Understand
Guildford grew up into a large town because of its location at roughly the half way point between England's main naval port at Portsmouth and the admiralty in Greenwich, London. People travelling by horse drawn carriage between the two would stop at inns in Guildford such as The Angel and The Lion to swap horses over and to refresh themselves. With the advent of the steam train in the 19th century, Guildford was no longer needed for this purpose, and it fell into decline. But as more and more people started to commute into work in London in the early 20th century, Guildford became more and more rich and popular.
Guildford is the county town of Surrey, but not the administrative centre that is Kingston-upon-Thames, which is actually in a London borough. It is the economic and cultural centre of the whole of West Surrey.
Although under 30 miles away from Central London Guildford has its own individuality and is not similar to boroughs in London or other commuter towns in Surrey. Guildford is a large town with all the amenities of a City.
