Editing Guildford (section)

===Commerce and industry===
It is unclear when the first market took place at Guildford, but by 1276 one was being held in the High Street every Saturday.<ref name=Corke_1990_Wool>{{harvnb|Corke|1990|loc=Chapter: Wool and Water}}</ref> In the 1530s, there were three markets each week, for corn (the most profitable), for cattle, and for general produce and household items. In 1561, a market house was built "beneath the Gild Hall", but by 1626 it was no longer suitable to store the "graine accustimablie sold there" and the corn market was moved to the Tun Inn on the south side of the High Street.<ref>{{harvnb|Field|2022|p=28}}</ref> A purpose-built [[Tunsgate|Corn Exchange]] was erected there in 1818.<ref>{{NHLE|desc= Tunsgate |num= 1377878 |access-date=23 June 2023}}</ref> In 1865, the market was relocated to North Street<ref name=Rose_2000_pp11-12>{{harvnb|Rose|2000|pp=11–12}}</ref> and in 1895, it moved to Woodbridge Road.<ref name=Collyer_Rose_1999_p16>{{harvnb|Collyer|Rose|1999|p=16}}</ref>

Guildford's early prosperity was founded on the [[wool]] trade. The North Downs provided good [[grazing]] land for sheep, there were local deposits of [[Fuller's earth]] in Surrey and the Wey provided a source of both water and power for [[fulling|fulling mills]]. The town specialised in the manufacture of [[kersey (cloth)|kersey]], a coarse cloth, [[dye]]d and sold as "Guildford Blue".<ref name=Chamberlin_1982_pp79-82>{{harvnb|Chamberlin|1982|pp=79–82}}</ref> The Italian merchant, [[Francesco di Marco Datini]], is known to have purchased cloth from Guildford in the late 14th century and by the end of the 16th century, there were at least six dye works in the town.<ref name=Corke_1990_Wool/> The trade began to decline at the end of the Tudor period, possibly as a result of fraudulent activity on the part of the wool merchants, who were accused of stretching the cloth. Attempts to revive the struggling industry in the early 17th century were unsuccessful<ref name=Chamberlin_1982_pp79-82/> and the last remaining fulling mill was converted to grind corn in 1714.<ref name="Field_2022_p57">{{harvnb|Field|2022|p=57}}</ref>

After the death of their father in 1882, brothers Charles Arthur and Leonard Gates took over the running of his shop, which held the local distribution franchise for [[Gilbey's]] wines and spirits, and also sold beer. However, in 1885, the brothers were persuaded to join the [[temperance movement in England|temperance movement]], and they poured their entire stock into the gutters of the High Street. Left with no livelihood, they converted their now empty shop into a dairy. Using a [[milk separator]], they bought milk from local farmers, and after extracting the cream and whey, sold the skim back to the farmers for pig feed. In 1888 three more of the Gates brothers and their sons joined the business, which led to the formal registration of the company under the name of the [[West Surrey Central Dairy Company]], which after the development of its [[dried milk]] baby formula in 1906 became [[Cow & Gate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wincantonplc.com/wincanton/history.jsp?tn=1&sn=1|title=History & Business|publisher=Wincanton Plc|access-date=26 April 2008|archive-date=9 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609101312/http://www.wincantonplc.com/wincanton/history.jsp|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1900, the [[Dennis Brothers]] company constructed what was probably the first purpose-built car factory in the country, on Bridge Street. This is now known as the [[Rodboro Buildings]], after a later occupant. The company soon outgrew the site, and between 1905 and 1913 production was gradually moved to a new factory near Woodbridge Hill.<ref name=Corke_1986>{{cite journal |last= Corke |first= Shirley |year= 1986 |title= Dennis of Guildford: An introduction to the firm and its records |url= https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/sites/default/files/Surrey%20History%203-3.pdf |journal= Surrey History |volume= III |issue= 3 |pages= 107–114 |access-date= 24 October 2022 }}</ref><ref name="Origins">{{cite web |title= The origins of the Rodboro' Building |date= 1 December 2010 |url=https://www.guildfordsociety.org.uk/rodboro.html |website=Guildford Society |access-date=2 April 2019}}</ref>