Overview of Guildford

Guildford Listen/ˈɡɪlfərd/ is the county town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford. It is situated 27 miles (43 km) southwest of London on the A3 trunk road mid-way between the capital and Portsmouth. The town has Saxon roots, and likely owes its location to the existence of a gap in the North Downs where the River Wey is forded by the Harrow Way. The town grew enough in importance that by 978 it was home to the Royal Mint. With the building of the Wey Navigation and Basingstoke Canal Guildford was in the centre of a network of waterways that aided its prosperity. The Guildford pub bombing by the Provisional IRA in 1974 killed five people including four off-duty soldiers from the local barracks. The subsequently arrested suspects became known as the Guildford Four.