When built, this would have been in striking contrast to anything else in the High Street.  Four giant pilasters, run up through two floors and support an entablature with a bold bracketed cornice.  This style, of course, owes much to Inigo Jones, Court Architect and Surveyor General to James I and Charles I, who first introduced the full Renaissance classical style to England.  Guildford House frontage reflects the influence of domestic architecture such as that of Lindsey House in Lincoln's Inn Fields, built in Inigo Jones's time.

   

The fact that some of the oak framing comes through to the surface, indicates the oak framing may have been in existence before the classical front was applied.  The ground floor is et back and although it was altered to accommodate the shopkeeper, it maintains the characteristic feeling of the original frontage.

The carved elm around the main entrance door and the panels under the windows is very vigorous.  It was encrusted with grime and the carvings in the natural wood now show up to the best advantage.

The balcony, with access from the Powell Room, is a notable feature on the high Street.  The seventeenth-century wrought ironwork includes decorative motifs of high quality workmanship.

Guildford House Gallery
155 High Street
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 3AJ

Tel: 01483 444740
Fax: 01483 444742
Email: guildfordhouse@guildford.gov.uk