on that side at firsl probably consisted of the residences of those who wer I attached to the Castle or tenants of it.

The mound on which the Castle keep now stanc was in all probability an Anglo-Saxon fortified hil.l surrounded by a ditch. Whether or not it had an 1

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF GUILDFORD 3

connection with Roman work is difficult to decide but some very fine Roman coins (Sesterii) have been found just outside the present keep, and also some remains both of glass and pottery distinctly Roman in their origin. Several of these coins are in the possession of the writer. Very probably the mound was not

• wholly artificial, but partly natural, and strengthened by artificial earth-works. It has been pointed out by Mr.

■ Maiden that it was hardly possible to build a solid Norman keep upon the top of a mound that was wholly artificial, as the weight would have been too great for the

■ insecure foundation. The keep was probablv erected in the time of Henry II., but part of the' outlying portions of the Castle may have been of an even earlier date.

Not very far from the keep stands the tower of St. 5 Mary's Church, by far the oldest part of that structure, and going back most certainly to the eleventh century, 1 if not to a far more remote period.

As has been pointed out by Mr. Ware, this tower is

! the work of Englishmen, and not of the French masons

rwho came over with William the Conqueror, but

whether it preceded the Conquest, or was erected by

• Saxon masons after that time, is not easy to determine lit seems probable that it is the oldest building in Guildford, and that, if any church was originally attached to it, such a building was of wattle or of timber, and not of stone. The presence of the two windows in its

'north and south walls, with their characteristic Saxon double splay, proves that this tower was lighted from

'the open air long before any other part of the church was built.

The earliest known church of St. Nicholas on the west side of the river is said to have had a round tower, and this tower is described in one place as of immemorial antiquity. It is just possible, therefore, that in amongst the little cottages which nestled at the foot of the river, and which constituted the old town, there may have been an Anglo-Saxon church on the site now occupied by St. Nicholas' Church.

Certain it is that in the twelfth century, on Feb. 3rd, the festival of St. Blaise (the patron saint of the town as the patron of wool-combers), St. Nicholas' was considered to be the church of the guild, and ' at the church nigh unto the river, where the fulling took place ' the Gild-Merchant made its corporate communion. Probably the names Bury Street, Bury Fields and Bury Lane have their origin in the existence near this spot of the ancient borough of Gildeford.

Outside the Castle walls, at the extreme eastern end of the High Street, there must have grown up a small community of traders, who had settled down under the shelter of the fortress. For them also a place of worship was necessary, but we have no reference respecting Holy Trinity Church prior to the thirteenth century, when the advowson of the parish was given to the Priory of Merton by William Testard, Lord of the Manor of Poyle, who died about 1230. Two hundred and fifty years later we have the record of a chantry founded in this church.

It will be seen, therefore, that the town originally consisted of three distinct settlements ; the Castle, with all its outlying buildings, covering several acres ot ground, and occupying the rising land above the river, with its keep standing on the great mound in the centre and dominating the place ; the little cluster of cottages round by the river, in which in all probability the woo and cloth trade, which gave Guildford a later importance originally commenced ; and the trading community at the east end outside the Castle walls.

-.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF GUILDFORD <;

In the will of John Abbot, 1654, he bequeathed 20s. to the poor of the upper parish in Gildeford, the same amount to the poor of the middle parish, and 10s. to the poor of the lower parish, and these titles for the three parishes are still in use, and probably have reference to the three-fold history of the place.

The earliest houses now remaining in the centre ot the High Street were probably built from such portions of the Castle as were gradually destroyed, and from the chalk excavated from the quarries in which Henry III. kept the wine produced from the vineyards on his estates in Gascony and Poitou. The order is still in existence which he issued to the Sheriff of Surrey, who was probably his agent, in the thirty-fourth year of his reign, to sell forthwith the King's wines that were at Gildeford, to permit no others to be sold in Surrey until these were disposed of, and to pay the proceeds of the sale into the King's wardrobe account.

In the time of the Conqueror a good deal of the land in Gildeford was granted by him to Robert Testard, and his family is said to have been responsible for the erection of the part of St. Mary's Church which is later than the tower, and the original church of Holy Trinity.

