Годалминг: История и современность английского городка.

Town and civil parish in Surrey, England

Godalming '/ɡ//ɒ//d//əl//m//ɪ//ŋ/ is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settlements of Farncombe, Binscombe and Aaron's Hill. Much of the area lies on the strata of the Lower Greensand Group and Bargate stone was quarried locally until the Second World War. The earliest evidence of human activity is from the Paleolithic and land above the Wey floodplain at Charterhouse was first settled in the middle Iron Age. The modern town is believed to have its origins in the 6th or early 7th centuries and its name is thought to derive from that of a Saxon landowner. Kersey, a woollen cloth, dyed blue, was produced at Godalming for much of the Middle Ages, but the industry declined in the early modern period. In the 17th century, the town began to specialise in the production of knitted textiles and in the manufacture of hosiery in particular. Throughout its history, Godalming has benefitted from its location on the main route from London to Portsmouth Dockyard. Local transport links were improved from the early 18th century with the opening of the turnpike road through the town in 1749 and the construction of the Godalming Navigation in 1764. Expansion of the settlement began in the mid 19th century, stimulated by the opening of the first railway station in 1849 and the relocation of Charterhouse School from London in 1872. The town has a claim to be the first place in the world to have a combined public and private electricity supply. Several buildings in the town centre date from the 16th and 17th centuries. The distinctive Pepperpot was built in 1814 to replace the medieval market house and to house the council chamber. Among the notable former residents of the civil parish were Jack Phillips, the senior wireless operator on the , and the mountaineer George Mallory. James Oglethorpe, the founder of the Colony of Georgia, was born in Godalming in 1696 and the town maintains a friendship with the U. S. state and the cities of Savannah and Augusta in particular.

The oldest surviving record of Godalming is from a c. 1000 copy of the c. 880 – c. 885 will of Alfred the Great, in which the settlement appears as Godelmingum. The name is written as Godelminge in the Domesday Book of 1086, and later as Godelminges (c. 1150 – c. 1200), Godhelming (c. 1170 – c. 1230), Godalminges (c. 1220 – c. 1265) and Godalmyn (c. 1485 – c. 1625). The second part of the name is thought to derive from the Old English ingas and means "people of" or "family of" and the first part may refer to an Anglo Saxon individual called Godhelm. Thomas William Shore (18401905) suggested that Godhelm may be of Gothic origin and Robert Eugen Zachrisson (18801937) proposed that it may have been an early name for the River Ock or another local stream. The first records of Binscombe and Busbridge are from the 13th century, when they appear as Budenscombe and Bursbrige respectively. Their names are thought to derive from individuals called Byden and Beohrtsige, names both found in Old English. Catteshall may mean "hill of the wild cat" or "hill belonging to a person called Catt". Frith Hill may derive from the Middle English frith, meaning "woodland".

Godalming is a town in the Borough of Waverley in southwest Surrey, around from central London and from Guildford. The town is in the valley of the River Wey, which flows northwards through Guildford to join the River Thames at Weybridge. Godalming High Street runs roughly east to west, linking an ancient crossing point of the Wey to the road leading south over Holloway Hill. The town is almost completely surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt and the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is to the north and west. Godalming Civil Parish has a total area of It includes the settlements of Binscombe, Frith Hill and Charterhouse (north of the river) and Aaron's Hill, Ockford Ridge and Crownpits (to the south). The majority of the built up area of Busbridge is also in Godalming Civil Parish. Farncombe, to the north of the town, has a strong village identity and incorporates a small cluster of local shops on Farncombe and St John's Streets. Godalming has good transport links to London and Portsmouth via the railway line and A3 road. The main urban areas of Godalming and Farncombe are separated from the Wey by the floodplain, which includes the water meadows known as the Lammas Lands.

