Guildford Castle

Guildford was sacked by William after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, along with many other towns along the Pilgrims Way on his way to Canterbury. It's thought that the castle here was built soon after that, not clear whether it was built by William or one of his barons but certainly after the Domesday book was collated in 1086 . Much of it is built from Bargate stone from nearby Godalming. The castle went out of use as a residence as early as the 1300's, and parts of it were used for the next hundred years as a goal for both Surrey and Sussex. The grounds were rented out and used for farming, hard to imagine now in its position in the centre of Guildford.

By 1885, it had been acquired by Guildford Corporation who restored it and opened it to the public to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.

Now it is a beautiful and extremely well tended park garden, a riot of colour in summer but even today it was attractive with its well kept beds. Of course the blue sky helped:-)

There is a rather bizarre statue in part of the garden commemorating Lewis Carroll's link with Guildford, in the shape of Alice part way through the looking glass. See my Blipfolio.


I'll be on the road the next few days, travelling to family gatherings. Catch up with you all soon, have a good weekend:-)