14-002 Godalming Wharf
Taken 02/01/14: I've found some interesting information about Godalming Wharf on the net:
www.weyriver.co.uk/theriver/god_nav_A.htm
"Prior to the National Trust taking over Godalming Wharf (GR: SU974441) the site, after the Navigation closed for commercial business, went through considerable morphing of uses, which at various stages included a gas works (located where the police station now stands on stilts) and a bus station. The original 18th century wharf was built on a 10 acre plot of land acquired by the Navigation Commissioners when the waterway was completed here in 1764, and riverside it stretched up to Town Bridge. The difficulty of having the towpath running on the opposite side to the wharf was initially overcome by the building of a swing horse bridge, although this quickly fell into disrepair and the towpath was extended up to the road bridge very much as you see it today.
By 1849 the dock had been filled in. In the 1980s the National Trust and Waverley Borough Council agreed a plan for the site which involved much of it being sold off to raise £2m in funds for the Trust, but also provided the council with an opportunity to impose some strict controls on the waterfront development. Today all that remains of the original Godalming Terminus is the wharf moorings and an original brick and weather-boarded building now used as a stable by the Godalming Packet Boat Company for a rest facility for its tow horses. The moorings are used for their boat, the Iona, and other privately owned vessels.
Given the historic importance of this location as the upstream limit of the Wey Navigations it is a pity that more couldn’t have been made of the site, perhaps even with a small education facility. In its heyday in the early 19th century traffic to and from the busy wharf here carried timber planks, hoops for barrels, bark, flour and manufactured iron. The main site of the wharf was converted for retail use in the 1990s and today a large supermarket and several smaller stores occupy the site."
14-002 Godalming Wharf
Taken 02/01/14: I've found some interesting information about Godalming Wharf on the net:
www.weyriver.co.uk/theriver/god_nav_A.htm
"Prior to the National Trust taking over Godalming Wharf (GR: SU974441) the site, after the Navigation closed for commercial business, went through considerable morphing of uses, which at various stages included a gas works (located where the police station now stands on stilts) and a bus station. The original 18th century wharf was built on a 10 acre plot of land acquired by the Navigation Commissioners when the waterway was completed here in 1764, and riverside it stretched up to Town Bridge. The difficulty of having the towpath running on the opposite side to the wharf was initially overcome by the building of a swing horse bridge, although this quickly fell into disrepair and the towpath was extended up to the road bridge very much as you see it today.
By 1849 the dock had been filled in. In the 1980s the National Trust and Waverley Borough Council agreed a plan for the site which involved much of it being sold off to raise £2m in funds for the Trust, but also provided the council with an opportunity to impose some strict controls on the waterfront development. Today all that remains of the original Godalming Terminus is the wharf moorings and an original brick and weather-boarded building now used as a stable by the Godalming Packet Boat Company for a rest facility for its tow horses. The moorings are used for their boat, the Iona, and other privately owned vessels.
Given the historic importance of this location as the upstream limit of the Wey Navigations it is a pity that more couldn’t have been made of the site, perhaps even with a small education facility. In its heyday in the early 19th century traffic to and from the busy wharf here carried timber planks, hoops for barrels, bark, flour and manufactured iron. The main site of the wharf was converted for retail use in the 1990s and today a large supermarket and several smaller stores occupy the site."