Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Godalming (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Winkworth Arboretum, Church of St Peter & St Paul, and St Edmund Church. Also, be sure to include Godalming Museum in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Godalming (England).
Table of Contents
Winkworth Arboretum
Tourist attraction in England. Winkworth Arboretum is a National Trust-owned arboretum in the spread-out civil parish of Busbridge between Godalming and Hascombe, south-west Surrey, England.
The 95 acres (38 ha) arboretum was founded by Dr Wilfrid Fox, starting in 1938 and continuing through World War II. He cleared the land and planted it with carefully chosen trees and shrubs to maximise its autumnal appearance. Once it was established, he presented it to the National Trust in 1952.
Winkworth Arboretum exhibits over 1000 species of trees as well as large collections of azalea, rhododendron, and holly on slopes leading down to landscaped garden lakes. Gertrude Jekyll explored the woods in the early 20th century.[1]
Address: Hascombe Road, GU8 4AD Godalming
Church of St Peter & St Paul
The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a parish church of the Church of England in Godalming, Surrey. The parish is mostly urban and excludes rural outskirts, it includes another church, St Mark's, in which the joint clergy provide less formal and family services.
The present building, the oldest in the town, was built in the 12th Century, replacing an earlier Anglo-Saxon church. Two medieval chapels are integrated into the present building. Its core is made from the local sandstone, Bargate stone from the nearby Greensand Ridge, which is found close to the town. Also found around the church is the old Lammas, or 'common', land.
The church is set on the town centre thoroughfare, Church Street, in the urban part of the market town that doubles as a commuter and retirement town and is a Grade I-listed building.[2]
Address: Church St, GU7 1ER Godalming
St Edmund Church
Parish church in Godalming, England. St Edmund's Church is the Roman Catholic parish church of Godalming, a town in the English county of Surrey. It was built in 1906 to the design of Frederick Walters and is a Grade II listed building. The church stands on a "dramatic hillside site" on the corner of Croft Road just off Flambard Way close to the centre of the town.
The Catholic Church had no presence in the ancient town of Godalming—known for its Protestant Nonconformity—until the end of the 19th century, and the parish of St Edmund's has always covered a large rural area of southwest Surrey. Since the church was founded in 1899 Mass has also been said at various other locations, from purpose-built churches to converted barns and halls, in the surrounding villages; and St Edmund's continues to support a daughter church at nearby Milford. Hospitals, convents and Catholic schools are also within the parish, and a large Polish community has been served by Polish-speaking priests for many years.
The "fine, if austere" church is built of local stone and overlooks the town. It is one of several churches in the area designed by the prolific architect Frederick Walters. The interior decoration dates from various times in the 20th century and includes rare bas-relief Stations of the Cross, an ornate Lady chapel and stained glass by Hardman & Co.[3]
Godalming Museum
Museum in Godalming, England. Godalming Museum is a local museum in Godalming, a town in Surrey, England.
The museum covers the local history of Godalming and the surrounding area in Surrey. The collections include paintings, ceramics, embroidery and architectural designs. The museum has works by watercolourist Helen Allingham, watercolourist and engraver Myles Birket Foster, the garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, the landscape watercolourist and etcher Percy Robertson, and architect and china painter Hugh Thackeray Turner.[4]
Address: 109 High Street, GU7 1AQ Godalming
Godalming Borough Hall
Community center in Godalming, England. Godalming Borough Hall is a municipal building in Bridge Street in Godalming, England. The building is the meeting place of Godalming Town Council.[5]
Address: Bridge Street, Godalming
Charterhouse School
Public school in Godalming, England. Charterhouse is a public school in Godalming, Surrey, England. Originally founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charterhouse Square, Smithfield, London, it educates over 800 pupils, aged 13 to 18 years, and is one of the 'great' nine English public schools reported upon by the Clarendon Commission in 1864. Today pupils are still referred to as Carthusians, and former pupils as Old Carthusians.
Charterhouse charges full boarders up to £40,695 per annum (2020/2021) and is among the most expensive Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) schools in the UK. It educated the British Prime Minister Lord Liverpool and has a long list of notable alumni.[6]
Busbridge Church
Church in Godalming, England. Busbridge Church or St John the Baptist Church, is an evangelical Anglican Church in Busbridge, Godalming, England. Busbridge Church is part of a joint benefice with Hambledon Church in the village of Hambledon, Surrey. Together Busbridge and Hambledon Church have six Sunday congregations ranging from traditional to modern and contemporary services. On a Sunday Busbridge Church and Hambledon Church put on youth and children's groups for over 200 young people.[7]
Address: Brighton Rd, Godalming
Godalming United Church
Church in Godalming, England. Godalming United Church is a non-conformist church formed in 1977 of a union of the local Methodist and URC churches. Built in 1903, it is located between the fire station and the River Wey in Godalming.[8]
Address: Bridge Rd, GU7 3DU Godalming
Farncombe Wood
Nature reserve in Godalming, England. Farncombe Wood is a 1-hectare nature reserve in Farncombe in Surrey. It is owned and managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust.
This steeply sloping wood was donated to the trust in 2003. It is mainly hazel coppice with oak standards. Ground flora include bluebells, wood anemone, yellow archangel and pignut.
Access is by going along Huxley Close, carrying straight on along a footpath when the road turns right, turning sharp left down a steep path and keeping to the left.[9]
Godalming Congregational Church
Church in Godalming, England. The building formerly known as Godalming Congregational Church was the Congregational chapel serving the ancient town of Godalming, in the English county of Surrey, between 1868 and 1977. It superseded an earlier chapel, which became Godalming's Salvation Army hall, and served a congregation which could trace its origins to the early 18th century. The "imposing suite of buildings", on a major corner site next to the Town Bridge over the River Wey, included a schoolroom and a manse, and the chapel had a landmark spire until just before its closure in 1977. At that time the congregation transferred to the nearby Methodist chapel, which became a joint Methodist and United Reformed church with the name Godalming United Church. The former chapel then became an auction gallery before being converted into a restaurant; then in 2018 the premises were let to the Cotswold Company to be converted into a furniture and home accessories showroom. In 1991 the former chapel was listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.[10]
Hascombe Court
Building in England. Hascombe Court is a 172-acre estate in Hascombe, Surrey, best known for its vast garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll. Hascombe Court is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England, and its gardens are also Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Five garden buildings at Hascombe Court built by Percy Cane between 1928 and 1929 are Grade II listed; these are the garden house at the north edge of the estate, a gazebo, a circular tennis pavilion, the former grass terrace pavilion, and the summer house.
The garage block and the garden terrace with steps, lily pond and an urn are each individually Grade II listed. The kitchen garden walls and glasshouses are also Grade II listed.[11]