Crown. In 2 H. II. the king gave Godalming hundred and manor to the church of Sarum, in exchange for the castles of Devizes and Rueles, or Erlestoke, then held by the bishop of that see.
The Conqueror granted a large plot of ground, upon which much of the modern town, north of the castle and south of High Street, now stands, to a family of the name of Testard, who held it for several generations by a singular tenure recorded in Blount, and are reputed to have built the two churches of St. Mary and Trinity for the use of their tenants—a fact which would go to show that the town was already standing within convenient reach of these churches, of which one is still mainly Norman, and of large area; and, further, makes it improbable that the castle enceinte ever extended far to the north, as the Conqueror was not likely to have granted away any part of the Saxon area. The historians of Surrey estimate the population of Guildford recorded in Domesday at 700 persons.
The internal evidence of the buildings of the castle makes it most probable that the whole of it, keep, hall, and domestic buildings, with its enceinte wall enclosing above five acres, was constructed by Henry II., very early in the reign; but the castle is not mentioned in his reign, nor in that of Richard I. In the Pipe rolls the town appears from time to time as contributing to tallage and other imposts, and in 1 Richard I. the park is named in connection with the canons of Sarum. It also appears from the Rot. Curiæ Regis, 6 Richard I., that an assize was held there. Henry II., probably when he built the castle, seems to have formed a royal park on the opposite side of the river, north of the Hog's Back, the site of which is still indicated by such names as Guildford Park, Wilderness, Stag Hill, and the Manor Farm, the latter being probably the site of the royal lodge.
Captain James, who is conducting the Ordnance Survey of the district, and has paid great attention to the ancient boundaries, and to whose researches I am anxious to acknowledge my obligations, is of opinion that the area of the park was on the north, west, and east, conterminous with the parish of St. Nicholas, and that on the south it was bounded by the crest of the Hog's Back. This tract is said anciently to have contained four manors, but at this time it