Thomas de la Puile, who gives his name to the Poyle Estate, the Poyle Charity, and Pewley Hill, was in possession of the land in the time of Henry III., and his family and the Testards appear to have been the chief owners under the Crown in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

The only other buildings of really mediaeval date which the town contains beside the Castle and St. Mary's Church are the two crypts in the centre of the High Street, and to all these three buildings fuller reference will presently be made.

It has already been pointed out that the town of

6 GUILDFORD IN THE OLDEN TIM]

Gildeford was royal estate, but the only evidence that w( have as to the residence of Anglo-Saxon monarchs h Gildeford consists in the coins which were struck in th< place, and which bear the names of Ethelred II., Cnut, Harthacnut, and Harold II. The same series extend* also to William I. and William II., but the earliest monarch of the Norman line who we know for certain lived at Guildford was Henry II., who, shortly after his first coronation, which was on the 20th of December, 1 154, enclosed a considerable tract of land on the north side of Gildeford Down, and converted it into a park.

Here he kept Christmas in 11 86, probably residing at his palace in the park rather than at the Castle, although it is quite possible that the mansion house in the park was not erected until the time of Henry III.

Here it was also that he gave audience to the two Legates sent by Pope Urban III. to assist at the investiture of Prince John with the kingdom of Ireland, and here also it was that the Prior and Convent of St. Swithin in Winchester presented their complaint against their Bishop, who had deprived them of three dishes at every meal out of the thirteen allowed them by their founder, on which occasion the monks were dismissed by the King with a severe reproof for their excess.

King John was often at Gildeford, the two chief occasions being the Easter of 1199 and Christmas in 1200, and on the latter occasion he kept his Christmas at the place 'with uncommon splendour and magnificence' with his newly-married wife Isabella of Angouleme. He visited the town altogether no less than nineteen times in eleven different years.

In the time of Henry III. we know that there was a royal residence in this place, and on the 4th April, 1240, the Sheriff of Surrey was directed to repair the glass windows of the King's house and chapel at Gildeford,

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF GUILDFORD 7

which had been broken by a storm, and to restore the damaged roofs.

In 1246 there are still further references to the King's palace, as instructions were ordered for the erection of a nursery for the King's son Edward, not yet seven years old, which was to have bars at its windows, and below it was to be a room for the King's noble pages, with windows. Orders were also issued for the erection of a room for the Queen, to have two marble pillars in it, and glass windows, which were to be made to open and shut, and to have wooden shutters for protection inside.

In 1255 °i^s amounting to over £100 were presented to the King's treasurer for payment for these various rooms and the chapels, and the wainscot oak with which they were lined. At that time we hear of some decorations in the rooms, carvings of animals for the King's seat, and a painting of the story of Dives and Lazarus at the opposite end of the King's dining-hall. It does not seem possible to state with any certainty whether these various rooms, with their glass windows, were for the Castle or for the King's mansion in the park, but I it seems generally likely that they were for the latter building.

This decorative work was executed by William of Florence, the King's painter, who was paid 6d. a day for his wages by the surveyor for the King's manor of Gildeford. He appears to have also painted the fore-covering of the altar in the great chapel, and to have decorated the rooms for Eleanor, the wife of Edward, the eldest son of the King.

At about this time we have recorded the death at Gildeford of Prince Henry, eldest son of Henry III., and following it the establishment of the Dominican Friars in the place, to which reference will be made later on.

8 GUILDFORD IN THE OLDEN TIM

Edward II. occasionally resided in Gildeford, and two of the charters granted to the town in the eighteenth year of his reign were dated at this place.

Edward III. was here in 133 1, and from Gildeford issued the summons to the Archbishop of Canterbury to attend a Council at Westminster. He also spent Easter of 1336 in the town, and Christmas in 1337, 1340, and 1347. Again, we find him here in 1366, and on the 1st of October that year he demised the town of Gildeford with its rentals to the ruling body of the place, expressly reserving for himself the park, palace and Castle.

On more than one occasion Henry VI. was in residence in the place, and twice at least Edward IV. was here, in 1479 and in 1482.

Henry VIII. and his household resided in Gildeford on more than one occasion, and here it was that Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, Grand Master of the King's Household, died in 1546.

Edward VI. came here in the summer of 1 5 50, and again in 1552, very shortly before his death, and Queen Elizabeth is believed to have visited the town in about 1580, on the occasion of her presenting the Mayor's staff.

