St Catherine's Hill, Surrey
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

St Catherine's Hill is a hill south of
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
in
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, with a ruined chapel on its top. The hill is about half a mile south of Guildford on the way to
Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...
, near the village of
Artington Artington is a village and civil parish in the borough of Guildford, Surrey, England. It covers the area from the southern edge of the built-up centre of Guildford and steep Guildown, the start of the Hog's Back and part of the North Downs AONB, ...
and the River Wey. The village is on a
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
outcrop near the Pilgrims' Way, at the crossing on the river.


Chapel

The name is derived from the
chantry chapel A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...
, a ruined ancient monument on top of the hill. This was probably a
chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...
associated with St Nicholas Church in Guildford and was built in the early 14th century by the rector of the church, Richard de Wauncey. A five-day fair has been held here historically, licensed by King Edward II in 1308.


Archaeology

In 2020 a small cave was discovered on the hill during work on the railway line between Guildford and Portsmouth, which goes through a tunnel under the hill. The cave is reported to contain several decorative niches carved into the walls of the sandstone cave, which are thought to be part of a medieval shrine dating to the 14th century.


Art

The hill and chapel were depicted by the artist
J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...
(1775–1851), with engravings including some in the
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
. The watercolourist
Percy Robertson Percy Robertson RE (1868–1934) was an English watercolour landscape painter and etcher. Robertson was born in Bellagio, Lombardy, Italy. His father, also a painter and engraver, was Charles Robertson and his mother was Alice Mary, the daughter ...
(1868–1934) painted the view from the hill in 1891.


References

{{coord, 51.22427, N, 0.57848, W, type:landmark_region:GB-SUR, display=title Hills of Surrey Chapels in England Ruins in Surrey Fairs in England Borough of Guildford