Godalming lies on the northwestern side of the Weald and primarily sits on the strata of the Lower Greensand Group, laid down in the early Cretaceous. Frith Hill and Charterhouse are on the iron rich Bargate Beds, a part of the more widespread lower Sandgate Formation that is only found in the Godalming area. This layer contains Bargate stone, a dark honey coloured calcerous sandstone that was quarried until the Second World War at several sites in the civil parish. There are also small exposures of the sandy Folkestone Beds at Busbridge and to the northwest of Charterhouse. River gravels are found in the valleys of the Wey and Ock to the west and south of the town centre, and as a terrace at Farncombe. Alluvial deposits of sand and silt are found in the floodplain of the Wey, especially between Bridge Street and Catteshall.

The earliest evidence of human activity in the Godalming area is from the Stone Age. At least two Paleolithic hand axes as well as Mesolithic flint blades and flakes have been found in the civil parish. In 2017, a local schoolboy discovered a Bronze Age barbed and tanged arrowhead, which he subsequently donated to Godalming Museum. and human habitation is thought to have continued into the early Roman period. There is thought to have been a small farmstead on the site in the late first century C. E. and there was also a villa at Binscombe. refn|The Roman villa at Binscombe may have been abandoned after a violent incident that resulted in the collapse of one of the walls of an outbuilding.]] The Anglo Saxon settlement at Godalming is thought to have been founded in the 6th or early 7th centuries, in the area surrounding the parish church. The oldest stonework in the church dates from c. 820 – c. 840 and the base of the west wall of the tower is of Anglo Saxon origin. The earliest documentary evidence for Godalming, is from the will of Alfred the Great in 880, in which the settlement and surrounding land is left to his nephew, Æthelwold ætheling. By the end of the Anglo Saxon period, the town was the administrative centre of the Godalming Hundred, which stretched from Puttenham in the northwest to Chiddingfold in the southeast. who also held Tuesley and parts of Guildford. refn|Flambard Way, the inner relief road that bypasses the High Street, is named after Ranulf Flambard, who was Lord of the Manor of Godalming under William I. At some point in the late 11th century, the Manor of Godalming was divided into two parts. The King's Manor was held by the Crown through the 12th century. There is evidence to suggest that it was held by Stephen de Turnham in 1206, but in 1221 it was granted to the Bishop of Salisbury by Henry III. It was held by the Bishop until 1541, when it was conveyed to Thomas Paston, who returned it to the Crown the following year. It was held by the monarch through the Tudor period until 1601, when Elizabeth I sold it to George More of Loseley Park. The second part of the Manor of Godalming, known as the Rectory Manor or Deanshold, was granted to Salisbury Cathedral by Henry I in the early 12th century. It remained in the custodianship of the dean and chapter until the mid 19th century. For much of its history, the manor was leased to the Castillion family, but was held by the Ogelthorpe family in the 18th century. In 1846, the Rectory Manor was transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who began to break up and sell off the estate in the early 1860s. The right to hold a market was confirmed by Elizabeth I in 1563 In 1620, Francis Bacon, the Lord Chancellor under James I, issued a document entitled "Ordinances and constitutions made and established for the better and government of the Town of Godalming in the County of Surry", which specified that the administration of the town should be the responsibility of the warden and eight assistants. It also provided for the appointment of a bailiff and restricted the amount of time that townspeople could spend in local inns and hostelries. The modern system of local government began to emerge in the first half of the 19th century. Under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, the town became a borough corporation under the control of a mayor and elected councillors. The following year, the Guildford Poor Law Union was formed, with responsibility for a total area of stretching from Godalming to Woking. As a result of the Local Government Act 1888, several responsibilities were transferred from the borough to the newly formed Surrey County Council. Farncombe was originally a separate civil parish, but became part of Godalming borough in 1892. The most recent change in local government took place in 1974, when the municipal boroughs of Godalming and Haslemere were merged with the Farnham Urban District and Hambledon Rural District to form Waverley District. At the same time, Godalming Town Council was constituted as the lowest tier of local government in the civil parish. The district became a borough on 21 February 1984, following the grant of a royal charter by Elizabeth II.