Probably by the time the Tudor kings came to Gildeford the old palace in the park had fallen into disuse, possibly into decay, and the buildings at one time occupied by the Dominican Friars were adapted for royal residence. There it was certainly that Henry VIII. stayed, and in Gildeford, in 1538, one of the decrees for the dissolution of the monastic houses was signed.. On that occasion Thomas Cromwell, the Secretary of State, was lodged at St. Nicholas' Rectory, as the whole of the Friary buildings were taken up by the King and his suite.

The early Stuart kings visited Gildeford on more than one occasion, Charles II. especially being received with

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF GUILDFORD 9

great enthusiasm on his visit in September, 1660, when the Corporation presented him with a service of plate, decorated the town profusely, and entertained him at a suitable banquet.

George IV., as Prince Regent, used to drive through the town on his way to Brighton, and for his convenience the alteration was made in the length of St. Mary's Church, in order that his carriage might have room to pass easily.

Queen Victoria, on more than one occasion, drove through the town before her accession to the throne, but, after she was Queen, her visits were confined to a sojourn for a short time at the station in the Royal train while on the way to the Isle of Wight.

Of the old palace in the park nothing now remains. An archway and some of its stonework are believed to be incorporated in the farmhouse of Guildford Manor Farm, where the moat still exists, and it is stated that in a large field adjacent to that farmhouse the line of the foundations of the old palace can be determined when the field is full of ripe corn by reason of an alteration in the colour of the ear of the corn growing where the building originally stood.

The later palace, formed out of the old Friary, has ilso disappeared, and only the Castle keep remains as evidence of the buildings which were occupied by a long line of English monarchs from the time of Ethelred, 978, down to the Tudor sovereigns.

Chapter II THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TOWN, THE

TOWN HALL, THE CORPORATION ARMS,

' I AHE government of the town dates back to a period of very remote antiquity.

It is known as a Corporation by Prescription, and has many ancient charters, the first charter on record being the one granted by Henry III. in 1256. This placed the government in the hands of a body called the approved men of Gildeford, but it is probable that a corporation, as we now term it, was in existence in the town long before this date.

A charter was granted to Kingston-upon-Thames by Henry III. in the fortieth year of his reign, that is to say, a year earlier than the Guildford charter, and in it occurs the following clause : ' We have also granted to the same men of Kyngeston that they may have their Gild-Merchant in their town as they formerly had it, and as our men of Gildeford have, and that they may use it together with their other liberties and laws and customs which they have in their town aforesaid, as they have used it in our time and in the times of our predecessors Kings of England.'

It would therefore appear that the Gild-Merchant, or local governing body, was in existence in Guildford long before 1255, and was of sufficient importance to be taken as a model when the Kingston charter was granted. It is clear also that in the charter of Henry III. the jurisdiction of the approved men is spoken of as already or

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THE CORPORATION OF GUILDFORD

. existing, and is not created. The ancient name of Gild- Vlerchant continued in use to the 18th century, and i summons to the Sergeants-at-Mace is in the author's )ossession dated May 16th, 1 78 1, by which they are equired to give notice to the magistrates and bailiffs of juildford that a i Gild-Merchant or Common Hall will )e held in the Gild-Hall to select a Town Clerk in the 00m of Mr. John Martyr, deceased.'

The head of the Gild-Merchant was for some generations called the Seneschal, and by that title he s mentioned in the charter of Edward III. of 1366. immediately after that date, however, the name of Mayor *vas assumed, the first person styling himself Mayor being Robert Chesenel in 1377. The title does not, however, officially appear until 1488, when Henry VII. in his zharter declared the governing body to be a Corporation jnder the name and style of the Mayor and Approved Men of Gildeford.

The charter of 1686 styles the Corporation by the title still used, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, and under this Jacobean charter the Corporation continued its existence down to Christmas 1835, when the Municipal Reform Act came into force.

The list of Seneschals governing the town commences in 1 36 1 and extends to 1376. It embraces three names only, Walter Wodeland, who was Seneschal in 1361, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 1 37 1 ; Peter Semer, who reigned in 1365 and 1370, and Henry Collas, who held the position in 1369, 1372, 3, 4, 5, and 6.