St Mary

It is believed to stand on the site of Guildford’s first church (a small timber structure dating from around 600) and is thought to have been used by Thomas a Becket when celebrating Mass here. It would also have been used by Archbishop George Abbot who built nearby Abbott's Hospital in 1619. The church has a cross shaped plan, on to which the St John's Chapel was added in c.1140. Much of the present building dates from the 1180s. It was then that an apsed chancel was built, but it was removed in 1825 on the order of George IV because he couldn't get his carriage through the narrow Quarry Street that existed at the time and he wanted a wider thoroughfare. Most of the windows were added in the 14th century, with the great east window introduced about a century later. Significant changes were made during the Reformation when the interior was altered, but many of the early corbels survived, including one carving of ravens placing food into Elijah’s mouth.

The Revd Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) occasionally preached here when he stayed at his family's Guildford home, and his funeral was held here.