Charlie Collard 10L Mr. Lock
GCSE Geography Coursework
Introduction: -
Location
Guildford is situated in the South-East of England, South of London. Guildford is the county town of Surrey.
The town's name is believed to take its name from a Saxon phrase meaning ‘ford of the golden flowers’. It is likely that the second part of Guildford’s name comes from the crossing or fording of the River Wey by an ancient track way, which continues along Hog’s Back. The first part is gold, it is suggested that the gold may refer to golden flowers by the ford, but it is not certain.
Accessibility:-
Guildford’s successfulness I think is very dependent on its location. Guildford has very good transport links to many different places all over England and also all over Europe. Guildford has very easy accessibility to the M25, A3, A2 and also the M20. These are all very useful because the latter three all go directly to ports. The links Guildford to and London. Where you can cross the English Channel to France and Europe. There are two railway stations (, near the Friary Centre, and ) which provide a convenient link to for commuters, and the main line station also connects to , , and ..
Past Day Guildford:-
It is believed that Guildford was the home to Saxon settlers shortly after Roman authority had been removed from Britain. There is a high chance that the site was chosen because of the Harrow Way trackway which crosses the River Wey at this point creating the of Guildford's name. In Guildford there is a 12 century castle which was built as an overnight resting place for the Windsor Hunting park. It was visited on several occasions by King John and King Henry III.
Probably the most famous local figure throughout Guildford’s history was George Abbot. Who was the son of a local worker in 1562, he was educated at the Grammar School, went to Oxford University in 1579 and became University Vice-Chancellor in 1600. He also then went on to become a Bishop in 1609 and went on to be appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the English Church, in 1611. There is a now a statue of him in the centre of Guildford high street.
In 1995 a Chamber was discovered in Guildford High Street which is widely to believed to be the remains of a 12th century synagogue. This remains a matter of opinion although it is likely to be the oldest remaining synagogue in Western Europe. On October 5, 1974, bombs went off in two Guildford pubs, killing five civilians. The pubs were targeted because soldiers from barracks near Guildford were known to visit them frequently. The subsequently arrested suspects, who became known as the Guildford Four, were convicted and sentenced to long prison sentences.
