Guildford Museum
About Guildford Museum
Guildford Museum is located within historic buildings next to Guildford Castle Grounds. It's free to visit. The museum is home to a permanent collection of objects from Guildford and the surrounding areas, dating from prehistoric times to the present day. The museum also runs a variety of changing exhibitions.
History of Guildford Museum
Guildford Museum is formed of four main buildings, with various smaller additions. These buildings, Castle Arch House, 48 Quarry Street, the gallery extension and the Muniment Room, date from the mid-16th century to the 1920s.
Castle Arch House is partly built using the walls from the gatehouse to the castle. The sheriff of Guildford Castle built the gatehouse in 1256. You can still see the remains of the arch that was part of the gateway.
Image Right: Watercolour of Museum front by Henry James Sage (1868 - 1953).
Image Left: Opening of new museum building 1911.
Watch this short video to find out more about the buildings that form Guildford Museum. The video was created with the help of our skilled volunteers.
Visiting Guildford Museum
Opening times
The museum will be closed on Friday 29 March (Good Friday).
Guildford Museum is open Wednesday to Saturdays, 12 noon to 4.30pm (last entry 4pm).
Address
Guildford Museum
Castle Arch
Quarry Street
GU1 3SX
Admission
Free entry
Contact
Email: heritageservices@guildford.gov.uk
Phone: 01483 444751
Getting here
Car
There are various car parks and on-street parking places in Guildford town centre. Find out more about Guildford's car parks and .
Blue Badge holders can park at the metered parking almost opposite the museum in Quarry Street. There is a dropped kerb at the junction with Castle Street. Find out more about Blue Badge parking in Guildford.
On Foot
Guildford Museum is about 200 metres from the bottom of Guildford High Street.
The High Street is pedestrianised between the following times:
- Monday to Friday: 11am to 4pm
- Saturday: 9am to 6pm
- Sunday: 12noon to 5pm
Public transport
Bus
Guildford Museum is about 500 metres from the Friary Bus Station. There is a step-free route across two roads and through White Lion Walk shopping centre.
Train
Guildford Museum is about 750 metres from Guildford Railway Station, on the South Western Railway line from London Waterloo to Portsmouth. There is a step-free route from the station across the River Wey into the town centre but with several roads to cross. This can be partially undercover by walking through The Friary and White Lion Walk shopping centres.
View Guildford Museum in a larger map
Access Information
Our access guide will help you plan your visit to Guildford Museum. It gives details on how we can make your visit easier and more enjoyable especially if you are disabled or have particular access needs. We also want to let you know in advance about the things that we haven't yet been able to change to improve access.
Read our Guildford Museum Access Guide
What's on at Guildford Museum
Explore our local history from the age of prehistoric man to modern life and times. Discover more about famous people connected with Guildford and Surrey. Including garden designer Gertrude Jekyll and author Lewis Carroll. Enjoy our unique collection of needlework and toys. As well as free displays and exhibitions, we have a programme of events and activities for all ages.
We are open Wednesday to Saturdays 12noon to 4.30pm (last entry 4pm).
Secret Guildford: Locations and secret agents of the Special Operations Executive in World War Two
Dates: 11 November 2023 to 13 April 2024
Times: available during opening hours
Free entry
You may have heard of famous agents like Violette Szabó and Odette Hallowes. In this exhibition, You'll discover the stories of more of the brave secret agents. Find out about the agents trained at Wanborough Manor, and Winterfold, outside Cranleigh. People like:
- Captain Willie Grover-Williams, a Grand Prix champion who had raced at Brooklands
- Yvonne Cormeau, one of the most successful wireless operators. She sent over three hundred messages from occupied France, and
- Brian Stonehouse, an artist who survived five concentration camps.
This exhibition is a partnership between the Secret WW2 Learning Network and Guildford Museum. It is supported by the Friends of Guildford Museum.
Image credit: Crown copyright/Newnham collection
Secret Agent Hub
Date: Saturday 10 February until Saturday 6 July
Have you got what it takes to be a secret agent?
The Secret Agent Hub is full of family friendly activities to practise your spy skills, just like those used by SOE agents featured in our Secret Guildford exhibition.
Join Agent Dash Hound to
- read and send secret messages using Morse Code and Slidex
- design an everyday object that hides a secret message, map or gadget
- disguise yourself so the enemy won't recognise you
- design a camouflage outfit for a spy parachuting into enemy land
Family Fun! Easter trail!
Date: Saturday 23 March until Saturday 13 April
Hop on over to the Museum and help the Easter bunny find their eggs.
