Visit Godalming Places

Welcome to Visit Godalming Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Godalming

  

Godalming Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Godalming

---

Godalming history

---

Pre-1300

The town has existed since Saxon times. It is mentioned in the will of King Alfred the Great in 899. Godalming appears in 1086 Domesday Book as Godelminge, held by William the Conqueror. The name itself has Saxon origins: “Godhelms Ingus”

1300–1800

In 1300, the town gained the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair. Its major industry at the time was woollen cloth, which fed Godalming’s prosperity over the next few centuries. Then people applied their skills instead to the latest knitting and weaving technology and began producing stockings in a variety of materials.

From 1800

Godalming was much larger than Guildford in the early 19th century. By 1851 the population had passed 6,500. The town had been connected to London by rail in 1849 and to Portsmouth in 1859. Today it stands on the Portsmouth Direct Line.

Public electricity supply

Calder and Barrett installed a Siemens AC Alternator and dynamo powered by a waterwheel at Westbrook Mill, on the River Wey. There were several supply cables, some laid in gutters, which fed seven arc lights and 34 incandescent lights. Floods in late 1881 caused problems and later Calder withdrew from the contract.

Godalming landmarks

Godalming Town Council’s area has 138 listed buildings, of which 82 are within the town centre itself, and 18 of which are monuments. Edwin Lutyens’s Grade II* listed Red House, Charterhouse and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s chapel are significant landmarks.

Town halls

The Pepperpot is a distinctive octagonal building in the High Street in Godalming. Built in 1814, it took over from the medieval Old Market House, which had held the site since the early Middle Ages.

Jack Phillips memorial cloister and gardens

Jack Phillips was born and lived in Farncombe, Farncombe and worked in Godalming. He is famed for remaining at his post, sending repeated distress calls, until the ship sank. Phillips is remembered in several ways around the town, including a public house named in his honour.

Godalming geography / climate

Guildford is 4 mi (6 km) north-north-east and London 30.5 mi north-east of Godalming. The Weald, a remnant forest of small wooded settlements, adjoins the town to the south-west. The North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is 2.9 mi north of the town centre.

Elevations, geology and soil

Elevations vary between 36 m (118 ft) AOD by the Guildford Road Rugby Union ground and Broadwater lake at the River Wey’s exit from Godalming into Peasmarsh, Shalford. In rock and mineral structure, the soil is Gault Clay superimposed by Upper Greensand, Claygate Beds and Bagshot Sands.

You can visit Godalming places with Walkfo Godalming to hear history at Godalming’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Godalming has 37 places to visit in our interactive Godalming map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Godalming, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Godalming places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Godalming & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 37 audio facts unique to Godalming places in an interactive Godalming map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Godalming Places Map
37 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

---

–

Godalming historic spots	Godalming tourist destinations	Godalming plaques	Godalming geographic features
Walkfo Godalming tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Godalming

  

Best Godalming places to visit

---

Godalming has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Godalming’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Godalming’s information audio spots:

Visit Godalming plaques