St Catherine's Hill, Surrey

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St Catherine's Hill
Surrey
St Catherine's Hill, Guildford - geograph.org.uk - 287641.jpg
The base of St Catherine's Hill
Summit: 213 feet SU993481
51°13’27"N, 0°34’43"W

St Catherine's Hill is a little hill to the south of Guildford in Surrey, with a ruined chapel at its top. The hill is named after the chapel.

Looking up St Catherine's Hill towards the chapel.
St Catherine's Chapel on top of St Catherine's Hill

The hill is about half a mile south of Guildford on the way to Godalming, near the village of Artington and the River Wey.[1] The village is on a sandstone outcrop near the Pilgrims' Way, at the crossing on the river.

At the summit stands St Catherine's Chapel, a ruined mediaeval chantry chapel, probably built as a chapel of ease associated with St Nicholas Church in Guildford It was built in the early 14th century by the rector of the church, Richard de Wauncey.

A five-day fair has been held at the top of the hill 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.[2]

Art

The hill and chapel were depicted by the artist J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851), with engravings including some in the Tate Gallery.[3][4]

The watercolourist Percy Robertson (1868–1934) painted the view from the hill in 1891.[5]

References