The right to hold a market was granted to Godalming in 1300 by Edward I. It probably took place each week at the junction of Church Street and the High Street.]] Three watermills are recorded in the entry for Godalming in Domesday Book. Hatch Mill, close to the parish church, may be the oldest mill site in Godalming. refn|In the 1330s, it became illegal for cloth to be manufactured outside of market or corporate towns. Thereafter, in southwest Surrey, cloth could only be produced in Godalming, Guildford and Farnham. [[File:Stocking frame, Godalming Museum, Surrey. jpg|thumb|right|upright|Stocking frame held by Godalming Museum. The road through Godalming between Kingston upon Thames and Petersfield was turnpiked in 1749 The first cottages were constructed at Crownpits in the 1880s and farmland to the south of the town centre was sold for development in the same decade. Summerhouse, Busbridge and Oakdene Roads had been laid out by the mid 1890s and most of the houses had been built by the end of the century. The area north of Home Farm Road was developed in the 1970s and the Bargate Wood estate was built in the 1980s. Farncombe began to grow in the early Victorian era, with terraced housing, semi detached houses and larger villas being built along new streets branching from existing roads such as Hare Lane, Summers Road and Farncombe Street. The most recent major developments in Farncombe took place in the early 21st century off Furze Lane. The Binscombe estate was constructed in the 1950s, to the northwest of Farncombe.

During the First World War, soldiers were billeted at nearby Witley Camp. A canteen was set up in Croft Road for those arriving via Godalming station. Allotments were planted at the Holloway Hill Recreation Ground and villagers in Busbridge were employed to manufacture baskets for 18 lb high explosive shells. In October 1914, the Red Cross opened a hospital for wounded soldiers at Charterhouse School. During the Second World War, the defence of Godalming was the responsibility of the 4th Battalion of the Surrey Home Guard, part of South East Command. A total of 213 bombs fell on the town, including two V 1 flying bombs, although no civilians were killed. In September 1939, around 40 children were evacuated to Busbridge from Wandsworth and several houses in Godalming were requisitioned to provide accommodation for soldiers. St Thomas's Hospital Medical School was also evacuated to Godalming and used the Charterhouse School science laboratories to teach in. Many students joined local home guard. A British Restaurant was opened in Angel Yard and Branksome House, in Filmer Grove, served as a district control centre.

The entirety of the Godalming Civil Parish is in the parliamentary constituency of South West Surrey and has been represented at Westminster since May 2005 by Conservative Jeremy Hunt. Between 1984 and 2005, the seat was held by Virginia Bottomley, who was elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone in the year she left the House of Commons.

The Farnham Link of the Surrey Cycleway runs through the civil parish from Charterhouse via the town centre to Holloway Hill. The final stage of the Tour of Britain 2012 passed through Godalming. The Fox Way, a footpath that encircles Guildford, follows the towpath of the Wey Navigation from Catteshall to Town Bridge, before running north of the town centre and Aaron's Hill towards Eashing.

In Charles Dickens' novel Nicholas Nickleby, Nicholas and Smike stay the night in Godalming, en route from London to Portsmouth: "To Godalming they came at last, and here they bargained for two humble beds, and slept soundly." Much of the action in Bulldog Drummond by Sapper takes place in Godalming. Binscombe features as a location in The Hog's Back Mystery (1933) by the detective fiction writer Freeman Wills Crofts. Ian Fleming's James Bond short story, Quantum of Solace, referred to Godalming as a venue for retired colonial civil servants with memories of postings to places "that no one at the local golf club would have heard about or would care about." In The Rose of Tibet (1962) by thriller writer, Lionel Davidson, two characters are described as talking "for hours" of a shared link with Godalming. In a somewhat "backhanded compliment", their exotic (and perilous) Tibetan location is held to be "All a long, long way from damp, soft Godalming with its mushy autumnal leaves underfoot and its dark green trains commuting to Waterloo." The comic novel The Return of Reginald Perrin, by David Nobbs, contains the following: "Note: It is believed that this book mentions Godalming more than any other book ever written, including A Social, Artistic and Economic History of Godalming by E. Phipps Blythburgh." The 2006 romantic comedy film, The Holiday, and the 2022 television series, Inside Man, include scenes filmed in Godalming.

