Photographer Guildford
Guildford-Gallery
As a photographer Guildford offers both an urban and semi rural opportunities with a wealth of venues and stunning locations suitable for a wide range of portraiture and wedding photography.
With My studio just down the road I’m able to included studio shoots with location shoots
Hears some information on Guildford there’s a lot more but hear’s just a part of it.
SAXON GUILDFORD
Guildford began as a Saxon village by a ford. It was called the guilden (golden) ford. It may have been called that because of golden flowers that grew at the riverside or because of the golden sands on the banks of the river.
The village of Guildford turned into a town in the early 10th century. At that time the English kings were building a network of fortified settlements across the country as bulwarks against the Danish invaders. It is possible that Guildford was made such a fortified settlement. If so, Guildford would have been surrounded by a ditch and earth rampart with a wooden stockade on top.
Saxon Guildford had a population of only several hundred. Nevertheless it was a thriving community and it had its own mint. In the mid-10th century St Mary’s Church was built or rebuilt in stone (which was unusual in an age when most parish churches were of wood). The tower still survives.
GUILDFORD IN THE MIDDLE AGES
By the time of the Domesday Book (1086) Guildford probably had a population of around 900. It might seem tiny to us but settlements were very small in those days. A typical village had only 100 or 150 inhabitants. The Normans built a wooden castle to overlook Guildford. In the 12th century it was rebuilt in stone.
In Guildford in the Middle Ages the main industry was making wool. The wool was fulled. This means it was cleaned and thickened by pounding it in a mixture of water and clay. The wool was pounded by wooden hammers, which were worked by watermills. After it was dried the wool was dyed. Apart from fullers and dyers in Guildford there were the usual craftsmen found in any Medieval town such as carpenters, blacksmiths, butchers and bakers.
Guildford was given its first charter in 1257. A charter was a document giving the townspeople certain rights. Usually it gave them the right to form their own government. Guildford was given the right to hold a market and a fair. In the Middle Ages a fair was like a market but it was held only once a year for a period of a few days and it would attract buyers and sellers from all over Surrey and North Hampshire.
From 1295 Guildford sent 2 MPs to parliament.
However Guildford failed to develop very much. Its population may have grown to about 1,300 in the 14th century but it remained a small town. Perhaps it was too near to London and the capital drew away trade.
In the early 12th century a ‘hospital’ was built for the poor and sick in Guildford. From the 13th century there were also Dominican friars in Guildford. (They were known as Black Friars because of the colour of their costumes). Friars were like monks but instead of withdrawing from the world they went out to preach.
With so much History I feel very lucky to be a local Photographer to Guildford.