Solve the clues and follow the trail around the Museum, visiting lots of interesting objects to find the hidden Easter eggs. Can you find them all for the Easter bunny?
Family Fun! Secret agent training
Date: Wednesday 14 February and Wednesday 3 April - this event is now fully booked
Times: 12noon - 1pm and 2pm - 3pm
Free, suggested donation of £2 per child
Suitable for ages 6+
Booking required. To book or for more information contact us on 01483 444751 or heritageservices@guildford.gov.uk
Have you got what it takes to be a secret agent? Be inspired by secret agents from the Special Operations Executive in the Second World War.
Learn how to write with invisible ink and send secret messages, make your own false ID card and test your observation skills.
This activity takes place in a room without step-free access.
Please note, for each Family Fun activity children must be accompanied by an adult.
Family Fun! I'm a Spy Craft and Story Time
Date: Tuesday 2 April
Times: 10.30am - 11.15am
Location: Guildford Library (opens new window)
Date: Friday 12 April
Times: 10.30am - 11.15am
Location: Guildford Museum
Free. Donations are welcome. No need to book, places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
A special story time for pre-schoolers and their parents/carers. Listen to the stories about secret agents '006 and a Bit' and 'Spyder'. Make a disguise to hide yourself. A joint event run by Guildford Library and Guildford Museum.
'A Call to Spy' - film showing and Q&A
Date: Saturday 6 April
Time: 2.30pm to 5.30pm
Location: Guildhall, High Street, Guildford
Tickets £10 including refreshments
A special showing of the acclaimed 2019 feature-length film A Call to Spy. A fictionalised spy drama inspired by the lives of three women. The three served in Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. While the plot deviates from historical reality, it tells the story of how women agents were recruited by SOE.
This event will include an interval and refreshments will be provided.
To book email heritageservices@guildford.gov.uk or call 01483 444751.
From a Garrison to a Garden
Dates: 27 April to 14 September 2024
Free
Discover stories of Guildford Castle. From Norman fortress, to surviving medieval tower surrounded by glorious gardens.
Find out what it was used for, including a garrison, royal palace and prison. The exhibition tells the story of the Castle Gardens too, with a crafted garden at the centre of the display.
Drop in to design and create your own flower bed or craft individual flowers and add to our installation. You could also join in our facilitated activities inspired by flowers and gardens.
Dates: Wednesday 29 May
Times: 12noon - 2pm
Free
Suitable for ages 5+
Help our garden grow by making oversized paper flowers. Take them home with you or leave them with us to brighten up the museum as part of our From a Garrison to a Garden display.
Soldiers of Surrey: A display from the Surrey Infantry Collection
Free entry
June 6, 2024, is the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history. Led by the Allied Forces, the landings liberated Western Europe from Nazi occupation.
This Surrey Infantry Collection display D-Day +80 commemorates this anniversary of the Normandy landings. Discover the stories of the men of Surrey who helped ensure the success of the Allied landings, told through personal and technical objects.
Image courtesy of the Surrey Infantry Collection
On the Trail of Guildford's History
Be a history detective! Search Guildford Museum, Quarry Street and Guildford Castle Grounds to find clues which tell us about the past.
Download the trail. (PDF) [1MB] or pick up a copy from Guildford Museum.
Museum from home
Don't worry if you can't visit us, you can still have fun, learn and be inspired by Guildford's heritage at home! Take a look at our #MuseumFromHome activities below.
Enjoy our Scullery Playroom
In the Scullery playroom children can:
- role play with the toy kitchen complete with colourful fabric food
- make a pizza and lay a table for dinner
- try washing the Victorian way
- join in with the traditional nursery rhymes printed on the walls
- colouring and activity sheets with pencils and crayons
- relax on a beanbag and read a washing or cooking themed book
- view our display of old cooking equipment
Children should be supervised in the room.
The Scullery Playroom at Guildford Museum is supported by the European Regional Development Fund and HM Government through the Welcome Back Fund.
Guildford Games Collection Project
Download the list of games we are collecting. (Excel doc) [19KB] Do you have any you would like to donate?
Online exhibitions
Discover Guildford's history from home with our online exhibitions.
Georgian Women Portraits by John Russell
Guildford Borough Council's Heritage Service holds over 35 original works by John Russell, including 19 female portraits. This online display features all the female portraits.
View the Georgian Women exhibition (opens new window)
Guildford Streets
Dip into Guildford Heritage Service's collection of photographs of Guildford taken over 100 years ago.