Editing Guildford (section)

===Anglo-Saxon period===
There is thought to have been an [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] settlement in the Guildford area by the early 6th century, although its precise location is unclear. Excavations in the 1930s revealed a Saxon cemetery at Guildown at the east end of the Hog's Back. Burials took place at the site up to the mid-11th century, but the oldest skeletons were buried in the late 6th century.<ref name=Lowther_1931>{{cite journal |last= Lowther |first= A. W. G. |year= 1931 |title= The Saxon Cemetery at Guildown, Guildford, Surrey |doi= 10.5284/1068778 |journal= Surrey Archaeological Collections |volume= 39 |pages= 1–50 }}</ref>{{refn|Thirty of the oldest skeletons excavated from Guildown were found with [[grave goods]], including brooches, rings and knives. The presence of these objects suggests that these were [[paganism|pagan]] burials. Fragments of cinerary urns of the same period indicate that [[cremation]] burials also took place at the site.<ref name=Lowther_1931/>|group=note}}

[[File:05-393 Cut halfpenny of Harthacnut (reverse) (FindID 116261).jpg|thumb|right|A [[history of the English penny (c. 600 – 1066)|cut halfpenny]] of [[Harthacnut]], minted at Guildford in 1036 or 1037<ref>{{cite web |last= Williams |first= David |title= Coin |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/116261 |date= 24 February 2011 |orig-date= 5 December 2005 |publisher= Portable Antiquities Scheme |access-date= 9 August 2022 |archive-date= 9 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220809180408/https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/116261 |url-status= live }}</ref>]]
The first written record of Guildford is from the will of [[Alfred the Great]], dated to around 880, in which the settlement was left to his nephew, [[Æthelwold ætheling|Aethelwold]].<ref name=Field_2022_p3>{{harvnb|Field|2022|p=3}}</ref> Although it does not appear in the [[Burghal Hidage]], compiled {{circa|914}},<ref name=Corke_1990_Princes>{{harvnb|Corke|1990|loc=Chapter: A resort of princes}}</ref>{{refn|In contrast, the [[burh]] at [[Shackleford#Eashing|Eashing]] (around {{cvt|7|km|mi}} southwest of Guildford) is recorded in the [[Burghal Hidage]]. The fortified site, on a low sandstone hill overlooking the River Wey, is thought to have been in use {{circa|880|930}}. The decline of the Eashing burh may be linked to the increasing importance of Guildford as a regional centre in the mid-9th century.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1017720|desc=Anglo-Saxon fortified centre at Eashing|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last= Gower |first= M. |year= 1984 |title= The late-Saxon burh at Eashing |journal= Surrey Archaeological Collections |volume= 74 |pages= 225–226 |doi= 10.5284/1069069 |url= https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-379-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_74/surreyac074_225-226_gower.pdf |access-date= 4 August 2022 |archive-date= 21 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220821125510/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-379-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_74/surreyac074_225-226_gower.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref>|group=note}} by the end of the 10th century the town was sufficiently important to be the location of a [[Royal Mint]]. Coins were struck at Guildford from 978 until at least 1099.<ref name=Corke_1990_Princes/>{{refn|Around 80 silver pennies minted in Guildford between 978 and 1099, are known to be in existence today. [[Southwark]] was the only other Surrey town with a Royal Mint during the Saxon period and a greater quantity of coinage was produced there than at Guildford.<ref name=Corke_1990_Princes/>|group=note}}

Around 220 of the skeletons excavated at Guildown are thought to be the remains of soldiers massacred during the arrest of [[Alfred Aetheling]] in 1035 or 1036. Contemporary accounts are somewhat contradictory, but the modern consensus is that Aetheling, a [[pretender|pretender to the throne]] and the brother of [[Edward the Confessor]], was travelling through Guildford with a large bodyguard when the incident occurred.<ref name=Lowther_1931/><ref name=Chamberlin_1982_pp53-56>{{harvnb|Chamberlin|1982|pp=53–56}}</ref>{{refn|One close contemporary source states that Aetheling was travelling to [[Winchester]] to visit his mother, [[Emma of Normandy]]. Another states that he was en route to London for a meeting with the King, [[Harold Harefoot]].<ref name=ODNB_Aetheling>{{cite ODNB |last= Lawson |first= M. K. |title= Alfred Ætheling |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/184 |date= 23 September 2004}}</ref>|group=note}} Aetheling was arrested by [[Godwin, Earl of Wessex]] and his men were killed. Many of the skeletons showed evidence of a violent death and the skulls of two were between their legs, suggesting that they had been executed by decapitation.<ref name=Lowther_1931/><ref name=Chamberlin_1982_pp53-56/><ref>{{cite news |last= Harper |first= Paul |date= 22 October 2015 |title= Anglo Saxon burial site in Guildford likely to include gruesome skeletons of Prince Alfred's massacred troops |work= Surrey Live |url= https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/anglo-saxon-burial-site-guildford-10168337 |access-date= 5 August 2022 }}</ref> Aetheling was taken to [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]], where he was blinded, and he is thought to have died there in February 1036.<ref name=ODNB_Aetheling/>

[[File:St Mary's Church, Quarry Street, Guildford (April 2014) (1).JPG|thumb|right|[[St Mary's Church, Guildford|St Mary's Church]], Quarry Street]]
The oldest extant building in Guildford is [[St Mary's Church, Guildford|St Mary's Church]], the tower of which was built {{circa|1040}}.<ref name=NHLE_StM>{{NHLE|num=1377918|desc=Church of St Mary|grade=I|fewer-links=yes}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rose|Parke|2015|loc=Fig. 33}}</ref> Its location, on Quarry Street, may indicate that, at the time of its construction, the High Street had either not been laid out or was not the principal road.<ref name=Alexander_2006_pp8-9>{{harvnb|Alexander|2006|pp=8–9}}</ref> There is no significant archaeological evidence of human activity in the modern town centre before the 11th century<ref name=EUS>{{cite web |last= Robertson |first= Jane |date= June 2003 |orig-date= March 2001 |title= Extensive Urban Survey : Guildford |publisher= Surrey County Archaeological Unit |url= https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-726-1/dissemination/pdf/guildford/guildford_eus_report.pdf |access-date= 3 August 2022 |archive-date= 21 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220821125510/https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-726-1/dissemination/pdf/guildford/guildford_eus_report.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Alexander|2006|p=xxii}}</ref> and it is possible that, for the majority of the Saxon period, [[Stoke next Guildford]], to the north, was the primary area of settlement.<ref>{{harvnb|Alexander|2006|p=6}}</ref>{{refn|The predecessor church to St John the Evangelist at [[Stoke next Guildford]] may have been a [[Minster (church)#Early and mid Anglo-Saxon periods|minster]].<ref>{{harvnb|Clark|1999|p=1}}</ref>|group=note}}