The people known as Anglo-Saxons came to Britain from North-West Europe. During the later Roman period they were invited in as mercenaries to help the Romano-British people against further Anglo-Saxon invaders.
The earliest Anglo-Saxon settlements in Surrey are probably part of a ring of 4th century settlements around London known mainly from their cemeteries.
The cemeteries at Croydon, Beddington and Mitcham were on the nearest good agricultural land to London. Settlements associated with them may have controlled the food supply as well as the roads to and from the city.
After the Romans abandoned Britain in the early fifth century many more Anglo-Saxons moved into the country. They were part of a general movement of people throughout Europe at this time. They spread inland along rivers.
Surrey was between the East, West and South Saxon kingdoms of Essex, Wessex and Sussex, and the Jutes of Kent. It seems to have been more influenced by Wessex rather than Kent.
The name Surrey comes from 'Suthrige', which means 'the southern district'. It was probably once part of Middlesex, and under the influence of Essex. It may have been a very early kingdom, which was quickly taken over by a more powerful one, before there were any written records.
Guildford was probably settled after AD 500. It was on both a ford, and an important route to London. The earliest evidence for the Saxons in Guildford is the late 5th and 6th century pagan cemetery on the Mount, found in 1929. Thirty-five 6th century skeletons were excavated. Another group of skeletons was found downhill in Mount Street.
Known as the Guildown cemetery it contained men, women and children buried with a variety of grave goods. Some were buried with iron spears (the main weapon of the time) but most of the objects were domestic and personal.
Several skeletons had iron knives at their waists, which had probably been in a sheath hung from a belt. Some bodies were buried with the dark hand-made pots, which may have contained food or drink.
Two men were buried with fine glass beakers with pointed bases that could only be put down when empty. They were based on drinking vessels made of animal horns. Another burial was accompanied by a little bucket bound with gilt-bronze bands.
Many people were buried wearing brooches or beads, three wore finger rings and one girl had silvered bronze rings on her clothes, perhaps for fastening them. The layout of the burials suggested that there might have been up to three round barrows on the site. The site may have been deliberately chosen to mark the territory of the local people.
It is not certain where the settlement was. The name Guildford comes from the Saxon Gyldeforda meaning golden ford. This probably refers to the golden sand in the riverbed, contrasting with the track across the white chalk, but could also refer to flowers such as flags, which flourish in shallow fords. It is very likely that the settlement was near to it.
The Saxon houses may have been along Quarry Street, which would have been the nearest dry land to the ford. It is likely that St Mary's church, in Quarry Street, was the original church. The tower is late Saxon, from between 950 and 1100, but the church was probably on the site of a wooden one built after the conversion of the area to Christianity in the 7th century.
The houses in Guildford would have been rectangular buildings, with walls of planks or wattle and daub. Some smaller buildings would have had sunken floors. They probably had a wooden floor over the void and may have been work areas. No Saxon buildings have been found in Guildford, probably because they were destroyed when later buildings were put up.
The first record of Guildford is in King Alfred's will of c. 880, when he left a property in the town to his nephew. The layout of the town is very similar to other towns in Wessex, which were deliberately planned in the 10th century.
The two burghs, or fortified centres, for Surrey were Eashing and Southwark. After c. 920 it is probable that a king of Wessex decided to develop Guildford as a defensive and commercial centre as it lay on important routes and controlled access along the river.
A central street, the High Street, was laid out with a ditch on either side of it. The street continued over the river to include the ford in the defences. There may well have been a bridge by this date. The stone tower of St Mary's may be a result of this development.
By the reign of Edward the Martyr (975-979) there was a mint in Guildford. It is not possible to know when this was set up, as earlier coins did not say where they were minted. The silver penny was the only coin at this time. Aelfweard was the earliest moneyer known to have worked in Guildford. At least ten other moneyers are known to have worked in the town. The latest coin known to have been made here was struck by Seric, for William II, 1087-1100.
In 1036 Alfred the Atheling, brother of the man who became Edward the Confessor, came to England from exile in Normandy. Earl Godwin massacred him and his followers at Guildford.
When the pagan cemetery on Guildown was discovered nearly two hundred other skeletons were found, casually buried and sometimes mutilated. It has often been assumed that they were the massacre victims, but they are in fact later convicted criminals who were hanged on a gallows on the site of the pagan cemetery.
By the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086 Guildford was the principal town in Surrey. It was held by the king and contained 75 plots and 175 heads of households. The phrase, ‘Ranulf the sheriff holds one site’, may refer to the castle, showing that the Normans had thoroughly taken control from the Saxons.
Guildford Museum
Castle Arch
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 3SX
Tel: 01483 444750
Email: museum@guildford.gov.uk