Godalming was an ancient hundred in the south west of the county of Surrey, England. It corresponds to the central third of the current borough of Waverley and some parts of the current borough of Guildford. Broadly speaking it extended from Guildown in the north to the border with Sussex in the south. Local people maintain the notion of the hundred, sometimes colloquially referred to as Godhelmia, mainly because of the predominance of north/south routes of communication through the area that have existed since ancient times. As recently as 1995 there were proposals (from Surrey County Council) to recreate a local government unit based on the old hundred borders.
History
The Hundred of Godalming was formed sometime after 825 when Wessex annexed the "south eastern provinces" of Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Essex.
Etymology
Godalming takes its name from the Old English Godhelm Ingas meaning "the clan of Godhelm". It is supposed that Godhelm was a Saxon chieftain who first colonised this dry land, bordered by swamps and a steep valley as he and his folk moved up the valley of the River Wey.
Early history
Archæological evidence indicates that the Iron Age hill fort at Hascombe had been refortified by the Romano-Britons at the end of the Roman period and this would have been the main obstacle for Godhelm and his Saxons to overcome as they travelled up the Wey Valley in the early 6th century. They would have fought the native Britons who would fight, and enslaved those that could neither fight nor run, probably subduing the area quickly. The hill fort is found at the head of a valley containing the settlements of Hascombe, Thorncombe and Nurscombe. The suffix combe found in each of these names is derived from the Welsh word cŵm meaning "valley" and this may be evidence that a Welsh community sheltered by this fort could have remained south of Godalming for some time after the Saxons first began populating areas along the Wey Valley to the north. Initially the Godhelm Ingas would have had a quite an independent existence but the local Lord would have soon sworn fealty to a neighbouring king, be it South Saxons, East Saxons, Kentish or West Saxons depending on the politics of the time. It was not until 690 that the Godhelm Ingas were formally placed within the bounds of Surrey by treaty. Certainly the area would have been dominated by Sussex while Aelle was Bretwalda and later occupied by Wessex under Cædwalla.
Pre-Christian religious centre
Christianity is thought to have come relatively late to the Anglo Saxons of Surrey with the religion being formally established sometime after 675 when Surrey's only known sub-king Frithuwold converted and founded Chertsey Abbey. As such this area was one of the last in southern England to convert formally to Christianity. Nevertheless, the area around Godalming has been described as "one of the most religiously dominated landscapes in England" and is and was a deeply pagan place.
On a hill just south of Godalming town there was once a religious site dedicated to the war god Tiw at Tuesley (Old English Tīws leah) meaning "Tiw's Clearing". Close to this site can also be found a "holy well" called Lady Well. Access to both these sites is restricted by order of Ladywell Convent, a convent which owns the surrounding land.
Another pagan site, this time dedicated to the god Thunor, is at the nearby village of Thursley. Adjacent to this village is the appropriately named "Hammer Pond". The local parish council assert that the name Thursley (Old English Þunres leah) means the "sacred grove of Thunor." An outcrop of sandstone on a prominence on Thursley Common was believed to have been Thor’s Stone, created by a thunderbolt thrown by the god. This stone, also called the Cricklestone, now lies almost unknown since its reputation was transferred erroneously to a block of chert (alias the Pudstone) near Pudmore pond in 1896 by the popular Victorian writer Sabine Baring-Gould in his book The Broom-squire.
There still remains much mystery concerning a very ancient yew tree at Peper Harow or Pipers Hearg meaning "Piper's Temple" whereat the tree itself may have been the actual object of worship (see: Irminsul). The tree is now contained within a church yard and surrounded by graves.