A hidden paradise on London's commuter belt
Godalming is regarded as a commuter’s residential town, partly due to its vast appeal and favourable transport links.
The radio operator of RMS Titanic, Jack Phillips was born and lived in Farncombe and worked in Godalming and at sea. Jack famously remained at his post, sending repeated distress calls until the ship sank. He is commemorated in several ways around the town, including a section of Godalming Museum, a memorial fountain, cloister and garden walk near the church and a public house named in his honour.
Godalming Town contains 138 listed buildings, 82 are within the town centre, and 18 are monuments. These include Tudor buildings, 17th-century brickwork buildings and a wider selection of buildings are on the locally listed buildings register. One of the most famous landmarks is The Pepperpot, which is Godalming’s old town hall. Godalming remains a typical English market town, with a market every Friday. It also has a selection of independent and national retailers selling all the usual goods you would expect from clothing to jewellery, fine art, gifts and computers. The ancient market and coaching town is delightfully situated on the picturesque River Wey, where to this day cattle graze on the waterside meadows and canal boats rest up against the wharf.
Nearby Chiddingfold is well known for its annual Guy Fawkes’ bonfire celebrations, attracting around 10,000 visitors each year. A torch-lit procession starts the celebrations, which always take place on the Saturday closest to November 5th.
That means Godalming property investment is right for you if you're looking for a London commuter belt property for your portfolio.
Economy & Employment
Godalming’s economy is diversifying, with hi-tech businesses moving to the technology parks.
The main economy in Godalming is made up of retail, restaurants and of small businesses, particularly in construction and landscaping.
Catteshall is the directly attached neighbourhood and commercial estate in the east of Godalming. It is home to a number of new high tech industries moving into the district, such as Cloud Computing Provider MTI Technology, Business Data Specialists The Content Group. The new Surrey Data Park is also home to Aegis Data Centre.
Abbey Mill Business Park, which comprises three buildings (The Wharf, The Granary and The Mill), is surrounded by attractive countryside in a tranquil island setting on the River Wey at Eashing. Access to the road network is excellent with the M25 approximately 15 minutes away, whilst junction 4 of the M3 is equally accessible. Blackwater Valley Relief Road and Godalming train station, which offers fast service to London in around 45 minutes, is less than 2 miles away. Tanshire Park is the main area for office-based businesses, situated in the stunning countryside. It is comprised of three main offices. They all benefit from an on-site café/restaurant and excellent parking.
For more information download a Godalming Property Investment Guide.
Investment
Surrey County Council has invested £24 million in infrastructure improvements.
Aegis One – Surrey Data Park’s brand new 34,000 sq ft enterprise-class data centre facility, has been specifically engineered to the highest industry standards, allowing the maximum cooling efficiency across all power densities. This means Aegis customers can continue to increase their IT utilization within the rack without being limited on either power density or power headroom, a common problem amongst traditional data centre providers.
Surrey council aims to promote and coordinate cultural, social, commercial and other activities in Godalming for the benefit of the inhabitants and visitors to the town.
An investment of £55 million on its highway infrastructure network improvements to ensure that it is fit for the future is also underway. The last couple of years adverse weather conditions have seen deterioration in the state of the roads and the council wants to remedy these lapses.
£24 million is dedicated to long term road repairs to give a new life expectancy of up to 30 years.
£4.5 million on drainage improvements for gullies and ditches.
£4 million for strengthening/rebuilding bridges and embankments.
Surrey County Council has invested £24 million in infrastructure improvements
Transport
Air: Godalming lies approximately equidistant from UK’s two biggest commercial international airports with both Heathrow and Gatwick Airports 30 miles away.
Rail: Godalming railway station is on the Portsmouth line, between London Waterloo and Portsmouth, South West Trains operate the service, the station is known for its floral decorations and hanging baskets.
Road: The Godalming region is well served by road, the A3 London to Portsmouth road bypasses it, as does the A31 Guildford to Winchester road. The A283 and A286 that serve Milford, Petworth and Chichester and the A3100, B2130, B3000 and B3001 serve Milford, Cranleigh, Farncombe, Compton and Farnham.
Bus: The town is served by a bus network connecting the town centre with the main residential areas. These are provided by Arriva and Stagecoach. A community transport service is provided by Hoppa.
Education
Schools: Godalming is home to 9 primary schools, 2 secondary schools: Broadwater School and Rodborough Technology College and
3 independent schools: Charterhouse, Prior’s Field School and St Hilary’s School.
Notable Institutions: Prior’s Field School, is an independent girl boarding school. The main entry points to the school are at ages 11, 13 and 16. Its most recent ISI inspection in March 2011 awarded the school the top rating, excellent, in all nine categories including quality of teaching and links with parents.
Charterhouse is a collegiate independent boarding school, founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charterhouse Square in Smithfield. It is one of the original seven English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. Today pupils at Charterhouse are still referred to as Carthusians and ex-pupils as Old Carthusians or OCs.
Further Education: Godalming College founded in 1975 on the campus of Godalming Grammar School, caters for 16 to 19 year-olds and is state maintained. Awarded Beacon Status in 2006, it was the best-performing state school for AS/A Levels in the Surrey area in 2004. Its Ofsted report for 2005 graded the college as outstanding in six of the seven key areas and good in the 7th.
Shops & Leisure
Shopping & Dining: Unlike many other business environments, Dunsfold Park is nestled in the breathtaking landscape of the Surrey Hills, surrounded by some of the most well-known villages in the south-east of England, the most notable of which is Cranleigh. Recognised as England’s largest village, Cranleigh offers a wide range of shopping and leisure activities, more usually found in much larger towns. If you wish to visit a larger shopping centre, then the historic county town of Guildford is the place to go. With the Friary Centre and all the heritage of its famous high street, this Cathedral town is well worth a visit and only a 15-20 minute drive from Dunsfold Park. For the foodies, there are several pubs, restaurants and cafés, an annual food festival and visiting French and Italian markets.
Sport & Culture: Godalming boasts many wonderful attractions. It has National Trust properties such as Winkworth Arboretum and Hydon’s Ball and Heath, sports facilities, historic sites and cultural places of interest. With festivals abound a warm welcome is always assured.
Green Spaces: Aarons Hill is Located off Eashing Lane to the southwest of Godalming. The site offers a range of facilities including play area, a timber ‘trim trail’ and a skate park. The skate park was newly installed in 2007 and has ramps for all levels of competence.