Godalming Leisure Centre at Broadwater Park was opened in 2012, replacing the previous centre dating from the mid 1970s. It offers a 25 m pool, a teaching pool a fitness gym, a sauna and a soft play area.

thumb|right|Godalming Town F. C. (green and yellow strip) take on Lewes F. C. at home in 2017
Godalming Town F. C. was founded as Godalming United F. C. in 1950 by former pupils of Godalming Grammar School. Originally, the team played its home games at the Holloway Hill Recreation Ground, but moved to Meadrow in Farncombe in 1970. The current stadium is named in memory of Bill Kyte, a former president and longstanding supporter of the club. Old Carthusians F. C. was founded in 1876 by a group of former pupils of Charterhouse School. The team won the FA Cup in 1881 and the FA Amateur Cup three times in the 1890s. In 2022, the club is a member of the Arthurian League and the first team plays its home games at the school playing fields.

Cricket is known to have been well established in Godalming by 1767 and the first definite reference to a Godalming team is from 1786. By 1883, the town team had begun playing at Holloway Hill Recreation Ground, then known as Whitehart Field. The present Godalming Cricket Club was constituted in 1926. The first recorded cricket match at Broadwater Park took place in 1850 and a Surrey v Nottinghamshire county match took place there in 1854. Farncombe Cricket Club was founded on 6 April 1938 and played its first match on the 30th of the same month. The club has leased its home ground at Broadwater Park from the borough council from the outset. The first pavillion, a wooden building previously the staff living quarters of the Bramley Grange Hotel, was erected in 1949. It was replaced in the first half of 1972 and the new building was extended twice in the following decade to provide a larger social space.

Guildford R. F. C. was formed in 2002, following a merger between Guildford & Godalming and Old Guildfordians rugby clubs. The first match as a single, combined team took place in September 2003 and the inaugural season was played in the then, London Division 3SW. The club plays its home games at the Broadwater Sports Club. The Godalming Angling Society was formed in 1882. The club has rights to fish the Broadwater lake and an stretch of the River Wey from Eashing to Guildford. Members can also fish at five other sites outside of the civil parish. There are two flat green lawn bowls clubs in the civil parish. Holloway Hill Bowls Club plays at Holloway Hill Recreation Ground and Godalming and Farncombe Bowling Club plays at The Burys. The Godalming and Farncombe club was founded in 1867 and is the second oldest bowling club in Surrey.

The Broadwater Park is a mixed use recreation ground to the northeast of Farncombe. For much of its history, the area was owned by the More Molyneux family of Loseley House and the first record of cricket being played there is from 1827. The estate, including the cricket ground, was sold in 1836 to the timber merchant, George Marshall, for the site of Broadwater House. The property remained in the Marshall family until the early 20th century, when it was bought by George Edward Price, a director of the Canadian firm, Price Brothers Ltd. During the First World War, the house was used to accommodate Belgian refugees In 2022, the park is owned by the borough council and includes areas of woodland and grassland, a multi use games area, football pitches and tennis courts.

The Lammas Lands are a area of floodplain on the north bank of the River Wey between the town centre and Farncombe. From medieval times until the early 19th century, the area was managed as a hay meadow and, once the grass had been cut around Lammas Day (1 August), local residents were permitted to graze their cattle until Candlemas (1 February) the following year. These rights of common were extinguished in with the 1808 Act of Inclosure, but at least two of the dole stones, which formerly denoted individual plots of land, survive. Since June 2015, the ground has been protected by the charity Fields in Trust under their Queen Elizabeth II Fields scheme.